Choosing a travel management platform may not seem like an IT decision at first. After all, the first people that come to mind when it comes to travel policies and budgets are finance, HR and for some growing businesses, you may even have a travel manager. But, the truth is business travel has more to do with your technology ecosystem than you might have originally thought.
Think of all the employee data, stored credit cards, loyalty cards, that connect directly with other business systems. User access and the data that is generated in the platform must flow across all your organization. While having an easy-to-use platform that requires no set-up or implementation time (like GetGoing) can greatly reduce the burden on the IT department, it’s true that security still remains a concern.
So, what should IT leaders look for when their business is evaluating a travel management platform?
Below we will explore some of the most important areas to consider.
1. Security and data protection
Security and data protection are obvious factors when choosing a travel and expense management platform. Think about it: a travel management platform handles business and traveler information, which can range from employee profiles, itinerary information, contact details, travel preferences and payment-related data.
For this reason, security should be a part of the evaluation your department investigates after the provider has been shortlisted.
Some things the IT team should evaluate with respect to potential providers:
- Where is company and traveler data stored?
- How is data encrypted?
- What authentication options are available?
- How are access permissions managed?
- Which security standards or certifications does the provider maintain?
- How does the provider handle security incidents?
- How is data retained and deleted?
- Are third-party providers involved in processing your data?
Depending on where your organization operates, you’ll also want to consider applicable data-protection requirements, such as GDPR.
The takeaway for IT: Don’t just ask whether a travel management platform is secure. Ask the provider to demonstrate how they secure your organization’s data.
pro tip
GetGoing and BCD Travel comply with GDPR, and GetGoing holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification. Data is hosted in the EU, encrypted in transit and at rest, and independently penetration tested each year. SOC 2 reports are available on request.
2. Integration with your existing technology
Having an integrated travel and expense management system goes beyond just ease of use and protocols, integration with your existing technology means that the technology and security behind the system can also easily integrate with your tech stack.
Business travel has many touchpoints: expenses, payments, HR processes, reporting and other parts of your technology environment. That’s why integration should be one of the first things IT investigates when evaluating a new platform.
Start by mapping the systems that travel data needs to move between.
For example, you might ask whether the travel management platform can integrate with the following systems:
- Expense management system
- HR or HRIS platform
- Accounting or ERP system
- Identity provider
- Payment systems
- Reporting and analytics tools
It’s also worth looking beyond the integrations you need today. APIs and other integration capabilities can give your organization flexibility as your technology stack changes.
Ultimately, the goal isn’t to add another isolated piece of software. It’s to find a travel management platform that fits into the technology ecosystem you already have.
3. SSO and user management
In a company, there is without a doubt some moving around, newcomers joining and others leaving the company. As the IT department, a prime task is managing users, and having to create and remove users manually across multiple business platforms adds unnecessary administrative work and can lead to mistakes.
That’s why IT teams should look closely at how a travel management platform handles identity and access.
Questions worth asking include:
The easier it is to manage users consistently, the easier it becomes to incorporate your travel platform into your wider IT processes.
pro tip
In the case of GetGoing, Single sign-on and user provisioning are available on request with Microsoft Entra ID, Okta and Google Workspace.
4. Implementation and IT resources
Implementing new tools and platforms into a workstream can cost a lot of work for the IT department. This is why it’s so important when looking into a travel management tool to understand what exactly is involved when it comes to implementation.
Questions like the following will help you understand exactly what kind of resources need to be allocated to setting up a new platform:
- How long does implementation typically take?
- What will the provider handle?
- What does your internal IT team need to do?
- Are integrations configured by the provider or your team?
- Is technical support available during implementation?
- What testing needs to happen before launch?
This is a particularly important point for growing businesses where IT teams may already be stretched across multiple priorities. A travel platform should solve a business problem, not quietly become IT’s next major project.
bonus
In the case of GetGoing, no implementation is necessary, and the platform can be up and running in 2 hours
5. Data access and reporting
Good travel technology shouldn’t create silos. As different teams will use travel data for different reasons (i.e, finance: visibility for travel spend; travel managers: behavior and policy compliance; and decision makers want insights into cost, performance and ROI).
IT, on the other hand, needs to understand how that information can be accessed, shared and integrated with the company’s wider data environment.
Find out:
- What reporting capabilities does the platform provide?
- Can data be exported?
- Can it connect with your analytics or reporting tools?
- How frequently is data updated?
- Can different users have different levels of access to reports?
- Who owns the data?
The objective is to make travel data usable beyond the travel platform itself.
6. Scalability and reliability
Your travel requirements are in constant flux. Meaning that as you enter new markets, employees increase, travel volumes change and new policies arise, IT leaders must be ready to scale with reliable tools.
Look at whether the platform can adapt as you add:
- more travelers
- new offices or entities
- different travel policies
- additional approvers
- new integrations
- increased booking volumes
It’s much easier to choose technology that can grow with your organization than to replace a platform every time your requirements change.
IT checklist for evaluating a travel management platform
Security
- How is our data protected?
- Where is it stored?
- What authentication and access controls are available?
- What security and privacy standards does the provider follow?
Integrations
- Which systems can the platform connect with?
- Are APIs available?
- How are integrations implemented and maintained?
Identity and access
- Does the platform support SSO?
- How are users provisioned and removed?
- Can we define roles and permissions?
Implementation
- What does IT need to do?
- How long will implementation take?
- Who manages configuration and testing?
Data
- Can we export our data?
- Can we integrate it into our existing reporting environment?
- What reporting capabilities are included?
Scalability
- Can the platform support more users, locations and policies as we grow?
Support
- Who handles technical issues?
- How are problems escalated?
- What support is available to travelers
FAQ
What security requirements should a travel management platform meet?
It should be GDPR compliant, state clearly where data is hosted, support single sign-on and role based access, and have a tested process for reporting breaches. The stakes are high: under UK GDPR, the ICO can fine a company up to £17.5m or 4% of worldwide annual turnover, whichever is higher.
Why does business travel data need extra protection?
Travel bookings combine names, passport details, payment cards and itineraries, which makes them valuable to attackers. In October 2020 the ICO fined British Airways £20m and Marriott £18.4m over 2018 data breaches. The Marriott breach affected 339 million guest records.
How much does a data breach cost a UK company?
According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach 2026, the average breach costs UK organizations £3.13m, down from £3.29m in 2025. Choosing suppliers with strong security controls is one of the simplest ways to reduce that risk.
Should travel and expenses be managed on the same platform?
For most IT teams, yes. Organizations already run 305 SaaS applications on average, according to Zylo’s 2026 SaaS Management Index. One platform for booking, expenses and reporting means fewer integrations, fewer logins to manage and one place where travel data is stored.