Leading travel management company, BCD Travel, is set on an expansion path in Asia Pacific and will be making sizeable investments in technology as well as acquisitions in key corporate markets.

President of Asia Pacific, Mr Michael Buckman, who moved to Singapore from his CEO position at the group's Netherlands' headquarters to spearhead the expansion, said that scale is what he is after in the region.

With scale comes the ability to invest in the right technology, which can be a key differentiator for corporate travel management companies if deployed correctly and effectively, he said.

"We own 100% of India, the majority in Australia with the ability to go 100% by the end of next year, and we have 20% of a joint venture with Jebsen in Hong Kong and China. In Singapore, we have a partnership with Diners World Travel.

"We are looking at investments in all key corporate markets."

His objective: to be able to compete effectively for any corporate business in any key corporate market.

"Up to 60% of bids that come out are multi-region and we need a competitive response to any or all of these bids," he said.

Mr Buckman, who has seen the business from several perspectives - he served as CEO of Worldspan and has worked with American Express Travel Related Services, Sabre and American Airlines - believes that technology is a double-edge sword in the travel business.

You can use it to drive savings, you could even use it as a differentiator if you are smart about it, but you could also end up sinking funds into a big black hole that just keeps growing.

"I believe in the 80/20 rule - 80%, you buy from someone else and 20%, you do your own thing and differentiate yourself. The trick is knowing what that 20% is."

To find out, you sometimes have to take risk and make mistakes.

Mr Buckman remembers a time when the company invested millions of dollars in technology for the incentives and meetings segment.

"We spent a lot of money on the software. After a while, you have so much invested in it that you almost have to continue doing it but after a time, you have to ask, can you continue to pour money into this system? We did an assessment and came to the conclusion that this was a sunset thing and it would be best to depend on someone else's software.

"One of the toughest things to be successful at is technology development."

Having said that, BCD Travel recently introduced its own online booking tools to its China and India operations. However, as with its experience in other markets, the successful adoption of these tools will depend on the push from the CEOs or key leadership of the companies, said Mr Buckman.

Mr Buckman believes technology can be a differentiator "when there are no good solutions in the market and you can provide a unique solution".

"Technology has driven our success, it's allowed our business to grow. As customers look for ways to consolidate data and save money, technology is the way to do it but solutions for Asia are nowhere what they are in US and Europe."

Mr Buckman is not convinced service can be a clear differentiator in TMCs. "I don't believe that you can attribute better service to just 'having better people'.  Your people can indeed provide better service if they receive better training, support, and, of course, better technology."

This is where scale comes in - "if you aren't big, you can't do it," he said.