steria.com : Latest News

Steria to drive UK Health and Safety Executive’s IT transformation

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:22:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, announces that it has signed a three year strategic partnership with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The contract, valued at £20m (€23m), will see Steria transform and operate HSE’s Information Systems and Technology services, based on a consolidated, virtualised ICT infrastructure and the introduction of a proven and successful delivery model.

Steria will improve the availability, efficiency and flexibility of IT services for HSE staff. The introduction of virtual servers at the HSE will also reduce power consumption and associated costs by over 70 percent.

The transfer of services from HSE’s previous supplier, Logica, is due to be completed in mid-2013.

John Torrie, CEO of Steria UK, said: “At Steria we have a solid track record of delivering transformational IT projects across the private and public sector. With our extensive experience delivering services to UK Government, we are well positioned to add significant value at the HSE and comprehensively meet and exceed their delivery expectations. We recognise that cost reduction and improved service delivery quality are essential deliverables for success at HSE and we look forward to working with the team in a trusted partnership to transform service delivery.”

Full Year Revenue and Annual Results

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:58:00 +0000

Steria and Airbus ProSky join the Shared Virtual Sky project to develop the first European airspace simulation platform

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:00:00 +0000

"Shared Virtual Sky" is the first European simulation platform that will be available to all aviation companies. By enabling the interconnection of their systems and in particular of their airborne and ground navigation systems, SVS will accelerate innovation and make it possible to test the new air navigation concepts that underpin the SESAR project (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research) to improve the safety and fluidity of air transport.

Innovative services that will modernise air transport

With air traffic steadily increasing, air traffic management must be improved to ensure safety, increase capacity, reduce costs and help preserve the environment. The Shared Virtual Sky platform enables multiple participants to connect their simulators to a completely realistic real-time environment. Test pilots and air traffic controllers can thus work together, each in their respective cockpit or control tower. This solution supports the European Commission's efforts to modernise ATM systems through its Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) project, which seeks to develop a world-class integrated air traffic navigation system.

“SVS offers a unique possibility to run highly realistic simulations using the real pilots and controllers environment to test together new concepts of operations” says Eric Stefanello, CEO of Airbus ProSky. “We are proud of the expanding user community that makes our Virtual Sky expanding and enriching for the benefits of all”.

Promoting "cooperation" in Europe's aviation industry, through innovation, technical expertise and an integrated approach to today's challenges.

The Shared Virtual Sky solution has its origins in Gaia Virtual Sky, an Aerospace Valley project launched in 2007. With experience and expertise in air transport consultancy, systems integration and operations, Steria's consultants were charged with the task of providing the harmonised working methods and technology options that are essential to ensuring interoperability. Steria plays a key role in the Shared Virtual Sky technology, being largely responsible notably for its IT architecture through its software and interconnection resources. Steria also hosts the SVS portal. Services will be provided on a SaaS subscription basis. During the deployment phase SVS is to be made available on Steria's Infrastructure on Command, a cloud-based service.

“Shared Virtual Sky is an innovative response to the challenges facing the aviation industry. Ten industry leaders are currently conducting experiments as part of the SESAR project and five actors are currently negotiating to join the SVS platform in 2013 to validate their new ideas. This technology can also be adapted to other industries that have similar challenges with respect to the interconnection and interoperability of operational systems. This integration of systems and people is a perfect example of "cooperation", which promotes industry growth by facilitating the exchange of knowledge and improving productivity.” adds Patrick Loyer, Innovation Director of Steria France.

Steria Air Traffic Management (in French)
GAIA Virtual Sky Success Story
Airbus ProSky

Whitbread renews multi-million pound Finance & Accounting BPO contract with Steria

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:13:00 +0000

Today, Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, announces the signing of a 5 year, multi–million pound contract extension with Whitbread. Whitbread, with an annual turnover of £1.8bn, is one of the leading hospitality and catering companies in the UK and encompasses well known high street brands including Premier Inn, Brewers Fayre and Beefeater.

Under the contract extension Steria will continue to provide finance and accounting business process outsourcing to the company’s hotels and restaurants, with services covering VAT, reporting, reconciliation, general ledger and accounts payable and receivable.

The new contract will see Whitbread benefit from a significant reduction of 14% in annual service costs, while at the same time seeing operational efficiency increased. Steria is able to deliver these benefits through an iterative approach of process re-engineering and incremental innovation. The contract extension will also allow Whitbread and Steria to maintain and develop the existing presence in Chennai and Noida, in India, and increase the scope for further development of existing services.

The contract cements a successful relationship that Whitbread and Steria have developed over the past 20 years, culminating in Steria being awarded the Partner of the Year Award by Whitbread in 2011.

Andrew Pellington, Finance Director at Whitbread commented: ‘Choosing to renew our contract with Steria was an easy decision to make. Our relationship with Steria has evolved into a true partnership over the last 20 years, and we are extremely pleased with the quality of the existing finance and accounting BPO we have in place and the cost savings and innovations we are set to see in the next five years. In the current economic climate, we need to ensure efficiencies are made across the business and with Steria we know that this is the case.’

Gavin Chapman, Chief Operating Officer at Steria said: ‘We are delighted to have renewed our existing contract with Whitbread, further underlining our credentials as a leading provider of finance and accounting BPO services. We work in a very collaborative way with Whitbread, setting a benchmark we seek to emulate in all of our BPO relationships by constantly looking for ways to develop and innovate the services we deliver. This extension is testament to that approach.’

Steria & Whitbread - a video case study (You Tube)

Steria appoints two new Country CEOs

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:13:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announced two new appointments to its senior management team. Bart Denoodt and Vera Jin have been appointed CEO of Steria Belux and Steria Asia in Singapore, respectively. These senior hires will strengthen Steria’s global management team and reinforce the company’s position as a Trusted Transformation Partner for its clients. Prior to joining Steria three years ago, Bart Denoodt worked for a variety of IT companies including EDS, Logica and Synstar. Previously the chief commercial officer of Steria Belux, he brings 24 years of experience in IT services, outsourcing and consulting to the role. Bart will report to Olivier Vallet, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO Steria France. Vera Jin worked for Singapore Technologies and US company TransCore before joining the Steria team in 2007. Before her appointment to CEO, Vera held the positions of COO and director for transport business for Steria Asia. In her new role, Vera will draw on her rich domain expertise and leadership experience, boosting sales and the company’s presence in Asia. She will report to Steria’s Senior Executive Vice President, CEO United Kingdom and India, John Torrie.

Steria comes “best in class for IT services” in Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 04:58:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announces that it has been awarded the highest score amongst companies listed on the Paris Stock Exchange (SBF 250) by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for climate change information disclosure. Awarded a score of 98 and a position on the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) as well as a performance banding of A-, the organisation has been recognised for its efforts to combat climate change externally for customers and internally with employees, exemplified by its Green Offices®, smart energy solutions and supply chain initiative. CDP evaluates listed companies across the world on their sustainability and climate change strategies, approaches to governance and management of greenhouse gas emissions. It is recognised internationally as a measure of corporate environmental sustainability, helping over 4,000 organisations to set reduction targets and make performance improvements. Despite the evaluation criteria becoming increasingly rigorous, Steria has consistently moved up the ratings since 2009 when it scored 79 for disclosure. It went on to score 89 in 2010 and 93 in 2011 before achieving 98 in 2012. Steria is the only international IT services company worldwide to have reached an ‘A-’ performance score, the top company for disclosure on CDP’s 250 SBF CDLI and is among the top 5 companies for performance listed in the SBF 250 across all sectors. Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, commented: “Companies that make the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index have demonstrated strong internal data management practices for the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. They are also giving clear consideration to the business issues related to climate change and their exposure to climate-related risks and opportunities. This is vital to realising greater efficiencies, protecting the business from risk and capitalising on opportunities.” François Enaud, Steria Group CEO, continues, “The news today is testament to our commitment to contributing to a more simple, sustainable, and collaborative world by enabling new ways of living and working. In October this year Steria was named the ‘most sustainable midcap’ on the Paris Stock Exchange by the Gaia Index. Topping the Carbon Disclosure Project score builds on this success; it is something we have worked very hard on internationally, through our various transformation projects and it is great to have been awarded such a high score this year.”

Steria launches ‘Steria: RightTest ERP (SAP)’

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:47:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today launches‘Steria: RightTest ERP (SAP)’. The service will assist customers through the testing phase of the upgrade process for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)systems running on SAP efficiently and cost-effectively. Due to the high level of customisation required, upgrades can be incredibly time and resource intensive, making the process a massive drain on IT resources. ‘Steria: RightTest ERP (SAP)’ will help customers better understand where testing is needed, reducing the amount of time spent by an estimated thirty to forty per cent. The solution will analyse where testing efforts should be made, rather than having to test everything, in order to maximise business continuity, reduce costs and drive efficiency. The solution analyses the SAP code and builds relationships between the code and the associated business process, enabling organisations to pinpoint the potential impact of any code changes using technology from Panaya. This approach provides the intelligence needed to structure an effective testing procedure to deliver a safe, rapid and cost effective change. The solution will be available on a pay-per-use model, requiring no upfront capital investment from the customer. Clients will benefit from Steria’s testing experts and a proven methodology and approach to testing for ERP SAP upgrades. Steria uses the industry open standard Test Maturity Model Integration (TMMi) for quality assurance and to ensure that the correct testing processes are build in right from the start. This avoids any future issues or conflicts between developers and testers. Dominique Raviart from analyst firm NelsonHall explains, “Testing is a vital part of upgrading SAP applications to ensure that there are no errors that could have a knock-on effect on the rest of the business. Yet not all SAP upgrades testing service offering are equal and those that stand out rely on a higher level of automation to reduce potential human mistakes and shorten the length of testing projects.” François Enaud, Steria Group CEO, says, “In our experience, around seventy five per cent of the time and resources dedicated to upgrades will be spent testing or preparing to test. With an estimated 2,500 SAP upgrades planned in India along next year, minimising the amount of time and resources spent on upgrades will be crucial. ‘Steria: RightTest ERP (SAP)’ will help clients navigate their way through the process so they better understand the cost to the business, and prevent any disruptions. This will offer huge time savings and cost efficiencies to our customers.” To read further information visit this link.

Within one year of the deadline, less than a third of European businesses has migrated or is in the process of migrating to SEPA Direct Debit

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 07:07:00 +0000

One in five European businesses (21%) issuing debits is unaware of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) direct debits, finds a study from Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, prepared in collaboration with international Strategy consulting firm Edgar, Dunn & Company (EDC). The report, based on an extensive survey of 300 businesses with 250 to 5,000 employees in France, Germany and the UK, shows that, organisations risk missing out on the benefits of migrating. SEPA affects the vast majority of EU businesses with all organisations using credit transfers or direct debits in Euros needing to migrate by February 2014. Shockingly, just a third of organisations (31%) has migrated or is in the process of migrating to SEPA Direct Debit (42% in Germany, 35% in France and only 3% in the UK). 30% of French and German businesses and more than 60% in the UK have not started to work on migration to SEPA at all. The remaining organisations are only assessing the project of migrating. Despite this, more than half of European businesses (54%) agree that the SEPA Direct Debit scheme will generate more benefits than disadvantages to organisations. SEPA is an opportunity for businesses to plan ahead, redesign cash management systems and processes and generate synergies between business units – a key benefit in today’s economy. But, to reap these benefits, it is vital that organisations plan thoroughly and migrate properly. The study found that a quarter of European businesses are considering working with external payment partners to help them to migrate adequately. Migrating could be a mammoth task for unprepared organisations, given the limited time left before the new legislation comes into force. Jean-François Mansart, Head of the Group Advanced Payments practice, explains “Organisations that view SEPA as merely a compliance burden are missing a trick. Smart companies will take SEPA as an opportunity to optimise their cash management systems and processes and reduce fraud and bad debt. But they need to allow themselves adequate time to prepare to avoid potentially costly errors and to ensure that the benefits outweigh the costs of migrating. To read the report’s Executive Summary, please visit the following link: www.steria.com/SEPAreport Get involved in the debate online - the Twitter hashtag for this report is #SEPAtransformation

Steria selected by Statistics Sweden Authority for IT support

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:31:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announces that it has won a contract with the Swedish statistics authority Statistiska centralbyrån to manage the IT infrastructure in its datacentre and provide IT service desk support. Steria will work alongside the organisation to increase IT efficiency, improve stability and reduce costs. The deal is worth an estimated 65 million Swedish crowns (around € 9 million) over four years. The agreement will bring increased IT stability to the organisation as well as significant cost-savings. The project will be executed in two phases with the first phase due to start on the 1st March 2013 and the second on 1st July 2013. Steria will be working closely alongside Statistiska centralbyrån to recruit in the Orebro region of Sweden to fill the necessary positions, boosting the local economy. Gertrud Hammelin, Head of unit for infrastructure and planning at Statistiska centralbyrån, comments, “We were looking for a partner that could deliver cost efficiency and flexible resourcing to support both IT service desk staffing and manage the core IT infrastructure. Steria has been very transparent about the costs of running our datacentre. We look forward to drawing on Steria’s expertise to further develop and improve our processes to increase our IT stability and effectiveness. This means we will be able to free up resources to focus on more strategic IT initiatives to make ongoing improvements in the way we operate.” Anders Fryxell, CEO of Steria Sweden, continues, “Having a solid IT backbone is essential to the work being carried out at Statistiska centralbyrån which plays a critical role in Swedish society. It is a real honour to have earned the confidence of the organisation to manage its critical IT support functions. We are also very pleased to be working alongside Statistiska centralbyrån to recruit within the region and help play a role in improving the local economy.”

