FedEx. FedEx has wrapped its Web-based shipping site with an application that lets its business managers make smarter, more customer-focused decisions. Since implementing Accrue Software Insight, Web tracking and analysis software, in late 1999, Web traffic has increased by more than 15% while revenue has climbed approximately 10%.

Holiday Autos. This international car rental broker implemented a far-reaching virtual private network so it could provide Internet connectivity to travel agents worldwide while securing business information. Travel offices get access to Holiday Autos’ reservation information via the VPN, built using Check Point Software’s security products. The goal is to provide the same service experience to all of its clients, no matter where they’re located.

Mercedes Benz USA. Wireless LAN connectivity on the shop floor and at corporate headquarters is allowing Mercedes Benz to move cars from shop floor to luxury car buyers more quickly. For example, mechanics at Mercedes dealers that have installed Lucent WaveLAN wireless LAN technology can tap into an intranet to check inventory and enter orders right from where they’re working. The company has not yet determined savings on the wireless project.

Ruesch International. This international financial firm in Washington, D.C., better serves its clients via a secure extranet called RueschLink. Through the extranet, clients can get real-time exchange-rate updates and can authorize payments. Ruesch ensures security on RueschLink via a public-key infrastructure and use of digital certificates provided by Baltimore Technologies. Ruesch, which trades approximately 10 billion a year in cross-border payments using 29 currencies, almost immediately recouped the $75,000 it spent to build the extranet.

Visa U.S.A. Visa is counting on an Internet-based financial payments network to keep its charges in order. Dubbed Visa Direct Exchange, the network will eventually replace point-to-point legacy connections at merchant sites. The network is expected to handle 10,000 messages per second and as many as 100 billion transactions a year, or double the capacity of Visa’s current network. Technology partners include Cisco for routers and Sun for servers.

Widener University. This Pennsylvania university replaced an aging Ethernet network linking seven buildings and 300 nodes with a switched Gigabit Ethernet network serving 90 buildings and 10,000 nodes. The Nortel Networks-based network supports a range of new voice, data and video applications for students, faculty and administrators and supports a networking lab for IT students. Cost savings resulting from this three-year, $10 million project include a $10,000 monthly reduction in phone bills.