You don't need to ask your boss for a raise at Microsoft, because each year we have an annual performance evaluation where managers review employee accomplishments in a process used for deciding things like salary increases or bonuses.

So that's how it's supposed to work, but how does it really work -- technically?  Obviously, this being Microsoft, we use tools built from off-the-shelf applications like Infopath, SQL Server, and Sharepoint.  Now there's a whitepaper that describes how the IT department put it all together.