With Software from Netscape, Visa Sets Up an Employees-Only 'Intranet'

Visa International has created a new home page, but it's not available on the World Wide Web.

Using Internet-based technology from Netscape Communications Corp., Visa has jumped on the trend of creating corporate networks for internal use.

Known as "intranets," they allow employees to communicate and distribute information in much the same way that information is shared on the Web. But intranet communications are shielded from prying eyes outside the company.

Visa is using this technology to find "better, faster, cheaper ways" to disseminate information internally, said Deborah McWhinney, Visa's senior vice president and business manager for information products. Members benefit through the "better use of their money," she added.

Visa's intranet, called VisaInfo, is designed to put valuable information at employees' fingertips and to improve teamwork.

"It's like creating a whole bunch of electronic file cabinets of the corporate memory," said technology consultant Steven Auditer, president of Zona Research Inc., Redwood City, Calif.

Employees can point and click on their computer screens to locate lists of member banks and their representatives, internal memos, requisition forms, expense reports, and more.

Any department can create its own site and post information of importance to the company.

Cathy Basch, the card association's senior vice president for VisaVue information systems, said VisaInfo will reduce paper, keep costs down, and most important, provide information immediately.

Updated documents are readily accessible, Ms. Basch pointed out, avoiding the confusion associated with circulating out-of-date hard copies. "When things are electronic, version control is built in," she said.

Visa has linked 1,200 of its 2,500 U.S. employees to the system, which has been running since last fall. It plans to connect overseas offices by yearend. Visa officials would not divulge installation costs.

"A whole passel of companies" have intranets, Mr. Auditer said, including Eli Lilly, Home Box Office, and MCI. Such "enterprise networks" have produced much of the early revenue of Netscape, the Mountain View, Calif., high-flier that went public last year.

Intranets "represent a way for organizations to cut their costs internally and enhance productivity," Mr. Auditer said.

Corporate intranets will have far more users than the Internet, he said.

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