To keep up to date with all our news, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/steria

Steria certified as largest IT services company to achieve TMMi level 3 internationally

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 07:01:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, has today been awarded TMMi level 3 certification for its “Steria: RightTesting” methodology for software testing. Steria is the largest IT services company internationally to achieve this level of certification, the first in France and the fifth overall worldwide, demonstrating its commitment to excellence in software testing, technology transformation and IT cost reduction for clients. Software testing is growing in importance as organisations face increasing compliance and regulatory risks. The ability to assure software quality to prevent potentially disastrous technology outages and errors is now a board level issue for many organisations. Steria has been recognised for its robust and repeatable approach to testing, which is aimed at preventing problems before they happen, so saving organisations a huge amount of time and resources. “Steria: RightTesting” services bring significant benefits to clients including improved efficiencies and reduced costs. The certification was awarded on behalf of TMMi by UK-based IT solutions and services company and accredited supplier Experimentus, following an in-depth assessment of a number of Steria’s projects. The TMMi certification was awarded for the “Steria: RightTesting” methodology that underpins its application testing portfolio, which is comprised of three service phases – “RightTest Consulting”, “RightTest Transformation” and “RightTest Managed Services”. This well-respected, international certification is a testament to Steria’s continued commitment to driving efficiency for clients and assuring software quality. The certification is the result of a rigorous assessment, carried out at a number of client premises and at Steria’s Rennes-based Shared Services Centre. Interviews were conducted with project teams’ members on how Steria helped to test and improve various applications of clients’ core business, which in the case of a leading French telco included customer relationship management, invoicing, order processing and business fleet management. Klaus Olsen, chair of TMMi said, “The testing industry has evolved tremendously over the past 10 years. Organisations are taking a much more proactive, preventative approach to software testing because they have learned the hard way the impact errors can have on the rest of the business. It is fantastic to see more organisations embracing the benefits of software quality assurance using the TMMi model.” François Enaud, Steria Group CEO, says, “Organisations are waking up the fact that software defects can have massive impacts on not only operations, but brand reputation as well. Our “Steria: RightTesting” services are growing in importance as a result. We take testing very seriously and are of course delighted to have been recognised for our efforts in this area. We intend to build on our success by continuing to evolve our approach to end-to-end testing to ensure our clients receive the absolute best in their IT systems.” Links http://www.steria.com/in/our-solutions/testing-and-quality-assurance/

Steria releases ‘the future’ report

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:58:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, has today published a report prepared in collaboration with Global Futures and Foresight (GFF) entitled ‘the future’. The report unveils key trends that will affect organisation, and offers insight into how business leaders can navigate these transformational issues. The report outlines important issues that will affect organisations including changes in populations, economies, politics, middle class, urbanisation, infrastructure, food and technology. These trends are now demanding a response from corporate leaders as they create compelling new scenarios for their organisations such as new market sub-sectors and solutions as well as displacing existing products, services and even providers. The report brings together over 180 published sources to highlight the landmarks and drivers of change that will influence tomorrow. As a trusted transformation partner for clients globally, Steria has included interviews with senior European business leaders illustrating their perspectives and advice on how leaders can navigate these changes successfully. Experts in technology and business including senior executives from Bouygues, Credit Suisse and Hessian Federal State Bank, all offer their opinions on the findings. Steria Group CEO François Enaud also reflects on the value of the report and explains how technology will have an increasingly important role to play as business models adapt and to enable the transformation needed to address the shift: “When you look at all of the trends within the report side-by-side, the sheer scale of transformation needed to address the various issues, trends and shifts in the market is immensely apparent. Technology leaders, politicians, governments, financial services providers and utilities companies - regardless of sector or size, are all entering a time of major change with technology driving much of the innovation that will come. Each respective industry will face their own challenges, but this report will serve as an objective backdrop to begin to address some of the bigger changes we are due to experience”.
To read the full report, please visit www.steria.com/futurereport2012

Steria to work alongside Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service on major IT modernisation programme

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:39:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announces that it has won a major contract with the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Service (NAV) to strengthen their organisation with capacity and skills during the implementation of their IT modernisation programme. This programme aims at reducing the amount of time the organisation currently spends on administration whilst making its services more accessible to the public, improving efficiencies and eliminating unnecessary costs. This six-year contract would be worth between NOK 650 to 800 million (€ 87 to 107 million) and work has already begun. Steria will work alongside NAV to manage a series of vendors to ensure that the programme is delivered on time and for quality assurance. Steria will have direct responsibility for four of the five areas: business consulting, project management, technical support and testing. Sub-contractor Acando will handle architecture. In its annual budget for 2013, the Norwegian government proposed allocating almost NOK 750 million (€ 100 million) to modernise ICT systems at NAV. Trygve Solem, business development director at Steria Norway, said, “Steria will support NAV in implementing an extensive and important ICT modernisation programme which underpins the services provided by the organisation. The programme is one of the largest and most important IT programmes in the public sector.”

Q3 Revenue

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 04:35:00 +0000

Steria tops Sustainability Index

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 06:01:00 +0000

Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announces that it has ranked number one in the Gaia Index among medium size companies listed on the Paris Stock Exchange for sustainability. Ranked number one in the services sector, Steria also claims first position amongst medium sized companies with a turnover of over 500 million euros.

The Gaia Index is the first ‘Socially Responsible Index’ (SRI) for French small to medium size companies. Created in 2009, the Index comprises 70 of the best companies in the sustainability field, selected according to a strict set of environmental, social and governance criteria from a group of 230 companies listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. The Index’s assessment methodology enables external stakeholders to determine companies’ performance relating to sustainable development, a key indicator that is gaining importance in investment criteria and in the selection of suppliers.

Steria has been listed in the Gaia Index for the third consecutive year. Earlier this year, Steria received recognition from not-for-profit organisation The Carbon Disclosure Project for the Group’s exemplary efforts in combating global warming and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The complete report will be presented during a conference in Paris on 16th October and available on www.gaia-index.com from 17th October.

European Commission deploys Visa Information System developed by Steria-led consortium

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:00:00 +0000

The system, which was commissioned by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Home Affairs, allows Schengen States to exchange visa data for short-stay or transit visas by connecting their consulates in non-EU countries and all external border crossing points across the region. The system currently processes an average of 4,000 visa applications per day with up to 11,000 applications handled on a ‘peak’ day. As of now the system has processed approximately 1,000,000 visa applications. The Schengen Area has expanded since its birth in 1985 to encompass 26 countries with additional regions joining on a regular basis, including Liechtenstein which is due to join very shortly. Its aim is to create a large area within which people can live, work and travel, but while the very large majority of visa holders follow the rules, abuses can also take place. VIS will help in combating and preventing fraudulent behaviours, such as "visa shopping" (i.e. the practice of making further visa applications to other EU States when a first application has been rejected) which has been linked to activities such as human trafficking and terrorism. Consolidated regulation of visas granted across Schengen states will help member states in their overall commitment to a safer Europe. In order to ensure that VIS is robust, accurate and integrates all systems seamlessly while addressing the requirements of both the European Commission and the Member States, extensive tests and months of fine tuning were carried out before the go-ahead was given for the system to enter into operations last year. Given the large number of stakeholders involved and the political sensitivities surrounding the implementation and the system itself, the European Commission and the new European Agency that will take over the management of this system as from the end of 2012 will naturally continue to monitor operations carefully. Francois Enaud, General Manager, Groupe Steria SCA said, “VIS is a great success for European, Schengen and international collaboration. It demonstrates a major step forward in sharing information and processes within the Schengen region and between its member countries. In addition, it demonstrates that, although challenging, large-scale, multi-stakeholder, integrated IT systems can be successfully implemented and delivered, allowing multiple countries to work together smoothly and easily from the outset. We already work with the governments of many European countries but this contract has proved our ability to help these governments work together efficiently.” “The VIS must deliver information to all Member States at all times: it cannot afford to go down even for a few minutes,” said Johan Deschuyffeleer, Senior Vice President, Technology Services EMEA, HP. “HP’s solution in collaboration with Steria provides the required high-availability environment that delivers mission-critical services across multiple countries and helps ensure government access to information in an instant.” Steria has a sound knowledge of the public sector through its skills in consulting, systems integration and managed services and the Schengen Programme places it at the heart of homeland security across Europe. Steria has already implemented the Eurodac project for the European Commission, which improves the management of asylum requests through biometric processing of fingerprints in 16 EU countries, as well as working with other international organisations including NATO and EUROCONTROL. Central and local governments of over 10 European countries already work with Steria including Ministère de l’Economie et des Finances in France, Generalitat Valenciana in Spain, Ministry of Defence in the UK and Oslo Kommune in Norway.

Steria extends commercial partnership with CAST

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 06:34:00 +0000

Paris, France, 04 September 2012 – Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announces that it has extended its partnership with CAST, the world leader in software analysis and measurement, to provide advanced application management services as part of the Steria: RightApps Management service. The agreement will allow Steria to spot and fix clients’ application issues faster, thereby reducing complexity and risk to better enable IT transformation.

As applications continue to proliferate in the enterprise, IT teams are increasingly faced with growingly complex architectures, which can present new challenges for technology teams. The enhanced commercial agreement will address that challenge by enabling Steria clients to benefit from a Rapid Portfolio Analysis (RPA) service, based on specialist diagnostic software called CAST Highlight. This software conducts a radar sweep of clients’ application environments to identify the highest 'risk zones' in the application portfolio, so RPA is intended for clients looking for a way to quickly maximise the business value of their IT portfolio, reduce the business risk associated with failures in mission-critical application software, and improve the level of trust between IT and the business.

Once the best possible route to achieving the client’s business objectives in the fastest possible way has been determined, RPA will inform key decision makers whether Steria is on the right track regarding transformation services.. The agreement is a key part of the RightApps ethos to always provide clients with the right applications management solution for their business needs.

An ideal complement to the more detailed CAST Application Intelligence Platform (AIP) Services Solution already incorporated within RightApps, RPA is browser-based for ease of use, can analyse up to 50 applications in a week and, since no code is actually transferred, is completely secure with no confidentiality issues.

Marc Zablit, CAST’s Executive Vice President of Business Development, comments on the partnership, “CAST is very pleased to be part of the innovative RightApps transformation program. We are very committed to Steria’s industrialisation program and to making all CAST software and service capabilities successful, both for Steria’s existing clients and in helping to secure new business opportunities."

Karine Brunet, Executive Vice-President, industrial service business lines, Steria, says, “Applications management is incredibly important for today’s enterprise, particularly as the environment continues to evolve. Employees now demand access to a plethora of applications from a multitude of devices, putting increasing pressure on IT departments. The agreement with CAST will mean that clients can more easily identify the applications that will give them the greatest IT transformation benefits, and so realise business advantages more quickly. It is imperative that our clients are able to better manage the growing complexity of application environments now – and this agreement will help enable them to do just that”.

H1 2012 results

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 07:28:00 +0000

Launch of Steria: RightApps Management to align application management to business outcomes

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Today, Steria, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, announces the launch of Steria: RightApps Management, a new approach to application management based on the combination of business outcome results deployed on a ‘pay-per-use’ commercial model. The solution will give organisations greater business control by increasing visibility into applications, making it easier to spot security risks and areas for cost-savings. This new approach to application management will involve Steria working with its customers to define the business objectives for each project and model a series of scenarios. The success of the project will be closely defined according to those objectives, and customers will pay according to the business outcomes delivered. This methodology will enable organisations to optimise their applications more effectively to spot security risks and reduce capital expenditure. The solution will help to improve business and IT alignment with performance-based metrics, and increase IT’s responsiveness to business change. RightApps will make it easier for customers to spot security and reliability issues, monitor sensitive data within their apps and identify ineffective applications to enable significant, long-term, cost reductions. The solution will also help solve another common issue for many organisations – the lack of very specialist IT skills – with these consultants provided by Steria. François Enaud, chief executive officer, Steria, comments on the launch, “The uncontrolled cost of mismanaged applications can be staggering. Unless organisations have a firm handle on their applications, they risk losing sight of the cost of running those applications and security. Most organisations, in fact, are in the dark when it comes to knowing what applications they have running and how they are supported. Steria has been helping organisations address this challenge for almost forty years and today’s announcement is the next step in the evolution of our service offering in this area. We have revolutionised our approach to applications management with a more business-outcome orientated approach, something that has traditionally been difficult to measure. This will allow IT teams to focus more of their time on transformational projects, rather than on the burden of day-to-day application management. Steria will use a pioneering proven methodology that will give customers greater visibility into what applications they have, how they are supported and how they can be optimised to make them more secure and less expensive to run.”

Open data ‘critical’ to reducing administration costs, say European Government leaders

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:24:00 +0000

Steria today releases the results of a European-wide qualitative research project which surveyed senior civil servants and public officials in government departments and agencies about their attitudes towards the future of public administration. The study, ‘Beyond Efficiency: Public Administration Transformation’, revealed that open data, citizen-centric services, collaboration between private and public organisations and citizens as well as shared services are the top issues facing public sector leaders across Europe. One third of European civil servants surveyed agreed that breaking down departmental silos is vital to developing more citizen-centric services. These themes are being driven by issues such as the financial debt crisis, ageing populations, demand from the public for greater transparency especially with regards to data and Europe moving towards a single market as well as increasing globalisation. The trend observed in Europe resonates with the public administration functioning in India, where the Parliament of the country endorsed the mandate for timely response to citizen requests for government information by passing The Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI). It provides for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. Pierre Basquin, Leader of Steria’s Public Administration Business Community, comments, “The research shows that there is a wealth of knowledge about these issues and a passionate desire among European senior civil servants to do things differently and try out new ideas. How each country approaches the issues varies, but they are meeting and sharing knowledge and ideas to drive transformation. If the European Union gets this right it can create a landscape in which political dogma on how services should be designed and provided would no longer prevail but the best solution would be allowed to emerge combining the capabilities of public servants, non-governmental organisations, businesses and citizens themselves at the same time as embracing new tools and information communication technologies.” François Enaud, CEO, Steria, says, “This research shows that the future pressures facing Governments across Europe will require departments and organisations to simplify and automate processes, particularly around open data, if they truly want to innovate. We are already seeing some of these future themes playing out on the ground in Germany and Belgium for example – countries ahead of the curve for data-sharing. But other countries have further to go to break down departmental silos and regain public trust if they want to improve on their promise of open data and improving front-line services.” www.steria.com/beyondefficiency

The arrival of Leo Apotheker and Laetitia Puyfaucher will strengthen Steria's supervisory board

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 09:14:00 +0000

The appointments were approved by shareholders at the annual general meeting on the 15th of May, at which François Enaud was also reappointed the Group's General Manager. Leo Apotheker is known throughout the IT services industry for his experience and knowledge. He has served most notably as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and SAP, where he stayed for almost 20 years. He currently sits on the supervisory board of Schneider Electric and on the board of directors of the NGO PlaNet Finance. Laetitia Puyfaucher is the co-founder and chairwoman of WordAppeal, a global communications agency founded in 2000 that provides leading European groups with consultancy in interactive and editorial strategies. Ms. Puyfaucher is a graduate of HEC, the London School of Economics and Sciences Po Paris.

