Paris, 15 April 2013 – On 26 February, Michele Bellon, Chair of the ERDF Board, Frederic Dufaux, Executive Director, Utilities and Telecoms at Steria, and Marc Boillot, Director of Strategy and Major Projects, ERDF, signed a new framework partnership agreement for the provision of IT services. The agreement will include the creation of packaged solutions to transform and streamline the management of network service calls and the deployment of electricity meters to businesses. Available in classic or SaaS[1] mode, these solutions will enable ERDF and Steria to provide ready-made solutions to energy customers in France and globally.

A mutual interest in partnership
A wholly-owned subsidiary of EDF (Electricité de France), ERDF manages the public electricity distribution network for 95% of continental France. The company has a long-standing partnership with IT-enabled services provider Steria to design bespoke software dedicated to ERDF’s activities. The new partnership will involve the development and provision of IT services and software that will help better manage network service calls and the deployment of electricity meters. It will also include the development of the information system used for the deployment of Linky communicating smart meters. The creation of ready-to-use, industry standard software tailored to the needs of wider international electricity and gas markets is a testament to ERDF and Steria’s joint expertise and deep knowledge of the domain.

A new framework agreement
The framework partnership agreement, signed on 26 February 2013, defines the core principles of collaboration between Steria and ERDF-i, ERDF’s worldwide subsidiary that oversees international activities. The partnership with Steria will not only help ERDF to respond quickly and effectively to new customer demand, it will also allow ERDF to capitalise on the existing, pre-packaged software solutions and IT services it currently has available to support businesses.

The aim of this agreement is firstly to materialize the partnership desire of both companies and secondly to facilitate responses to tenders. The partnership already has two major customer references under its belt, including one in France, and another in Lebanon.

Following this project with ERDF, Steria will continue its commitment and investment into the utilities sector, with an offering based on trust, co-operation and a highly innovative service model.

[1] SaaS or « Software as a service » (as opposed to purchasing a product in the case of a license)