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Customers
/ Success Stories / EDF GDF
At EDF GDF SERVICES, the CRM system is called
"Level 1".
This shows how much they value a customer...
EDF and Gaz de France supplies products and
services to more than 46.7 million customers.
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| Presentation... |
In
operation since 1993, Level 1 is a CRM application that
ties in with all contract management and invoicing operations
at EDF GDF SERVICES.
This essential application is used by
25,000 customer service agents in 1,300 agencies and supports
the entire professional and private customer base.
Functionally, Level 1 is:
commercial management (customer details, service catalogue,
sales strategies, commercial files, service invoicing);
contact management (recording and updating of contacts
for every reference);
marketing tools (segment creation tools - preparation,
launching and maintenance of operations);
utilities (correspondence with individuals, mail lists
- monitoring of ongoing operations - user requests...).
Technically, Level 1 is:
a client/server application that evolves at the rate
of two releases a year;
an information system on IBM Mainframe (usually one
center per department);
several relational databases, and a CICS partition on
IBM Mainframe per center;
clearance for each agent, together with dynamic content,
all displayed according to clearance specificity;
interactions with other applications installed on the
client workstation (such as Word, Business Object). |
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| Needs and
goals... |
Increasing
demands in responsiveness and ease-of-implementation of
new versions of Level 1 has led EDF GDF SERVICES to further
develop the architecture of Level 1, making the transition
from a "heavy client" to a "thin client".
The goals were to:
rapidly implement new features and corrections;
simplify deployment and integration procedures;
remove constraints linked to the physical location of
users;
improve the integration of TGC (an invoicing application
on the Mainframe) in Level 1;
obtain a more flexible architecture to accommodate the
DISCO project;
aim for rapid ROI on three product versions.
To achieve these goals, each one having serious consequences,
with a lot at stake, EDF GDF SERVICES chose two J2EE software
packages:
a software package that publishes Mainframe applications
and/or integrates them in new applications: SCORT Mainframe
Integrator;
an application server: BEA Weblogic.
At the same time, EDF and Gaz de France sought assistance
and advice from Accenture in the deployment of this application,
which is of strategic importance to business. |
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| Architecture... |
An
application architecture in layers:
structuring in accordance with proven "design patterms"
in J2EE;
construction using independent layers, in terms of the
role each one plays;
distribution of layers on different servers, which facilitates
heavy-duty use.
EDF GDF SERVICES chose SCORT for the management
of exchanges between Level 1 and EDF GDF SERVICES Mainframe.
Level 1 uses two SCORT products:
SCORT Enterprise Studio, a development application (design
time for Mainframe transactions with automatic generation
of Java code);
SCORT Mainframe Integrator, run time software, made
up of licenses you install on the J2EE application server,
through which it can either present 3270 applications
to the user or turn 3270 navigational sequences into Java
components that can be used by new applications on the
application server.
At EDF GDF SERVICES, SCORT Enterprise Studio is predominantly
used to:
revamp Mainframe screens, with attention paid to presentation
(user profile);
define specific functions for each Mainframe screen
(you can generate specific functionality): this is termed
"anchor" mode. |
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| Results obtained... |
SCORT Mainframe
Integrator lets Level 1:
• use a pool of connections with the Mainframe;
• recover a connection and run automatic transactions:
termed Access Object mode;
• navigate in dynamic publishing mode: termed Smart
Publishing mode.
"To serve more than 32.2 milllion client
sites daily is a major task and requires us to equip our
agents with reliable, robust, high-performance tools.
SCORT and BEA was a strategically sound choice for EDF
GDF SERVICES, as this solution lets us deploy new technologies,
while capitalizing on more than twenty years experience
acquired on our Mainframe" commented M. Xavier
Carton, deputy head of the Information Systems for Private
Clientele department of EDF DIT and project leader
for Level 1. |
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