Steria group's General Manager, François Enaud, said of the announcement "We are delighted and proud to have Leo Apotheker and Laetitia Puyfaucher join our supervisory board. I am really looking forward to benefiting from their experience. Given the widespread changes underway in our industry, Leo's expertise in strategic planning and Laetitia's in image development will be precious assets for our group ". The materials presented at the annual general meeting and the results of resolution votes are available at http://investors.steria.com

First quarter 2012 revenue

Mon, 07 May 2012 09:07:00 +0000

Steria and Learntesting partner to enable self-study for ISTQB qualifications

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:00:00 +0000

Steria and Learntesting today announced that they are launching a unique self-study environment to support the needs of employees pursuing professional qualifications from the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB). The online portal offers e-learning materials in English, German and French and provides self-study content to suit a variety of learning styles through real-time and remote interaction with subject matter experts and 24/7 online support. Steria initially developed the portal with Learntesting to help its own staff in Europe and India study for the Foundation and Advanced level exams, part of the “ISTQB Certified Tester” international qualification scheme. After the initial internal launch of the first French language e-learning ISTQB Foundation Certificate (CTFL), which has now been accredited by the French Testing Board, Steria has begun to experience demand for similar portals from other companies and so has developed the offering as-a-service to sit with the Steria: RightTesting portfolio and is taking this to market first within French speaking territories. Financial and time constraints have made traditional classroom-based study for professional certifications challenging. As a result, online training and self-study methodologies can have significant benefits. Steria has already seen its online pass rates exceed those from corresponding classroom courses. Employees can prepare more thoroughly for exams online and decide when they are ready to sit them. This means time out of the office is minimised and motivation of students is increased as they are able to control their learning patterns. In addition, the total cost of training and certification has been significantly reduced as students have the ability to study at the pace that best suits them. Sean Beesting, group testing service line director, Steria, said, “As employee skills becomes an increasingly important consideration for businesses, helping our staff to achieve the necessary qualifications for career progression was a real focus for Steria. The development of the portal has had significant benefits for our staff and consequently our business and we are really excited to see that our customers are also recognising this. Our RightTesting offering is the perfect place to integrate the online portal as it allows us to provide resource as-a-service as well as recommend best practice initiatives to be rolled out across the wider community.” Mike Smith, managing director, Learntesting, said, “There is a growing demand for innovative self-study programmes which offer the benefits of traditional classroom study as well as maintaining students’ focus and reducing drop-out rates. Virtualisation of learning supported by tutor interaction has not only brought success for those seeking industry certification, but provides students with the opportunity to build on ISTQB and other testing theory and to conduct practical training in their own time. Our work with Steria demonstrates that there is a demand for this type of support across the wider business community and it is something we hope to extend as far as possible in the coming years.“ The Steria and Learntesting solution, Steria RightTest Learning, offers a rich warehouse of content to help students pass each exam. The materials offered go beyond traditional course content to include official sample exam papers, Learntesting exercises, questions and interactive tuition in real-time via Webex as well as administration, student monitoring and information management.

For more information please contact group_testing_line@remove-this.steria.com

Steria launches “Steria: RightSecurity Services"

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:48:00 +0000

Steria today announced the launch of Steria: RightSecurity Services. The service offering enables organisations to outsource all or part of their security service requirements, from risk identification and prevention, through to remedial planning and deployment, overall management and control. RightSecurity Services is provided ‘as a service’, and works on a pay-per-use model. Steria has strengthened its Shared Services Centres with a facility dedicated to security, in order to provide clients with ready access to a pool of security experts. RightSecurity Services integrates best of breed technologies, such as the Security Management suite from key partner RSA and the Security Division of EMC. In addition, RightSecurity Services users benefit from Steria’s industrial STARS platform to provide end to end management of automated services, from request management and implementation up to billing monitoring. The RightSecurity Services portfolio offers organisations the choice of physical, virtual, logical and behavioural security services which are operated twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week from the first of Steria’s Shared Security Service Centres. It recognises where security breaches could take place, allowing for early detection of incidents and rapid response to unauthorised activities. Any attempts at unauthorised access to information are blocked immediately with security controllers alerted of the breach in real-time. But as importantly, the centre also manages additional service requests from its comprehensive service e-catalogue and has automated systems and processes to ensure these are compliant with customers’ own Security policies and procedures. In the ongoing battle to reduce information leaks, targeted attacks and more efficiently protect sensitive sites against such attacks, RightSecurity Services offer customers another weapon in their armoury. It provides expertise on leading technologies and techniques that might be too difficult to acquire and maintain in-house. Francois Enaud, Steria Group CEO, said “As the line between personal and professional devices becomes increasingly blurred and cyber-security is elevated in the list of business priorities, threat management has grown in complexity. Security regulations are being tightened in response to this but that means businesses are facing users who are often unfamiliar with new policies and lack sufficient skills and resources to successfully enforce them. With a large number of organisations looking to address this through purchasing the right skills and expertise ‘as a service’, Steria: RightSecurity Services is the right proposition for today’s market.” The service provided to each customer is based on Steria’s expert IPPCoR* methodology which combines intrinsic knowledge, expertise and experience to promise guaranteed deliverables at set prices. Applying a standardised methodology offered in this way ensures that all relevant factors and pre-requisites for security strategy are accounted for, regardless of which services are purchased by the customer. This approach also allows each customer to continue working in the way that best complements their existing working practices and security policies. Steria and RSA have been working together for more than a year to manage all of the IT security services for a global manufacturer, helping the company meet tighter security governance requirements efficiently. These operations are resourced in a Shared Security Services Centre in Toulouse, France. Following a recent visit to the facility in Toulouse, France, Paul Simmonds, co-founder and Board Member of the Jericho Forum commented, “I am really impressed by the high-quality of service that Steria delivers given its client’s strict security requirements, timeline and budget. We recognise RSA’s Security Management suite as amongst the best. Combining this with Steria’s service capabilities to form a Shared Security Services Centre will enable future customers to benefit from their joint expertise and feel safe in the knowledge that their information will be monitored 24/7.” Bill Taylor, Vice President of Global Channels and Alliances, RSA, said, "We are excited that Steria has built out its Shared Security Services centre using RSA technology. We continue to look at managed service providers as an evolving way to provide our customers with the ability to implement advanced security to help prevent advanced threats.” RightSecurity Services is part of Steria’s overall Security solutions portfolio. More than 400 highly qualified security experts across Europe work to engender a more trusting environment between businesses, administrations and citizens. From high-end consulting to system build and run, our broad-ranging solutions cover diverse security needs, ensuring the provision of security for infrastructure, applications, data and people. Availability
The full RightSecurity Services portfolio is available immediately in France. It will be available in the UK and Germany in 2012 and will roll out across EMEA in 2013. Pricing
Pricing is service based and is based on unit(s) of work. All services are listed in the RightSecurity Services catalogue. Notes to editors:
*IPPCoR: Identification, Prevention planning, Protection deployment, Control & management, Reporting, measurement & communication

2011 annual results

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 07:01:00 +0000

Like-for-like revenue increased by 3.3% in the 2011 financial year relative to 2010
The operating margin2 rose by 7.8% to €129.9m, or an operating margin rate of 7.4% (+30 basis points relative to 2010)
Despite an increase in non-recurring restructuring charges, attributable net income reached an all-time record, rising by 26.4% to €55m
Underlying diluted earnings per share improved by 23.4% to €2.73

Follow this link to download the full press release together with a video interview with François Enaud.

Steria have been certified with the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 5

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 06:21:00 +0000

Steria India, a leading provider of IT enabled business services, announced today that they have been certified with the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 5 after having been successfully appraised and recommended for their Applications Development processes, which covers all our development centres at Noida, Chennai and Pune.

The Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPI) appraisal was completed, led by a lead appraiser from KPMG. The assessment covers development, enhancement and testing projects. Commenting on the certification, Mr K.K. Raman, Executive Director, Advisory Services, KPMG said "During the appraisal, the team found that Steria applies the defined quality processes and practices in its various aspects of project execution & delivery. It was also good to see that Steria made a special effort to ensure that processes remained effective, adopting various quality initiatives and emerging industry best practices, keeping value addition to customers as the focus."

Developed by Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, USA, CMMI Maturity Level 5 is the highest level of process maturity that independently verifies an organisation's capabilities to continuously enhance its processes through incremental and innovative process and technological improvements. CMMI Maturity Level 5 affirms our ability to statistically manage the sub-processes in order to achieve process and business objectives.

Francois Enaud, Steria Groupe CEO said, "The Level 5 achievement recognizes our abilities to satisfy clients, as an elite partner and deliver significant business benefits. It will help us focus on service industrialisation and will also go a long way in helping us deliver continual improvement."Quantitative process-improvement objectives for Steria are established continually and revised to reflect changing business objectives, and used as criteria in managing process improvement. The effects of deployed process improvements are measured and evaluated against the quantitative process-improvement objectives. Both the defined processes and the organization's set of standard processes are targets of measurable improvement activities.

Dr Mukesh Aghi, Steria's CEO ASia Pacific said, "It was good to see the commitment shown by all of us in application of CMMI so as to maximize benefits to our clients. People across all levels are interested and excited about process improvements and the CMMI Level 5 achievement is a true reflection of our focus on process optimization and innovation in service delivery."

Steria India started the CMMI journey in 2009 and achieved Level 3 in February 2010 and set the focus on achieving Level 5 in December 2011.

After substantial effort in the last eighteen months, they reached the final stage of Final Appraisal (SCAMPI A). The efforts were immense, given that 744 Hours were spent on appraisal activities; 63 employees were covered in face-to-face interviews over 424 hours of interviewing about our processes and approach followed in 11 projects.CMMI level 5 is an industry benchmark and Steria stands proud and honoured to be amongst the IT service providers who have been certified.

Steria participating as Platinum Sponsors at NASSCOM's flagship event in Mumbai

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

In its 20th year, the India Leadership Forum is expected to attract more than 1500 delegates from across 34 countries over the 3 days. The event brings together industry and thought leaders, analysts, government decision makers, academic professionals; IT services suppliers and users from across the world.

Mukesh Aghi, CEO of Steria Asia Pacific, will speak at the prestigious ‘Leader2Leader Forum’ on day one, discussing the topic of ‘Crisis of confidence: economic aftermath of a fractured policy’.

Orchestra Networks and Steria extend their partnership across Europe on Master Data Management

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Master Data Management and Data Governance is today one of the top priority for large companies worldwide. The ability to create, manage, enrich and access shared data across the enterprise has become critical. Orchestra Networks is recognized by leading analysts as one of the only true multi-domain MDM software provider. Its EBX5 solution is a model-driven MDM software with embedded data governance capabilities for business users. With EBX5, companies are standardizing the governance of shared data across all business lines, including finance, HR, sales, supply chain and operations. Steria is on the forefront of Master Data Management with its Enterprise Information Management (EIM) practice, delivering consulting and system integration services in Europe. The collaboration of Orchestra Networks and Steria has developed over the last 5 years across Europe with significant MDM projects in France and the United Kingdom. “As a trusted partner for many years, Steria has demonstrated not only its competencies with our MDM software, but also its ability to address MDM requirements in various business-driven contexts, such as MDM for Corporate Functions (Finance, HR) or MDM for Product Information Management.” said Christophe Barriolade, President & CEO of Orchestra Networks. “We are excited by this announcement and we look forward to expanding our MDM projects with Orchestra Networks across Europe. Orchestra Networks is today uniquely positioned as a pure-play, multi-domain MDM vendor on the market”, said Elias Chalhoub, who initiated this partnership at Steria France “Strengthening our existing partnership with Orchestra Networks is great news. Orchestra Networks offers an exciting alternative in the shape of true multi-domain MDM, providing a governance-rich framework to drive value and advantage from our clients’ corporate data assets”, said Andy Whitehurst, Head of Enterprise Data Management for Steria UK. Thanks to the 650 Enterprise Information Management dedicated professionals in 16 countries, Steria’s solutions have been helping both private and public sectors unlock the value of their information assets for more than 15 years.
“With our portfolio of Business Intelligence, Data Management and Enterprise Content Management solutions we ensure our clients are well equipped to manage the huge diversity of information as the volume of structured and unstructured data grows exponentially” explains Andy Whitehurst.“With our support, our customers ensure the validity of business decisions, leverage the reliability and availability of their data for all business needs, and guarantee the quality and efficiency of their content-based processes.”

