Network World – The Google-ization of Bechtel:

"Dubbed the Project Services Network, Bechtel's new strategy applies the SaaS computing model internally to provide IT services to 30,000 users, including 20,000 employees and eventually 10,000 subcontractors and other business partners.

We operate "as a service provider to a set of customers that are our own [construction] projects," Ramleth said. "Until we can find business applications and SaaS models for our industry, we will have to do it ourselves, but we would like to operate with the same thinking and operating models as [SaaS providers] do."

[…] Bechtel turned to Salesforce.com for its expertise in running a single application with millions of users. In contrast, Bechtel operates 230 applications, and it runs 3.5 versions per application, which means it maintains approximately 800 applications at any given time.

"When you look at Salesforce.com, not only are they running one application, but they are running one version and they are only running it in one location," Ramleth says. "They upgrade that application four times per year, and they don't disrupt the users by having to retain them. Every time we have a new version, we have to retrain our users.""