Microsoft said it will enable travel booking and expense reporting powered by Concur to happen in business apps many employees already use by autumn 2016.
Users of Microsoft Office via the cloud-based subscription service Office 365 will be able to submit their expenses in the Outlook Inbox.
When a user receives a receipt in their inbox, Concur's tool will automatically extract receipts from the message and display a "send to Concur" button. After clicking it, the user will be prompted to verify details and submit the expense.
Microsoft is also integrating Concur's software to enable users of Office 365 to book travel based on meetings scheduled in Outlook Calendar. The system prompts users with flight, hotel, and ground transportation suggestions that are in line with an employee's corporate travel policies.
Some customer preferences can be saved, to streamline future booking via more relevant offers.
Microsoft claims that 70 million professionals "actively use" Office 365 every month. So the integration could be a business boost for Concur, which claims more than 40 million users of its services.
The integration is the outcome of a broader business deal between Microsoft and SAP, which was acquired Concur officially in December 2014. Microsoft will now support several SAP applications via its platform.
As background, SAP has integrated its applications with Microsoft before, in the era before cloud computing, and it was not a roaring success. Maybe the cloud-era and different execution will produce a different result this time around.