GDF SUEZ, a French energy group currently undergoing transformation, signed a six year information system management contract with Orange Business Services (News - Alert), a branch of France Telecom-Orange.
According to the Véronique Durand-Charlot, the director of information systems at the GDF SUEZ Group, the partnership with Orange Business Services will be a major factor in the transformation of GDF SUEZ Group
In a press release, the world’s second largest energy company said that according to the contract, Orange will provide standard facilities management services including hosting, infrastructure operation and running ERP applications.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will also collaborate to set up a common engineering team with an innovative form of governance. The team will be responsible for developing the Group’s solutions to match the needs of its business units as closely as possible.
GDF SUEZ is going to build up an Information System Department that will be based on the France Telecom (News 
- Alert)-Orange Group facilities management capacity. The restructured department will also emphasize increased standardization of technology.
These improvements will enable the Information System Department at GDF SUEZ to offer the Group’s entities in France a unified catalog of operating services that will help transform the Group and allow it to provide a shared internal services platform, GDF SUEZ explained in a press release.
GDF SUEZ anticipates that technological breakthroughs will be achieved through access to France Telecom-Orange’s resources. These achievements are likely to continually enhance GDF SUEZ’s catalog of information system services. The two engineering teams will work together, in particular on private cloud computing solutions.
Orange Business Services is also building a green data center in Normandy, through which the company will be providing hosting service to GDF SUEZ. According to GDF, the new site based on its innovative ventilation system meets the Group’s two objectives in the fields of sustainable development and energy savings.
“We are proud to have the GDF SUEZ Group as one of our key clients by supporting the transformation of its information system,” says Vivek Badrinath (News - Alert), CEO of Orange Business Services. “This deal is proof of our willingness to tackle issues facing major international groups in IT services at a time when telecom and IT services are becoming increasingly converged. Our ability to successfully meet these transformation needs is what makes us a legitimate IT infrastructure operator."
A couple of months back, GDF Suez Energy Resources NA, the retail energy business of GDF Suez Energy North America, launched a new feature-packed website. The new site includes content designed to help commercial, industrial, and institutional electricity purchasers make better, more informed decisions about their energy choices.
In addition to a vibrant new look, the updated site offers real-time and historical electricity pricing data, interactive service area maps, and educational videos.
Madhubanti Rudra is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Janice McDuffee