Steria and Microsoft launch Workplace On Command

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European provider of IT-enabled business services, today unveiled Workplace On Command, a centrally-managed aggregated services offering which provides users with easy and secure access to enterprise applications, data and cloud services, regardless of location and access device. Workplace On Command allows organisations to create a bespoke environment, combining infrastructure and services, which is fully supported by Steria and Microsoft. This allows cost-effective access to the enterprise workplace from any device, at any time in any place. François Enaud, Steria Group CEO, said, “As smartphones and tablets increase their hold on the consumer market, an increasing number of employees want to use personal mobile devices for work purposes, and this makes the balance of security and mobility a key issue for organisations. As a fully integrated set of services, Workplace On Command offers a unique solution to the challenges posed by the rapid evolution of technology, squeezed budgets and the consumerisation of IT.” Compatible with devices running Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS, Android, and BlackBerry OS, Workplace On Command benefits from a combination of Microsoft technology to support the multi tenancy architecture with the next version of Windows Server 2008 R2, and System Center 2012, enabling users to customise the enterprise desktop ‘on command’. It also takes advantage of Citrix technology to virtualise desktops and applications to users wherever they are located, allowing organisations to manage requests through its best-of-breed portal: ‘Steria Workstore’, which is built on Cisco’s Cloud Portal platform. This unique enterprise app store allows users to access their profile and services, subscribe to new services and review monthly consumption to control costs. Microsoft Office products included are: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Project, Visio, Publisher and Office 365. But, as each profile is pre-determined by the enterprise and programmed centrally, the solution requires minimal ongoing management but offers maximum flexibility. Should users require additional services outside, they can search for them and request access. “As businesses look to cut costs, cloud-based solutions will continue to grow in popularity,” continued Enaud. “Steria has invested in the very best technology to meet these requirements and Workplace on Command, and its Workstore portal, is the first comprehensive set of cloud-services for any end-user. It offers multiple benefits for businesses battling tight budgets including reduced total cost of ownership of the desktop, customisation and personalisation based on the user’s working profile, and the ability to only pay for services used. Workplace On Command builds on Steria’s existing IT-On-Command offerings and its successful track record of virtual desktop deployment, providing the workplace of the future.” Eric Boustouller, President Microsoft France, Vice President Microsoft International, said, “The WOC offering is completely aligned with our consumerisation of IT strategy. We are seeing positive momentum for our cloud offerings like Office 365 and Windows Azure across both large accounts and small businesses, and appreciate the demand for business services via cloud platforms. Ensuring organisations have all the right tools to function effectively is crucial for productivity, so we are delighted to see that Workplace On Command allows employees to access our ‘off the shelf’, web-based and software-as-a-service solutions. We believe that Workplace On Command will be a valuable addition to the market.” Workplace on Command delivers multiple benefits including:

User satisfaction – meet end user expectations for a modern, rapid, flexible and easy-to-use enterprise workplace
Improving productivity – provisioning resources according to employees’ individual business and communications needs means they can work more effectively while enjoying a personalised user experience
Minimising risk – centrally storing and managing data in the cloud means that a lost or stolen device can be immediately wiped or blacklisted remotely so it loses the ability to connect to the desktop, without damaging any information, making it easier for organisations to meet increasingly strict regulatory compliance
Transforming infrastructure – simplifying and streamlining the existing workplace and provisioning new services and systems allows businesses to access and deploy the latest technologies in a way that best suits them
Reducing costs – cloud-hosting and central management reduces outgoings across the business from real estate and facilities, energy consumption, operational management, to technology refresh programmes. In addition, the ‘pay per use’ structure maximises return on investment by ensuring customers only pay for what they use

For a video demonstration of Workplace on Command please visit: www.steria.com/workplaceoncommand/demo

Steria’s exemplary commitment to sustainability again recognised by Carbon Disclosure Project

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Recognised with a disclosure score of 89/100 in 2010, Steria’s performance improved yet again this year with a score of 93/100 and a carbon performance band of A- compared to a global average of 69/100 and C. In recent years, Steria has focused its efforts on monitoring and reducing carbon emissions and promoting energy efficiency both at a company level and for individual employees. Steria recently opened environmentally-friendly offices in both France and Sweden. The Steria France ‘Green Office’ generates more energy than it uses, and was awarded the ‘Best Green Workplace Award’ earlier this year by French national TV and radio station BFM. In Stockholm, the Steria Sweden office takes advantage of the excess energy created by the city’s central railway station to provide heating for the building. In an effort to limit its environmental impact, Steria has been certified CarbonNeutral® for flight and fleet business travel since January 2010. As well as being an integral part of Steria’s corporate responsibility programme, Steria’s commitment to sustainability is also one of its strategic business areas. Steria solutions such as Smart Energy Management and Intelligent Transport are aimed at helping clients address their sustainability issues, which can have a positive effect on both business performance and stakeholder relationships. François Enaud, General Manager and Group CEO of Steria, said, “Steria’s scores from the Carbon Disclosure Project are encouraging. It confirms that by managing, disclosing reducing our own carbon output and providing clients with tangible, practical solutions to their own sustainability challenges, we are taking the right steps to protect the environment. Social responsibility is a core element of our corporate strategy, along with our strong conviction that human values and economic performance are intrinsically bound together.” Paul Simpson, chief executive officer of the Carbon Disclosure Project, commented: “Companies that achieve top scores from the Carbon Disclosure Project are demonstrating good internal data management practices for understanding greenhouse gas emissions. They have shown a strong awareness of the business issues related to climate change including climate-related risks and opportunities. Those organisations that give clear consideration to measuring and reporting on climate change issues will be best placed to capitalise on the opportunities from managing them.”

Steria becomes first IT Services organisation in India to conduct TMMi eSurveys

ranbir.bose@steria.co.in — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Steria India partners with Experimentus to become among the first organisations in India to offer Test Maturity Model Integrated (TMMi) e-surveys. Steria India, a leading provider of IT enabled business services, and Experimentus, the software quality management consulting firm, today announced a strategic partnership to service the growing needs of the Testing and Quality Assurance (QA) community in India. This follows the launch of the three part Steria RightTesting^TM service in February which helps clients identify the critical risk and quick-win opportunities in testing operations and improve quality, enhancing Steria’s existing Consultancy offering. This partnership will streamline the development process, helping Steria customers to identify the strengths and weaknesses across the full software development life cycle, challenging the traditional testing model. This will highlight issues that need to be addressed in setup to ensure the best products and services are brought to market. TMMi has become a well respected industry acclaimed standard against which organisations can measure and improve software testing and quality related processes as well as benchmark their level of maturity. The e-surveys are already used by financial services, telecommunications, media, retail and healthcare organisations in continental Europe, UK, Singapore and India. Dr. Mukesh Aghi, CEO, Asia Pacific, of Steria said “India is a growing market so it is great to see that both the IT community and Indian organisations have started to understand the value of an independent third party testing gateway testing service. Businesses are constantly on the look out to find ways to improve their internal testing functions and Steria India can provide a quick view into the maturity of testing functions. We are already talking a lot about it to our customers and prospects and they are very excited to get their testing functions assessed to TMMi maturity levels.” Customers want to know where they stand today and want help in deciding where they can go tomorrow. Ultimately, it is about optimising cost by doing things the right way and making sure that the offerings that are brought to market are the best they can be. Julian Clarke, director of sales and marketing at Experimentus commented, “We are delighted to be working with Steria India and making the TMMi e-Survey available to the Indian market. Many organisations have previously used TMMi to independently measure and identify improvements in their own test and quality capabilities but more recently we have seen TMMi become part of the evaluation criteria when selecting a supplier which has driven the need for formal TMMi Certification. As a first step towards Improvement or Certification we developed our TMMi e-Survey solution to help quickly identify areas for improvement and provide those organisations wanting formal certification with an informal but useful indication of their maturity level.”

Steria Smart Energy Management: the first solution to offer end-to-end optimisation of business energy use

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:00:00 +0000

To put together this offering, Steria has built on its own experience in its energy-positive Green Office® facilities in Meudon. This summer, Steria was the first company to move into large-scale office premises of this nature. To manage these, Steria has developed a one-of-a-kind solution, known as Smart Energy Management, to manage the firm’s energy use – as monitored by 19,000 sensors located throughout 23 000 m2 of space. The data is gathered in real time, floor by floor, office by office, recording energy production and consumption by type of use. For this facility, analysis goes far beyond what is required by RT2005 thermal regulations, extending to no fewer than 9 types of consumption including lifts, car park lighting and office automation energy use. Smart Energy Management offers a threefold analysis, encompassing habits, comfort and the weather. It incorporates data about the building and makes adjustments for specific equipment, various types of use, employees’ habits and how these change – as well as the weather outside. “In many cases, energy optimisation strategies are still based merely on theoretical principles. The system developed by Steria makes it possible to use pragmatic data, fed back in real time and with an extremely high degree of accuracy. We can assess and simulate factors such as the impact of changes in employees’ behaviour,” explained François Praddaude, Executive Director for Energy, Utilities and Telecoms at Steria France. Steria’s offering goes even further. To ensure lower energy costs, Steria Consulting staff specialising in energy optimisation begin by drawing up an environmental performance report on their clients’ facilities. Following this audit, Steria works with its clients to examine how to bring down energy consumption in the long term, including through the use of change management assistance. In the near future, companies will be facing fresh challenges Over and above optimising firms’ energy use, working on the future of existing premises is already an important issue. “The real challenge in the years to come is to make buildings themselves smart. Buildings can be altered to varying degrees, for instance by having an energy consumption system installed – sometimes even an energy generation system. Besides, we believe that simply helping the occupants of a building to change their habits can already lead to major reductions in energy use. This is why the integration of analysis and monitoring of habits, based on our own experience, is absolutely vital,” emphasised François Praddaude. Secondly, integrating buildings like these into “smart cities” represents a major milestone in optimised management of companies’ energy use. Steria’s experience with smart grids, particularly with the IssyGrid® project, means it can design optimisation systems which are better placed to anticipate energy use – particularly when it comes to “spikes” in demand. IssyGrid® is France’s first local smart grid set up by Issy-les-Moulineaux Council, Bouygues Immobilier and eight leading industrial players, including Steria. The goal is to enable energy optimisation at the neighbourhood level.
In response to an increasingly tight and complex energy market, IssyGrid® offers a local response to global environmental challenges. The smart grid will be gradually extended from its initial base in the Seine Ouest district to the entire city of Issy-les-Moulineaux. IssyGrid® will cover the needs of nearly 10,000 people in a 160,000 square-meter area. Very quickly, nearby residential buildings will be included as well.

Third quarter 2011 revenue

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 06:35:00 +0000

Heavy Goods vehicle eco-tax : Thales, Steria, SFR and SNCF take equity stakes in Ecomouv

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Thales, Steria, SFR and SNCF have today formalised with the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transportation and Housing, and with Autostrade per l'Italia, their equity stakes in Ecomouv SAS, the company that will develop, implement, operate and maintain the heavy goods vehicle eco-tax collection and control system. The four French partners of Autostrade, each recognised as experts in their respective fields, now jointly hold 30% of the capital, with the balance held by Autostrade. One of the most important measures instigated by the French "Grenelle de l'Environnement" law, the eco-tax project will calculate, collect and control the tax paid by French and foreign heavy goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tons that use mainland France's 15,000 km of national and departmental roads. Each heavy goods vehicle which is subject to the tax will carry onboard equipment for satellite global positioning and data communication which will calculate the amount of tax payable (dependent on mileage and vehicle class). Controls will be conducted automatically by equipment distributed throughout the network, or manually, by Control Section agents. The four French partner organisations each contribute their leading business expertise to the development of this comprehensive programme: Thales will supply the turnkey control system for the vehicles that are liable for this tax. That includes automatic control (fixed or mobile) of heavy goods vehicles conducted at 673 checkpoints, manual mobile control for control vehicles, manual portable control for agents, the technical supervision system and the centre for dealing with any anomalies. Thales has also contributed to the solution design for satellite positioning and the overall safety of the eco-tax system. Steria is responsible for developing and implementing the central financial and technical management systems as well as the customer relationship system for the Ecomouv ' organisation. At the very core of the IT architecture, the financial management system will manage the information flow from the onboard equipment and provide accounting and billing, and tax accounting functionality. The technical management system provides overall system management, data security and archiving, calculation of statistics and performance indicators and management of third party interfaces. Steria will host and operate the entire Ecomouv’ information system for the duration of the contract. SFR is providing use of their networks and managing all fixed and mobile telecommunications services required by the heavy goods vehicle eco-tax system. More specifically, SFR provides a machine-to-machine solution for the onboard equipment.
The SNCF group, in conjunction with Geodis, is responsible for the logistics for the onboard equipment distributed by Ecomouv and for field maintenance operations thanks to the technical expertise and the national coverage of SNCF’s Infra teams. Autostrade per l'Italia has overall responsibility for the toll collection system (including onboard equipment), the physical construction work required for the control system and the technical infrastructure required for the distribution network (including manned and automated point of sale terminals). Autostrade is also responsible for system integration and overall project management. This equity agreement is an important step in the mobilisation of the eco-tax project which will run for the next 13 years, with an initial design and construction phase lasting 21 months, followed by the operation and maintenance phase, at the end of which responsibility will return to the French State.

The Basque Country is the tenth Spanish region to adopt Civitas, Steria’s population and health resources information system.

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:00:00 +0000

The Basque Government Informatic Society (EJIE) has awarded a contract to Steria for the implementation and deployment of the Civitas solution, designed to manage the assurance and health card system for the Department of Health of the Basque Government. This new contract further strengthens Steria’s position as a leading IT solutions supplier for the public health sector. Civitas is Steria’s solution for managing population and healthcare resources data which is currently implemented in nine regions including the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. This system is crucial for managing individual health cards as well as the planning and allocation of health resources for the population covered by the public health system. The project assigned to Steria includes the implementation of Civitas in the Basque Autonomous Community, the migration of its current health card base and integration with various Information systems, including primary care and existing systems within the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza). With the unique identification provided by the new system to more than 2,178,000 inhabitants of Euskadi, the Department of Health will be able to increase the quality of citizen services and can better manage their healthcare resources.
This will be possible because Civitas allows its users to plan and optimise the relationship between people and health services, and strategically manage all available resources accordingly, significantly improving the quality of care provided. Resources incorporates both human capacity (about 24,000 professionals including doctors, nurses and other groups) and locations available (131 primary care units and 320 care health centres and 12 acute care hospitals and 4 hospitals of medium and long stay). The system will be developed to ensure compliance by meeting the principles of the Data Protection Organic Law (LOPD) and legislation on health cards (a transposition of a European Directive), guaranteeing secure access to information and confidentiality.
In addition, Civitas, in its continuous evolution, adds new features in response to growing public health needs and service portfolio such as links to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or healthcare planning tools. This will ensure that Civitas users will continue to deliver the best service possible to the public.
For the development of this system, Steria, an active member of HL7 Spain(*), has drawn on its vast experience in the sector. This includes participating in the efforts to integrate different applications from different regions and from the Ministry of Health in health card projects, Database users of the Spanish National Healthcare Service (SNS), the Cohesion Fund, Waiting Lists and Registration of health professionals.
(*): Health Level Seven International (HL7) is the global authority on standards for interoperability of health information technology with members in over 55 countries.

