Lockheed Martin, in Bethesda, Md., and No. 79 on the Fast-Track 500 list, has made intranet access available to the majority of its employees. About 130,000 of its 160,000 employees already have access, O'Byrne said, and that number should increase in the next year. About 71 percent of companies surveyed also said they plan to make their intranet sites available to more employees. Today, many locations are connected to mainframe systems through legacy terminals without browsers. In addition, during a pilot project this year, Wells Fargo added Internet connectivity and Web browsers at 450 California branches, Chrisman said.
Officials plan to convert the remaining locations over the next year.
The company is now using the intranet to replace the daily faxes sent to branches to update them on banking processes and procedures or to warn them of fraudulent activities in their regions. About two years ago, Wells Fargo made the intranet available in its dozen or so call centers. Besides expanding access to intranets, Fast-Track companies such as Wells Fargo are enhancing the content on their internal sites, transforming them into true corporate portals. Four years ago, when Wells Fargo launched its intranet, the company used it mainly to make human resources information available to employees. Since then, employee teams have created sites to manage specific projects, and the company has begun developing sites for procurement and purchasing.