"We wanted to help people increase their business acumen by being able to read about company performance and what’s new with the business, because that will help them make more informed decisions," Davis says.

Before the intranet launched, employees got information through time-consuming, paper-based manual processes, Davis says. Now, Ford employees can personalize their view of the intranet homepage by selecting what they want to see on the page and prioritizing the links they use most. Sensitive information can be shielded. Managers can view financial data on company performance, while other employees can access only general performance information.

The portal has saved Ford millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours by putting applications and documents at employee’s fingertips, Davis says. Future plans call for deploying Microsoft Net-Meeting and eRoom applications. Under current CIO Marv Adams, Patel and Davis are looking at creating business unit-specific portals within the central infrastructure.

For Ford, the intranet is not just a tool for employees to manage their benefits efficiently, it’s a foundation for the company to become a digital business. In order for Ford to run a successful e-business with customers, suppliers and partners, its employees first had to be adept at using e-business technologies themselves, Davis says. "You’re not properly doing e-business unless you’re doing it inside the company as well," he says. "It starts on the inside."