New Project at EconGas: Steria Mummert Consulting scores with GAS-X

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Steria Mummert Consulting will implement the planned strategy for expanding its offering in wholesale by partnering with a large European-oriented pilot client. “GAS-X Sales offers gas distributors a new, integrated solution for contract management, quote calculation, planning and invoicing,” says Alp Kösesoy, Senior Executive Manager at Steria Mummert Consulting. “The project can serve as a reference for the Austrian, German and European gas distribution market.” The architecture of the EconGas solution allows for the use of three GAS-X modules: GAS-X Sales for calculation and planning processes, GAS-X Billing for invoicing management, and the integration system GAS-X APM based on the inubit BPM Suite for service-oriented process and workflow management. Steria Mummert Consulting will implement the calculation, invoicing and planning processes in two phases for all EconGas locations. “EconGas’s stated goal is to use GAS-X to create a central, integrated system for the company’s core distribution processes. The solution will form the basis for existing distribution areas and for systematic adaptation to future target markets,” is how Sascha Dobritzhofer explains the system’s significance. Dobritzhofer is an EconGas Key Account Manager for industrial customers and assistant project leader for sales. EconGas’s core business is direct sales of natural gas to resellers and business clients in Europe with annual consumption of more than 500,000 cubic metres. A further important field of business is sales of natural gas to international sales centres. At 53.1 percent, EconGas’s foreign sales make up more than half of its business and indicate a European-oriented internationalization strategy, with companies in Austria, Germany, Italy and Hungary. EconGas is a joint venture of OMV Gas & Power (50%), EVN (16.51%), Wien Energie (16.51%), EGBV (14.25%) and BEGAS (2.73%). With more than 1500 energy/utilities dedicated professionals in 16 countries, Steria addresses the challenges of utilities operators through the end to end management of the energy chain (production, transport, distribution, sales and measuring energy costs). Steria's range of services include: field service management (including mobile maintenance and deployment); CRM and billing; smart metering and grid balancing; energy trading and risk, information and assets management. Steria's Gas-X solution, used by leading Gas providers in Germany and Netherlands, is a comprehensive solution for EDM & billing, balancing & capacity management, commercial dispatching and billing for short term trading.

French Civil Service enlists the help of Steria for the ONP’s Human Resources Information System, speeding up modernisation

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:00:00 +0000

For its National Payroll Operator (ONP), the French Ministry for the Budget, Public Accounts, the Civil Service and State Reform has chosen Steria to install a Human Resources Information System (HRIS) serving several government ministries. This four-year contract, worth some €9 million, is part of the programme to modernise French government administration. “In the wake of the Application Management contract Chorus win for modernisation of the French government’s budget operations, this project devoted to public-sector human resources confirms Steria’s expertise in the deployment of key programmes serving multiple government ministries. Steria’s knowhow in managing major modernisation initiatives represents are a genuine asset when it comes to ensuring that such reforms – vital in the current economic climate – are properly implemented” explains Olivier Vallet, CEO of Steria France. A major inter-ministry project – and the cornerstone of modernising human resources in government The HRIS, built by the ONP around its future Payroll application, is designed to provide all client ministries with a unique, shared IT system which complies with the aims of LOLF financial legislation as it applies to government human resources and the modernisation of the French Civil Service. In terms of modernising the civil service’s information systems, the ONP has the following missions:

designing and implementing the new information system to handle civil servants’ pay,
designing, developing, maintaining and circulating the common specifications and reference documents with which government human resources information systems must comply, as well as ensuring compliance with these standards, enshrined in the civil service human resources “RH-FPE Core” document.

Ultimately, the ONP will provide payroll services for over 3 million civil servants. Based on an HRAccess solution, the system will be operated by the ONP on a SAAS (software as a service) basis for 65,000 users of 7 ministries, including the first two pilot ministries. “Our expertise in the business of government human resources and HRAccess software within complex government environments is a real plus, allowing us to design a unique HRIS which can cater for the needs of each client ministry whilst taking into account the particularities of each.,” says Olivier Vallet, CEO of Steria France. Steria: a key partner in the French government’s modernisation programme A major player in the deployment of complex Human Resources Information Systems, Steria has been assisting French government departments with civil service pay and human resources for a number of years now. This expertise is backed up by successful projects for the French Ministries of Culture, Social Affairs, Education and Defence, as well as the French professional training agency AFPA. ONP The ONP is a nationwide agency attached to the French Ministry for the Budget, Public Accounts and State Reform’s Department of Public Finance (DGFIP) and to the French Civil Service Ministry’s Department of Civil Service and Administration (DGAFP). It was established by the decree of May 15, 2007 to conduct modernisation of government Human Resources and Payroll operations.

When greener IT becomes smarter IT

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 22:00:00 +0000

By 2050, a staggering seventy percent of the global population is forecast to live in cities. Therefore, there is a pressing need for us to think about how we might change the way our cities operate to ensure we will live smarter, greener, more sustainable lives, and ICT is set to play a pivotal role in that evolution. That is according to a new opinion paper launched today by Steria, the European IT-enabled business services provider. Francois Enaud, Group CEO, Steria, explains: “ICT companies have been responding to a growing trend for green IT for some time now, with technologies like virtualisation, and practices like tele-working and videoconferencing now common-place. However, population growth, globalisation, urbanisation, environmental sustainability, regulation and technology are forcing us to think about what the next steps might be. All the evidence suggests that both smart cities and smarter thinking are an absolute necessity for society’s continued advancement. So the role of ICT is more critical than ever.” For example, using new technology to change working practices in both the public and private sector could deliver a worldwide reduction of 500 million tons of CO2 by 2020. It is a "post-Kyoto Protocol" that many nations are keen to pursue. Technologies including smart meters, sensor networks, fibre optic and wireless communication networks and data analytics software for city services will help measure, streamline and share resources within the urban environment. Enaud continues: “Implementing an integrated and strategic technological approach that includes Smart Grids, Smart Transport, Smart Building and Smart Government will help drive intellectual and social infrastructure, improving a city’s competitiveness. Technology will be at the forefront of the effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of urban systems and services. It will enable consumers and businesses to see their energy use and emissions in real-time.” Turning the cities of today into the smart cities of tomorrow is a considerable task, but vital if nations are to meet their carbon emission targets. In partnership with a number of like-minded organisations, including Steria, Bouygues Immobilier is leading implementation of a smart grid in Issy near Paris. A first for France, the project aims to integrate domain knowledge in utilities, digitalised business processes, measurement and governance of buildings, use of energy and transport services to achieve the end goal of a more sustainable, green variety of available services for the city and its inhabitants. Once complete, it will be possible to consider intelligence across utilities grids and execute governance across all facilities involved. “Sixty years ago there were only three billion people on earth and fewer than one billion lived in towns and cities,” continues Enaud. “Today three and a half times that live in cities and in just four decades it will have nearly doubled again, with all those people relying on environmentally sustainable, clean and efficient cities to live and work in. Sustainable, smart cities will go a long way to meet these needs.” According to the report, a series of essential components are required to successfully develop smart cities, the first of which is to create a combined view of city governance by integrating city-wide systems. The report recommends that complex IT environments should be rationalised, cloud and outsourced services utilised, and a network of integrated solutions developed. “If we are serious about adapting our city environments to this new paradigm then we shouldn’t wait to do it,” continues Enaud. “These are changes for the good and we have the means at our disposal to implement them today. Leadership is about moving into new territory, taking new ground and being early in engaging new opportunities.” For more information please visit this link.

NB: Forecast data and statistics have been drawn from ‘The Future’ report, commissioned by Steria and published this summer with the support of Global Futures and Foresight (GFF).
To read more of the projections it suggests for the next forty years,
. please access an online magazine version via (http://www.steria.com/futuresreport),
. or download a copy from (http://www.steria.com/uploads/media/The_Futures.pdf) for non-Flash users.

Cleveland Police Authority and Steria extend shared services partnership

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 05:45:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European IT-enabled business services provider, today announced the extension of its shared services partnership with Cleveland Police Authority which will deliver additional savings in excess of €10 (£9 million). Concurrently, Steria has officially opened the new state-of-the-art Shared Services Centre in Stockton which will house the force’s finance, HR, procurement, fleet, and facilities functions. A number of additional support services will be delivered alongside those undertaken by Steria at the start of the ten-year contract in October 2010. Effective from 1st July 2011, Steria’s remit will include centralising Crime Management units in each of the four Force districts and merging with the control room, as well as civilianising a newly combined Risk and Operational Planning unit that will handle emergency and event planning together with risk assessment and safety. As with all services Steria provides to Cleveland, these additional services will enable officers to devote more time to operational policing, through significantly reduced paperwork. In October 2010, the shared service model was rolled out across the Force to benefit the 2,200 employees and local community. Under the partnership agreement, Steria is working with the Force and Authority to deliver key services including the control room, support for the preparation of criminal case files, and shared business services covering finance, HR, payroll, procurement, fleet management and facilities functions. Peter Race, Chair of Cleveland Police Authority, commented: “When we embarked on the partnership with Steria we set ourselves the key objectives of delivering better services to the public, generating €55 million (£50 million) savings over ten years and maintaining a strong front-line service. The benefits generated by this partnership have helped us weather the pressures so far and this latest development will help us extend the benefits even further.” Sean Price, Chief Constable at Cleveland Police, commented: “The extension of the partnership with Steria allows us to continue our vision of Putting People First by safeguarding jobs and protecting front-line services. We are under no illusions about the challenges of the Comprehensive Spending Review and the millions that we have to save, but both the Force and the Authority are committed to reducing crime.”
Gavin Chapman, Chief Operating Officer at Steria, commented: "The shared service for Cleveland Police was designed to flex and scale in response to the client’s changing needs. As public funding comes under greater scrutiny, Cleveland is well-positioned to respond to calls for even greater cost savings and operational efficiency without sacrificing quality of policing.” He continued: “I am honoured to be part of a team working in close cooperation with the client; the process efficiencies experienced by Cleveland mark the beginning of a journey that will ultimately transform the Force in many beneficial ways.”

Steria wins application management contract with Trondheim, the third largest Norwegian city

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:45:00 +0000

The Norwegian Municipality of Trondheim has signed a contract worth around 20 million euros (NOK 155 million) to outsource its application management services to Steria for the next five years. The contract means Steria will provide all central application management services in the municipality which covers 150 applications used by 12,000 people. To do this, Steria will develop a new IT platform split into two data centres, one in Trondheim and the other in Oslo. As soon as the new platform is available, all applications and data will be migrated across from existing management suppliers. “We will be providing future oriented solutions based on continuous further development of the technology. To users, Trondheim will be seen as a modern and innovative authority,” says Trygve Solem, Director of Business Development at Steria. The agreement is for a period of five years with an option of a one year extension. “This is undoubtedly one of the largest management agreements we have signed in Norway,” says Trygve Solem. Trondheim issued an invitation to tender in December last year, and following a prequalification round, the choice was narrowed down to three companies. “We received several excellent bids, but following a comprehensive selection process, we feel confident that Steria is the right partner to manage our applications portfolio,” says Harald Moe, IT Director for the Municipality of Trondheim. About the Municipality of Trondheim:
Trondheim is situated in central Norway. It is the third most densely populated municipality and third largest city in Norway with a population of 173,652. Trondheim is the administrative centre of Sør-Trøndelag County.
(Source: Wikipedia)

Heavy goods vehicles eco-tax system

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:56:00 +0000

The French Conseil d’État1 rejects the cancellation request of the previously awarded contract to establish a heavy goods vehicles eco-tax system. On February 8, 2011, Autostrade per l’Italia was awarded a partnership contract* for financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the heavy goods vehicle ecotax collection and control system. Valued at more than EUR 2 billion, the contract should have been valid for fourteen years. Upon request of several disappointed bidders, the administrative court of Cergy-Pontoise had ordered, on March 8, the cancellation of the awarded contract. The French Ministry of Ecology and Autostrade per l’Italia had therefore seized the Court of Cassation and the Conseil d’État rejected the cancellation request on June 24, 2011. * see the “Heavy goods vehicles eco-tax system” press release, dated January 24, 2011 (available here). 1 – The Conseil d’État is the highest state council in France

Steria France implements France’s first energy performance contract for its 25 000 m2 Green Office® facility

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:45:00 +0000

In less than two months’ time, Steria France will move into France’s first large-scale energy-positive office building, built by Bouygues Immobilier. An
Energy Performance Contract (EPC) has been drawn up to ensure that the building is run under the best possible economic and environmental
conditions – another first in France. At the end of 2009, Steria France launched a major project to bring together its facilities in one location in premises that could accommodate its considerable growth – while considering environmental concerns. Following a selection process, Steria chose a building rated “Excellent” under BREEAM1 standards: the Green Office® building designed by Bouygues Immobilier. This energypositive building is located in Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine. At the same time, a contract was set up between the principal tenant, Steria France, the developer, Bouygues Immobilier, and the operator Exprimm, to control energy management of the facility.

