We prioritize based on the opportunity to Cisco, but at the end of the day if our customers are more successful, they need more plumbing, they need more network to build out the infrastructure. So we offer advice and introduction to partners that can help them and provide workforce optimization solutions. Cisco is probably daily defining what it means to be a total Internet company, transacting more than 90 percent of its product orders and servicing more than 83 percent of its customer inquiries over the Web. Web-based solutions also improve employee productivity. For example, Cisco built its travel and expense reporting on the Web with software partner Extensity.
Employees enter their travel expenses through their Web browser.
The system does a policy screen, so if the hotel is too expensive, if a travel agent isn't used, if laundry is sent before the third day, the employee is flagged for a violation. If there are no violations, the employee puts the requested receipts in an envelope with her expense account number on it and sends it in. An e-mail alerts her boss that the expense account has been turned in and carries a URL for the boss to click to see the expense account. If your boss does nothing, you're paid in 72 hours. So there's no positive approval necessary.