Self-service access to Healthcare, Education and Security by 2020, report reveals

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 05:30:00 +0000

The austerity-stricken healthcare, education and security sectors will experience radical change to become ‘self-service’ industries by 2020, concluded Steria, the European IT-enabled business services provider, based on “The Future” report published today - http://www.steria.com/futuresreport* Through a compelling synopsis of data from more than 150 published sources, the report, commissioned by Steria, outlines how an overwhelming demand for services delivered 'anytime, anyplace, anywhere, anyhow', driven by both social and economic factors , will set the wheels in motion for accelerated step-changes in these vital sectors. Francois Enaud, Group CEO, Steria, explains: “Within our lifetimes, everyday public services will mirror what we can only imagine today as futuristic scenarios. The convenience-driven, commercial innovations of recent years will increasingly penetrate public services, enabled by renewed investment in services that improve standards of living across global communities.” Austerity-stricken sectors must do more than play catch-up
Recent self-service innovations in the commercial sector include cashless mobile ‘wallets’, in-store product locators for the retail industry, and a network of charging stations for electric vehicles throughout the EU in UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Spain. The benefits derived from commercial sector innovations – namely, more control, flexibility and self-determination over how services are received – could soon be extended to customers of essential healthcare, education and security services. “In a self-service world, IT services experts will play an even more critical role in ensuring that public service projects ‘just work’, and work in the interest of the communities they are meant to serve. Sharing international best practice will accelerate this change, especially with emerging markets where mobile is really accelerating innovation.” He continued: “In 2020, the role of IT services professionals as technology integrators will continue to be as relevant, given the continued proliferation of platforms, devices and applications. The major difference is the shift from commercial applications to public service applications that are more Jetsons than G-Cloud.”
The roadmap to self-service innovation Enaud’s vision for the next 10 to 20 years includes rapid innovation that will see rapid change in three sectors: Healthcare
- EU citizens will be able to access sophisticated self-diagnosis tools to cut waiting list times and improve patient care
- Hospitals and surgeries will carry out remote diagnosis through virtual video or teleconference appointments, and patients will receive instant referral. In addition, telemetrics and remote monitoring of city inhabitants will give early warning of impending health issues
- Machines will run simple tests such as heart rate, blood pressure, eye examinations, through the interface of a computer screen Education
- More e-qualifications will have launched, taking us a step closer to providing students from emerging markets with affordable access to international degrees/diplomas. The emergence of self-service will bring greater convergence and democratise access to services in the E7 developing countries.
- Textbooks will largely be replaced by the internet in classrooms, and touchscreen, interactive whiteboards will be regarded as standard
- Every schoolchild in the EU will be issued with a laptop or tablet computer Security
- Digital signatures to access documents, restricted zones on the ‘cloud’ and to remotely provide proof of identity, will soon be commonplace
- Government buildings will require access by iris scan
- Faster broadband speeds and more secure databases will enable closer collaboration between police forces internationally “The future of products and services is already laid out in front of us, and it is all driven by the consumer,” explains Enaud. “All that’s required in between is the innovation from companies and governments to make this foresight a reality.” ^(*)The Future report is available in two formats: - the flash version is available here - http://www.steria.com/futuresreport - the pdf version is available here

2011 winners of the Steria Foundation - Institut de France Scholarship

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 22:00:00 +0000

On May 25 last, the Steria Foundation - Institut de France jury met to announce the winners of the 2011 scholarship. This scholarship is designed to support student projects which make information technology available to vulnerable groups. This year, the jury made a joint award to two projects: D’HOMEsanté by the School of Computer Science, Networks and Telecommunications Engineering (Ecole supérieure d’ingénieurs en informatique et télécommunications, Esigetel) and Un Stage et Après (USEA) presented by Sciences Po politics students. D’HOMEsanté: technology to help patients
D’HOMEsanté is a technological project which aims to provide chronically ill and dependent individuals with a remote alert system using mobile communications devices. The system uses smartphones to provide remote, real-time monitoring of patients' physiological data. The two key players in this scheme are the doctor and the patient. Patients have a Bluetooth-enabled phone equipped with one or more intelligent sensors: these monitor physiological parameters such as heart rhythm, temperature, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. An intelligent server linked to a GSM modem coordinates communications between doctors and patients. The doctor can receive the data transmitted by the patient's phone on their own smartphone, PC or laptop using a specific application. The same app also allows the doctor to manage the list of people to contact in the event of an emergency for each patient. An initial pilot study is to be carried out in Cameroon, where a high percentage of patients with cardiovascular diseases die relatively quickly because they do not receive care fast enough.
www.esigetel.fr Un Stage et Après: finding out more about different jobs The non-profit body Un Stage et Après (USEA) aims to optimise the way lower secondary school pupils seek and prepare internships. The purpose is to enable all pupils, irrespective of their personal network and academic abilities, to find about different jobs and find a placement which is beneficial for their future. The project's success relies on the involvement throughout the year of local stakeholders in order to create an educational community which can help inform pupils' career choices and create a local dynamic with the help of new technologies. USEA is hoping to set up a web platform which can be consulted on a mobile phone, as well as an application which will make the system more agile in the short term. The association is also committed to setting up workshops dealing with information and search technologies. Lower secondary school pupils can learn how to use social networks effectively and understand the significance of these new communications channels. For instance, LinkedIn can be used to establish partnerships with local businesses and help find placements, while the association's blog provides information for interns' families – as well as sharing details of the experience well beyond the placement itself.
www.sciencespo.fr The Steria Foundation at the Institut de France
Presided over by its Chancellor, Gabriel de Broglie, the Institut de France brings together and oversees a large number of foundations relating to a wide variety of fields. Under its aegis, the purpose of the Steria Foundation is to promote initiatives which place information technologies at the service of people. More specifically, the Foundation aims to overcome the digital divide by supporting projects in which information technologies directly benefit the vulnerable and underprivileged. The Foundation works in three broad areas: education and training; the development of innovative solutions to improve day-to-day life; and support for social entrepreneurs.
www.fondationsteria.org / www.institut-de-france.fr

Steria achieves CarbonNeutral® flight and fleet certifications

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:38:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European IT-enabled business services provider, today announces that it has achieved CarbonNeutral® certification through the measurement, reduction and offsetting of carbon dioxide (CO2e) emissions generated by its flights and company and privately owned vehicles used for business across its Group[1]. The move is part of the company's ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability and Corporate Responsibility.

Steria implemented a travel reduction policy without compromising its client commitment, and calculated its business travel footprint for 2010. To achieve CarbonNeutral® certification, Steria selected The CarbonNeutral Company as its carbon offset partner, and purchased credits from two Verified Carbon Standard projects: the Tieling Coal Mine Methane Capture project in China that prevents the release of this potent greenhouse gas and uses it to generate energy and the Tamil Nadu Wind Power initiative in India. The company has also pledged to continue to lower its own carbon emissions per employee by travelling less and leveraging further web and video conferencing technologies. Steria has outlined a clear strategy for reducing its environmental footprint. The activities include an energy reduction strategy, continuing commitment to CarbonNeutral® travel and establishing green solutions and services for its clients. These activities are underpinned by the ISO 14001, the Environmental Management certification programme across the Group (successfully achieved in seven countries), embracing ISO26000 Best Practice guidelines for Social Responsibility and reporting externally the Performance Indicators to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Today's announcement follows on from the news, announced in December 2010, that Steria is now the only international IT services company listed in France to receive an ‘A' rating/banding from the Carbon Disclosure Project in the 2010 Carbon Performance Leadership Index (CPLI) - the highest rating possible. Jonathan Shopley, Managing Director of The CarbonNeutral Company says, "Emissions from flights and company vehicles can make a significant contribution to the carbon footprint of global companies like Steria. Measuring and reducing these emissions to net zero demonstrates Steria's strong commitment to the environment and the values of its clients, partners, investors and employees. Showing leadership by setting and meeting this type of reduction target will hopefully encourage other business to take similar action." John Neilson, Head of Steria Group's Green Committee and Green Business Community, comments: "Climate change is an important issue for Steria. We are pleased to now be recognised as an established leader in environment. The company has set itself some aggressive targets before the end of this year and has already made significant headway against those objectives, notably the move to an ‘Energy-Positive' Green building near Paris late summer. We are looking forward to making more announcements about how our actions contribute to reduce our carbon footprint." About The CarbonNeutral Company
The CarbonNeutral Company (www.carbonneutral.com) is a world leading provider of carbon reduction solutions. It has worked with over 300 major businesses and thousands of small and medium sized companies in 32 countries to develop offset inclusive carbon reduction programmes. Since 1997, it has purchased carbon credits from over 200 projects in 24 countries. CarbonNeutral® is the registered trademark of The CarbonNeutral Company and is a global standard to certify that businesses have measured and reduced their CO2 emissions to net zero for their company, products, operations or services. Permission to display the CarbonNeutral® mark is only given to clients whose carbon reduction programme is implemented in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol. The Protocol assures quality of offset projects, carbon footprint assessments and communication and is regularly reviewed by an Independent Advisory Group. The company's ‘audit trail' includes an annual independent verification of CarbonNeutral programmes - from contracts with carbon offset partners through to contracts with clients and everything in between. The CarbonNeutral Company has offices in New York, London and Singapore. The CarbonNeutral Company is a founding member of The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA), which provides leadership and a unified voice advocating for rigorous industry standards www.icroa.org.
[1] The CarbonNeutral® flight and fleet certifications include travels made in delivering business obligations (ie. travelling to client offices and travel between Steria's offices. This does not include employees' travel to their regular place of work).

NHS Shared Business Services wins €15m (£13.5m) contract extension with ten NHS Trusts in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:28:00 +0000

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), has today announced it has renewed its long-term strategic contract with ten NHS organisations across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, worth €15m (£13.5m) over an additional four years. Starting 1st April 2011, the contract includes the provision of Finance & Accounting and Payroll Services and follows the merger and restructure of community Primary Care Trusts (PCTs).

The ten NHS organisations across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight covered by the agreement are: NHS Hampshire
NHS Portsmouth
NHS Isle of Wight
NHS Southampton
Solent NHS Trust
Hampshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust
Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
South Central Strategic Health Authority NHS SBS acquired Hampshire Shared Financial Services in 2005, providing it with the Payroll platform to extend the Payroll Service to new clients. NHS SBS, a joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, will work in partnership with the ten organisations to carry out their automation project which covers Payroll services and organisational changes required to meet GP Consortia needs. The extended partnership will continue to drive major cost and efficiency savings. Chris Palmer, Director of Finance at Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust, said: "NHS SBS plays an integral role in our strategy to build speed and reliability into our systems through automated processes. We are currently undergoing significant change to meet the requirements of the new NHS structure, and with pressure on budgets we are making every effort to achieve efficiencies in the process. NHS SBS provides a wealth of management information, which means we will have improved financial controls, better systems management and a more robust IT infrastructure." John Neilson, Chief Executive of NHS SBS, said, "We have worked hard over the years to build on best practice for all organisations within the NHS. Our dedicated team of people will build on cost efficiencies already achieved for the Hampshire community organisations, and continue to deliver value through quality of service and improved business intelligence during this period of transformation to GP Consortia."

About NHS Shared Business Services: www.sbs.nhs.uk
NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is the market leader in business support services for the NHS. It is a unique joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, and currently provides Finance & Accounting, Payroll & HR, Family Health Services and Commercial Procurement Solutions to all types of NHS organisations. More than 27 million people in England have NHS healthcare delivered by NHS SBS clients. NHS SBS provides a range of value added services to enable NHS trusts to focus on strategic decision making and business improvement activities, whilst benefiting from operational efficiencies and real cost savings of between 20% and 40%. With over 1,400 people employed, NHS SBS recovers more than £12 billion of debt, pays 200,000 NHS employees and processes £36 billion of payments per annum for its NHS clients. NHS SBS works with over 40% of NHS organisations to deliver operational efficiencies, cost savings and improved service quality, and is on target to deliver £250 million of cost savings to NHS trusts and organisations.

Steria develops an interactive web portal for deaf people in Spain

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:45:00 +0000

The Region of Murcia (Fesormu) will soon launch a new bilingual and multimedia web portal alongside the Federation of Deaf People, giving the hearing impaired access to vital information from their PC and 3G in sign language, using the latest video and content management technology.

The Federation of Deaf People in the Region of Murcia (Fesormu) in Spain today launches a new bilingual and multimedia portal, developed by Steria, for deaf people. All vital information will be available in sign language (LSE), using the latest video and content management technology. The project will help to better integrate deaf people into the new information society, giving them equal access to online information to hearing people. The portal will be accessible from a PC connected to the Internet and 3G or Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices via a BlackBerry Browser, Mobile Safari for Iphone / Ipod Touch, Nokia Symbian or Android Browser. This innovative platform will enable deaf people to access all vital information regardless of their level of competence in written language with video sign language translations. The platform puts FESORMU at the "cutting edge" of global technology for deaf people. The web portal will include a content manager and search engine powered by Liferay Server and Adobe Flash Server for video management. It will include a MySQL database and work according to the content accessibility guidelines using 2.0 Web and AA level. The platform will give users access to documents, news, events, FAQ's, newsletters and mailing lists. The web site will also include information about services such as aids and subsidies, job offers and the ability to schedule appointments with the Federation's translation service to book sign language interpreters easily. Using an interactive video server can provide multimedia applications that make intensive use of video and audio. One of these typical applications is the integrated video web chat. In this way, it is possible to avoid dependence on external services such as Messenger, Skype, GTalk, etc. This service is essential to achieve a direct and simple communication for the deaf community by LSE. The portal will, most importantly, include a dedicated multimedia integrated online chat services, allowing deaf users to communicate with other deaf people using sign-language. Francisco Jesús Pérez Ruiz, FESORMU President, comments, "Hundreds of citizens in the Region of Murcia in Spain with hearing disabilities are looking forward to benefiting from the services offered by our new website, helping them to integrate in the Information Society thanks to cutting-edge new technologies in sign language." The portal's development has been financed by the Regional Government of Murcia alongside a grant from the Ministry of Industry and funds from FEDER (European Fund for Regional Development). This project is part of Steria Group's ongoing commitment to Corporate Responsibility. The move is part of the community programmes supported by Steria to bring greater independence to disadvantaged people, like the "Digital Bridges" initiative helping disadvantaged youths in Cambodia to become engineers, IT training in Norway aimed at helping immigrant women. Civikey, a virtual keyboard for people with motor disabilities, was developed in partnership with the «new technologies» platform at Garches hospital near Paris in France, the IT engineer school Intech Info and the Steria-Institut de France Foundation. In addition, Steria Group also works on a number of carbon reduction and environmental initiatives.

In the UK, the Ministry of Justice selects Steria for 5-year shared services contract

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 09:29:00 +0000

Steria today announced it has been selected by the UK Ministry of Justice as its delivery partner for business applications development, implementation and maintenance as part of a wider shared services programme. Under the five-year contract, Steria will implement an Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that will serve as a common operating platform across the department and, in the future, its associated agencies.

The Shared Services Programme will provide back-office functionality and support the Ministry of Justice in delivering efficient, high quality back-office operations to enable the department to deliver efficiency savings estimated at €31m (£28m) per annum by 2013, and to produce accurate management information reporting across the Ministry of Justice. Steria will work closely with the in-house team to consolidate multiple legacy data systems and introduce self-service capability for staff. Steria's core solution will be built around Oracle E-Business Suite R12, to provide the portal, case management, document management and management information solutions necessary to achieve the delivery of automated, self-service and minimal touch processes. Steria's proposal was supported by extensive experience in new applications development and value creation through shared service partnerships. For example, NHS Shared Business Services, a joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, is on track to deliver €283m (£250m) in savings to the Department of Health by 2015. In addition, Cleveland Police Authority selected Steria in 2010 as its strategic partner in the transformation of back-office operations expected to deliver €56m (£50m) in cashable savings. Steria has worked with the Ministry of Justice for over 15 years, including with the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), the Land Registry, and the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). John Torrie, CEO of Steria UK, commented, "Efficiency is the cornerstone of transformation in the MoJ and this is our third significant shared services contract in the public sector. We will work alongside the in-house team to implement an agile system that, for the first time, will provide a common operating platform across the department." He added, "Having worked together for over 15 years, this contract will strengthen the relationship that Steria already enjoys with the MoJ." Steria will work collaboratively with the department and its chosen partners, Accenture and Savvis in the implementation of the Shared Services Programme. Accenture and Savvis are respectively responsible for the systems integration and infrastructure-as-a-service platform.

Steria wins Autosys contract in Norway

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:26:00 +0000

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration has chosen Steria to further develop its vehicle and driving licence registration system, Autosys. The contract is worth an estimated 44 million euros (NOK 350 million).

Four companies - Accenture, EDB Business Partner, IBM and Steria - accepted the invitation to tender for the comprehensive development contract at the end of a prequalifying round. The new Autosys system will be one of the biggest and most complex ICT solutions in the Norwegian public sector. The contract with Steria includes systems development and subsequent management and further development. Jon Harald Holm, project manager for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, explains, "This is an important milestone. We are now in a position to move forward towards the new Autosys, from the preparatory stage to the development work itself. Following an extensive evaluation process, we are confident that Steria is the right partner for this work." "The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is well prepared for implementation of the development project which has a budget of 63 million euros (NOK 500 million) and is due for completion in 2014. We have plenty of experience from previous projects and we also intend to make use of earlier developments." Simpler for everyone
Ann-Kristin Skarbøvig, Business Development Manager at Steria Norway, comments: "The IT contract is one of the biggest of the year in this sector and so we are absolutely delighted that the Norwegian Public Roads Administration chose to partner us. Our extensive experience in delivering large development projects like this will be a major advantage in delivering the Autosys project." "We intend to use future oriented technology such as Java and Oracle to develop a modern, service-oriented solution, tapping into some subcontracted work with Visma Sirius and Decisive." says Skarbøvig. New system
The development is designed to modernise the vehicle and driving licence register system in Norway to deliver a greater customer focus, more efficient work processes and a more uniform ICT solution. The existing system is from the 1980s and no longer meets the requirements of a modern ICT solution, in terms of information, functionality and integration with other internal and external systems. Holm continues, "There are no off the shelf solutions in this area or other solutions we can use. Which means a lot of the work will be pure development tasks. Apart from the Roads Administration, other organisations such as Norwegian Customs and Excise, the Police, car dealers and insurance companies are big users of Autosys. Steria will enable us to transform from being stuck with various systems of low quality and old technology, to a future oriented, user friendly, reliable and secure ICT solution that enables a high level of self-service via the Altinn portal."

The solution will ensure standardisation of processes and procedures between public sector organisations involved in the project, so as to ensure services are uniform and predictable and can be tested, with a focus on delivering more self-service online solutions. About Autosys
- Autosys is the Norwegian Public Roads Administration vehicle and driving licence register, which is to be - updated.
- Autosys is one of the largest IT systems in Norway with 150 million searches a year.
- The system holds data on vehicles and driving licences, EU checks, fees and penalty points.
- The system has 20,000 users, mainly driving schools, car dealers, the Police and Customs and Excise.
- The new system is to be easier to use, with more self-service online and fewer manual transfers that are a source of error.

Philippe Calvet appointed Head of Steria Group Application Portfolio Management offering

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:54:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European IT-enabled business services provider, has announced the appointment of Philippe Calvet as Head of the Steria Group's APM[1] offering.

Philippe Calvet took up the position in January 2011. He will have three main areas of responsibility: - Managing the APM offering: development, dissemination, and deployment both internally, to sales and delivery forces, and externally;

- Furthering the industrialisation of this service, with the implementation of a common set of processes and tools for the Group as a whole;

- Supporting pre-sales consultants by helping them offer Steria clients the most appropriate mix for their needs, through a combination of onshore, nearshore and offshore solutions.

Philippe Calvet's remit also extends to cross-border contracts for those of Steria's clients with a multi-country presence - an indication of the firm's ability to coordinate international projects. On becoming Steria Group's new Head of APM Services, Philippe Calvet said: "I am proud to be joining the Steria Group, which is one of the leading international IT services companies. The company has a clear commitment to making its APM offering a key avenue of expansion. This business line, which represents more than 10% of the Group's activities, is clearly strategic. I am committed to providing support for the growth of this business, in particular by helping to implement cross-border contracts." Philippe Calvet, 46, brings with him extensive experience in the IT services industry. Before joining Steria, he worked for Cap Gemini, where he was Head of France for the outsourcing of application operations management, a position he had occupied since 2007. From 2004 to 2006, he headed up LogicaCMG's Ile de France corporate insurance division. Prior to that, Philippe Calvet spent 13 years with Unilog, where he worked initially in a number of operational and then management roles, before taking charge of the firm's Industry and Services business unit in Grenoble in 2000. Philippe Calvet holds a PhD in Geology from the University of Orleans. [1] Application Portfolio Management

NHS Shared Business Services named UK Central Government Supplier of the Year

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:30:00 +0000

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), the market leader in business support services for the NHS, has been named Central Government Supplier of the Year at the Government Business Awards

NHS SBS works with 40% of NHS Trusts to provide shared business services such as Finance & Accounting, Payroll and Family Health Services. A unique joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, NHS SBS was established in 2005 to help NHS Trusts streamline back-office functions and deliver greater operational efficiency, thus enabling key staff to focus on frontline care. NHS SBS announced in June last year that it had delivered £1.06 million in royalties back to the Department of Health, to be re-distributed to existing NHS Trusts and organisations which are NHS SBS clients. The joint venture has most recently launched NHS SBS Commercial Procurement Solutions, a new business service that could drive efficiencies of more than €1 billion in NHS procurement over the next five years. The Government Business Awards recognise effective business practices in the public sector. Sofie Lidefjard, Editor of Government Business, commented, "The efficiencies that NHS SBS has generated for NHS Trusts really have made huge difference to helping the NHS work towards the savings targets set by Central Government. Their achievements speak for themselves." "Winning this accolade is a fantastic achievement, and reflects the hard work of our people at NHS SBS," said John Neilson, Chief Executive, NHS SBS. He continued,"Being recognised as Central Government Supplier of the Year affirms our position as the market leader in business support for the NHS and acknowledges the contribution we have made to NHS efficiency and cost savings." About NHS Shared Business Services: www.sbs.nhs.uk
NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is a unique joint venture between the UK Department of Health and Steria, and is the market leader in business support services for the NHS. It currently provides Finance & Accounting, Payroll, Family Health Services and Commercial Procurement Solutions to all types of NHS organisations. More than 27 million people in England have NHS healthcare delivered by NHS SBS clients. NHS SBS provides a range of value added services to enable NHS trusts to focus on strategic decision making and business improvement activities, whilst benefiting from operational efficiencies and real cost savings of between 20% and 40%. With over 1,400 people employed and in excess of 4.5 million transactions processed per annum, NHS SBS works with over 40% of NHS organisations to deliver operational efficiencies, cost savings and improved service quality. NHS SBS is on target to deliver substantial cost savings to NHS trusts and organisations. NHS SBS was cited in the 2009 HM Treasury Budget Report "improving efficiency in back office functions by building on the success of NHS Shared Business Services" and also featured in the OEP final report on efficiency savings.

Steria signs Strategic Outsourcing Framework Agreement with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the regulator of the financial services industry in the UK

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 06:47:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European IT-enabled business services provider, today announced it has signed a Strategic Outsourcing Framework Agreement with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to support and develop operational and regulatory systems.

The framework agreement includes seven aspects of work, wherein Steria has secured the right to bid within the following three areas: Infrastructure, Applications Management and BPO. The agreement will enable the FSA to be a more efficient regulator through technological upgrades, streamlined processes and enhanced productivity. Gareth Lewis, chief information officer at FSA, commented, "The rationale behind the new supplier framework is to provide increased competition amongst our supplier base given the enormous volume of work we anticipate in the next 4 years. Steria has a proven track record in delivering cost-efficient support functions to the FSA, and we are confident in the team's ability to continue to deliver. My team and I look forward to working with them." Mark Roberts, managing director, Financial Services, at Steria UK said, "We have the depth of experience in financial services to fully understand the requirements of the FSA, which include ongoing system updates and innovative IT services for regulatory compliance. We look forward to working closely with the FSA to tailor our services with the aim of not only enhancing existing IT services, but also generating long-term financial benefit."

NHS SBS launches Commercial Procurement Solutions, a new service to drive major cost and efficiency savings for the NHS

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 09:55:00 +0000

Commercial Procurement Solutions was launched following the merger of North West Collaborative Commercial Agency (NWCCA) with NHS SBS. This merger, supported by the Department of Health, represents a significant milestone for NHS Shared Business Services, which will now be in a position to offer all new and existing NHS clients a full, end-to-end procurement solution. Commercial Procurement Solutions combines the strategic sourcing and e-enablement expertise of the NWCCA with the purchase-to-pay and business transformation skills of NHS Shared Business Services. Speaking about the new service, Health Minister Lord Howe said: "Getting the best value for money for the NHS and the taxpayer is vital. I am pleased that this service will help NHS Trusts to manage their procurement in the most cost efficient way possible." John Neilson, Chief Executive of NHS Shared Business Services, added: "The Government's efficiency drive means that NHS Trusts will be expected to deliver even greater savings over the next five years. By working with NHS SBS Commercial Procurement Solutions, NHS Trusts will have access to a wide range of agreements that take advantage of economies of scale and established relationships with suppliers." He continued: "NHS SBS Commercial Procurement Solutions aims to rapidly develop health purchasing procurement skills, raise overall standards, consistency and quality of commercial capability for the NHS, and build on previous best practice." The new service will continue to be managed by Peter Akid who steered the NWCCA from strength to strength over its five-year existence, expanding both its service offering and geographical coverage to help NHS Trusts achieve savings of more than £160 million. This new business model has the potential to continue to deliver substantial savings to the NHS whilst at the same time improving quality, patient safety and provision of services.

Steria launches RightTesting to help organisations save money, save time and drive efficiencies

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:16:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European IT-enabled business services provider, today announces the launch of Steria RightTesting, a portfolio of services and solutions to help organisations take a holistic end-to-end view of their operations to see where effective testing can make a real difference to the bottom line. Going beyond the traditional view of IT software and hardware testing, Steria RightTesting will enable organisations to apply testing methodologies, tools and techniques to their ways of working and IT-supported processes.

Steria RightTesting will help clients to identify the critical risk and quick-win opportunities presented by their testing operations across both hardware and software environments. Through a set of three interlocking steps, RightTest Consulting, RightTest Transformation and RightTest Managed Services, Steria will provide organisations with consultancy, tools and managed testing services to reduce the cost and risk of bringing new products and services to market. As organisations face increasing pressure to develop and release new innovations and products more quickly, the testing phase is often overlooked. It is, at best, seen as a necessary overhead and, at worst, applied to a narrow context or overlooked altogether. It can, as a result, have huge consequences on the business, according to Steria. To counter this challenge, RightTest brings together the consulting experience and expertise of Steria with proven tools from long-time testing partner HP, as well as new partners including Experimentus, Odin Technology, QualiSystems and Smartesting. Underpinning RightTest are industry standard frameworks including CMMI, Cobit, ITIL, Prince2 and TMMi and Six Sigma, a process improvement methodology. Underpinning Steria RightTest is HP Quality Centre, which offers a single, scalable, web-based application that supports all aspects of application quality test management and delivery. Steria and HP have worked together for many years to provide clients with a consistent, repeatable process, as well as real-time reporting of the quality assurance progress and status - enabling improved communication and collaboration among IT teams. In addition, it allows the quality assurance teams to automate quality processes within the larger application lifecycle. And now that Steria is enrolled within HP's Managed Services Partner (MSP) programme, Steria is able to access proven, industry-leading Business Technology Optimisation (BTO) software with flexible licensing options that enables them to provide even more location-independent assistance for clients. Building on this successful relationship with HP, Steria has now partnered with industry leading testing providers to provide a robust offering founded on a sound methodology:

Experimentus to enhance the methodology of testing and quality improvement processes through thought leadership and industry standards including TMMI. Odin Technology to make test automation easier, quicker and more cost effective to implement and maintain through repeatable processes. QualiSystems to provide end-to-end test automation frameworks, including complete test lab management and advanced test data analysis, for virtually any hardware, network equipment and embedded system testing. Smartesting to improve test design processes by automating test creation to guarantee and certify the alignment of information system applications with the business processes of the organisation. The three elements of the new RightTest portfolio include: RightTest Consulting: A consultative engagement that provides clients with a current state maturity assessment of the way they currently carry out testing in their organisation, both against industry benchmarks and against the needs and requirements of the business. The assessment will highlight any critical issues with the current environment and any quick win opportunities. Steria will define a business case and roadmap to enable organisations to transition to a more advanced testing operation, with rigour applied throughout the development lifecycle.

RightTest Transformation: With a solid basis defined through expert consultancy, it frequently involves the deployment of systems, tools and processes inherent within a transformation programme. Using a combination of process management tools including Six Sigma and recognised industry frameworks such as ISTQB, ITIL, CMMI, Prince2 and TMMi, Steria transitions clients from their current operating model to their target operating model. To aid the process of knowledge transfer and education Steria provides clients with expert resources to run the operation while existing staff are brought up to speed with the new operation.

RightTest Managed Services: For clients interested in reducing costs longer term by industrialising their testing operation, Steria offers a complete suite of Managed Testing Services to power every step of the testing process 24x7x365, whether in-house or outsourced, in a traditional or a cloud-based environment. Sean Beesting, Group Testing Service Line Director, Steria, said, "The current economic climate means that the drive for increased quality has never been higher, nor has focus on the impact of activities on cost and time to market. The testing process in many organisations is not core to their business and therefore not a priority, so as organisations strive to deliver change, it is often seen as an expensive evil." "By combining Steria's years of consulting, testing and managed services experience with niche solutions from key innovation partners, and following industry standard frameworks and methodologies, Steria RightTesting enables organisations to get their testing right, first time, every time, and demonstrates the business value-add it can really represent."

Steria France rents the first Green Office® building from Bouygues Immobilier in Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine (France)

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:56:00 +0000

In Summer 2011, Steria France is to move to the first Green Office® building by Bouygues Immobilier, located in Meudon.This is the first large-scale energy-positive office building to be commissioned in France. Olivier Vallet, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO France, in charge of Group Innovation Policy and the supervision of Scandinavia and Belux markets, explained the reasons behind this decision: "To help our customers contribute to a more sustainable development, Steria is devising new collaborative models which embody our commitment to being a socially responsible company. More than any amount of speeches, the decision to use this building demonstrates our desire to put our convictions into practice. I am especially proud to be able to offer our employees in the Ile-de-France region the opportunity to work in such a high-quality environment." Green Office® Meudon: a highly successful and innovative concept

Launched by Bouygues Immobilier in 2008 and designed by Ion Enescu from Atelier 115 architects, Green Office® Meudon marks the emergence of a new generation of office buildings offering unprecedented performance characteristics. Its positioning with regard to market expectations is amply demonstrated by the fact that it has been leased in full - seven months prior to completion. Its advantages include the substantial economic and environmental benefit that it offers over and above current thermal building regulations: energy savings of a further 65% and a reduction in CO2 emissions of 400 tonnes per year. Green Office® Meudon's bioclimatic architecture enhances user comfort, featuring healthy materials, natural light, and pleasant workspaces. The facility also offers natural temperature regulation which does not require air conditioning, as well as acoustic comfort provided by sound-proofing panels for each office unit. To maximise user comfort, each employee can control lighting, blinds, heating and fans - and benefit from a personalised energy use report, encouraging environmentally responsible behaviour. Two key installations enable the building to produce more renewable energy than it uses over the course of a year:
- a solar farm comprising 4,200m² worth of panels, with an annual capacity of 450,000 kW/h;
- a vegetable oil cogeneration plant which provides both electricity and heat. Green Office® Meudon boasts dual environmental certification: HQE® and BREEAM Europe Office 2008, with an "excellent" rating. It has also been awarded the "BBC Effinergie" label pending certification under the BEPOS standard, which is currently being defined. "The fact that Steria France has chosen our Green Office® building in Meudon demonstrates the relevance of our concept, which is the result of firmly held convictions. This new milestone will enable us to take a step further in energy and environmental optimisation as we embark on a genuine partnership with a prime user," announced François Bertière, Chairman and CEO of Bouygues Immobilier.

Autostrade per L'Italia, in partnership with SFR, SNCF, Steria and Thales, designated to be awarded contract to establish a heavy goods vehicles eco-tax system

Sun, 23 Jan 2011 23:00:00 +0000

The French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing designated on January 18th 2011 the Ecomouv' Group, comprised of Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), SFR, SNCF, STERIA, THALES, to be awarded the contract for financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the heavy goods vehicle eco-tax collection and control system. The Group and the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing are now starting the legal and financial closing phase with a view to signing the public-private partnership agreement to make the eco-tax collection and control system available. One of the most important measures instigated by the "Grenelle de l'Environnement" law, the eco-tax project means that French and foreign heavy goods vehicles over 3.5 tons pay for use of continental France's 15,000 km of national and departmental roads. Each heavy goods vehicle subject to the tax will carry onboard equipment for satellite global positioning and communication of the taxable base data. Controls will be conducted automatically by equipment distributed throughout the network, and manually, by the entitled Control Section. The Ecomouv' Group brings together partners with the best expertise in their fields, in the realms of road transport infrastructure management; critical, logistical and telecommunications systems; and information systems. The successful European experiments and in-depth knowledge of technical solutions developed by the various partners is an indispensable guarantee that the innovative electronic tolling system be implemented reliably and on schedule, to establish the eco-tax nationwide. Experimentation since September 2010 on a fleet of test-trucks in France has demonstrated how completely operational the proposed system is. The Ecomouv' offer also is based on an industrial project to multiple uses and developments of the French territory, through the maintenance and creation of close to 300 jobs in France. The heavy goods vehicle onboard equipment will be made in Châtellerault. Ecomouv' Group members: Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI): Autostrade per l'Italia has over 50 years' experience in the construction of toll motorways and the management ofrelated services and technologies. A leader in electronic toll collection, with over 7.2 million customers in Italy alone, Autostrade per l'Italia also successfully developed and commissioned the firstmulti-lane free-flow toll collection system in the world, in Austria. With a workforce of over 10,000, the Autostrade per l'Italia group had revenue of €3.6bn in 2009. Autostrade per l'Italia manages a network totalling over 3,400km in Italyand a further 800km elsewhere in the world, including a major presence in South America and Eastern Europe. www.autostrade.it SFR:The result of a merger between SFR and Neuf Cegetel,SFR Business Team is the leading alternative fixed and mobile operator on the business market in France. Offeringend-to-end fixed and high-speed mobilenetwork infrastructures, SFT Business Team has 140,000 customers, including 90% of France's leading CAC 40 firms. With all the latest technologies, 300 ‘solutions' partners and 2,000 dedicated staff, SFR Business Team is a benchmark operator, capable of releasing the full potential of any business. SFR Business Team has Qualicert certification for all its services and benefits on the international scene from its partnership with Vodafone. www.sfrbusinessteam.fr SNCF: SNCF is one of the world's leadin mobility and logistics groups, with revenue in 2010 of some €30bn (est) and an estimated 235,000 employees in 120 countries. A state-owned group with a public-service vocation, the SNCF's mission is to promote a society characterised by greater mobility, respect and solidarity, by establishing green mobility as its growth engine - and as the preferred choice of its customers, passengers, Organising Authorities and freight customers. SNCF is divided into five divisions: management, operations, maintenance and rail infrastructure engineering (SNCF Infra); urban, periurban and regional public commuter transport (SNCF Proximités); rail transport for long-distance and high-speed passengers (SNCF Voyages); goods transport and logistics (SNCF Geodis); and station management and development (Gares&Connexions). www.sncf.com STERIA: Steria is present across the entire information system life cycle, creating the technological environments for the strategic, economic and social transformation of its customers in the public and private sectors. Established in France in 1969, today the Steria Group is present in 16 countries. Steria employs 18,300 people and had revenue of €1.63bn in 2009. 20.3% of its capital is owned by its employees. www.steria.com THALES:Thales is a global technology leader for the Defense & Security and the Aerospace & Transport markets. In 2009, the company generated revenues of €12.9 billion with 68,000 employees in 50 countries. With its 22,500 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique ability to design, develop and deploy equipment, systems and services that meet the most complex security requirements. Thales has an exceptional international footprint with operations around the world working with customers as local partners. In connection with the eco-tax project, Thales will be responsible for the entire tax control system. www.thalesgroup.com

Steria enlarges the Group Executive Committee and appoints three new Senior Executive Vice-Presidents

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:00:00 +0000

The new members of the Executive Committee have been appointed Executive Vice Presidents and will be in charge of taking Steria Group down the road toward transformation and developing commercial synergies between each of the geographic zones, in order to increase the Company's market share in its core businesses: public services, financial services, telecommunications, transports and utilities. At the same time, three executives, already on the Steria Group Executive Committee, are appointed Senior Executive Vice-Presidents: Laurent Lemaire, Group Chief Financial Officer and Transformation Director, John Torrie, CEO of Steria United Kingdom and India, in charge of Industrialisation and Olivier Vallet, CEO of Steria France, in charge of Innovation. In addition to their current functions, John Torrie will supervise Spain and Olivier Vallet will supervise the Scandinavia and Belux zones. "With this international team, composed of talented and experienced professionals, I am confident in our ability to accelerate our growth dynamics, and boost our leadership in company and government transformation projects, never losing sight of our values as a caring, responsible company", stated François Enaud, General Manager of Groupe Steria SCA. About the new members of Steria Group's Executive Committee: Karine Brunet, Director of Industrial Service Lines, Steria Group. Before joining Steria in 2006, Karine Brunet has served in a range of management functions at Alcatel (Vice President of Operations at Alcanet) and NCR France (Managing Director of the Services Business Unit). Oliver Nazet, CEO of Steria Mummert Consulting (Germany) joined the company in 1990. He headed the Business Consulting operations there, before taking on responsibility for operations for Germany and Austria, in 2003. He has been Deputy Managing Director of Steria Mummert Consulting since 2008. Kjell Rusti, CEO of Steria Scandinavia. Kjell Rusti was appointed CEO of Steria Norway in 1998. In 2006, his responsibilities were extended to all Scandinavia. Kjell Rusti was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Norwegian Computer Society and has served in a variety of management positions at PSI Group ASA and TietoEnator. Emilio Yoldi, CEO of Steria Spain since 2008. Before joining Steria, Emilio Yoldi was CEO of Getronics Spain, a company where he held a range of functions in Europe and Latin America. He has also worked for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Wang Laboratories and Wang Global. The newly-appointed directors will join the members already serving on the Steria Executive Committee, namely:
- François Enaud, General Manager
- Laurent Lemaire, Senior Executive Vice President, Group CFO and Group Transformation Director
- John Torrie, Senior Executive Vice President, CEO United Kingdom and India, in charge of Group Industrialisation and the supervision of the Spanish market
- Olivier Vallet, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO France, in charge of Group Innovation Policy and the supervision of Scandinavia and Belux
- Mukesh Aghi, Executive Vice President, CEO Asia and Group Executive Sales Director
- Patricia Langrand, Executive Vice President, in charge of Business Development and Marketing
- Johan Vermeule, Executive Vice President, Group Director of Human Resources and Employee Shareholding

Steria and Capgemini win the maintenance contract for Chorus – the French government’s new financial management, budget and accounts information system

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:00:00 +0000

The AIFE is attached to the French Budget Ministry with responsibility for overseeing the government's financial information system and more particularly the construction, rollout and maintenance of Chorus. Based on a SAP solution, the Chorus programme is designed to provide all those involved in spending, non-fiscal revenue and accounting with a single, integrated information system for financial management, budgeting and accounts[1] in line with the principles set out in the French law on finance laws or ‘LOLF'[2]. Chorus is contributing to the modernisation and streamlining of the French government's budget and accounting processes. Steria and Capgemini - at the heart of French government modernisation
Steria and Capgemini have been working with the government to implement the LOLF constitution for several years now. Having played a part in devising the "Accord LOLF" financial and budget information system Steria has been providing maintenance services for it since 2005. Since 2007, Steria has also been a major partner in the construction of the Chorus system. Since 2001, Capgemini has been assisting with the rollout of all the French government's financial and budget Information Systems. In particular, since 2009 Capgemini has been implementing the rollout of Chorus to half of all French government ministries, mobilising over 230 consultants in 23 different locations across France. Ultimately, almost 50,000 users will benefit from this new information system, 25,000 of whom will be using the SAP core system. By winning this new contract, Steria and Capgemini have further strengthened their status as partners in major government information technology programmes, as they continue to support the French state in its modernisation programme. "Steria's expertise in industrialised global maintenance solutions and the fact that the 150 staff devoted to the project could take on this TPM[3] within a very short time frame, working out of our SAP service centre in Toulouse, played a decisive part in winning this new contract. It confirms our ability to assist the government in its major administrative reforms," said Olivier Vallet, Senior Executive Vice President and CEO France, in charge of Group Innovation Policy and the supervision of Scandinavia and Belux. "What made our bid stand out was the complementary nature of the skills on offer and our ability to meet particularly stringent cost and quality criteria. Capgemini's strategy has been to accelerate its commitment to state bodies, drawing on its international experience and its ability to assist governments in large-scale modernisation projects," added Jean-Philippe Bol, CEO of Capgemini France Technology Services. Steria - a key player in modernising European administrations
Steria is highly familiar with the key issues and characteristics of the public sector. It provides an all-round offering featuring its skills in consultancy, systems integration and outsourcing. These assets enable it to assist European administrations as they deploy major modernisation projects. Its ability to deal with large-scale IT projects, commit to both results and lead times, and take care of its customers' IT infrastructures make it a trusted partner. Over 15 government ministries and 60 other public bodies have chosen to work with Steria across Europe, including the Danish and Norwegian customs authorities, the Swedish health insurance agency, the Norwegian, British, Irish and Swedish police, the Belgian and French Interior Ministries, the Spanish, Belgian and French Finance and Economy Ministries, the British and French Ministries of Defence, the German armed forces, the French Navy, the French Ministry of Culture, the Spanish Employment and Health Ministry, the British Justice Ministry, and the Norwegian Modernisation Ministry. Capgemini - a partner in the transformation of international-level public institutions
With a global network of over 12,000 experts, Capgemini assists public institutions with modernisation and transformation, particularly those involved in public security, taxation, healthcare and local government. With a customer portfolio which includes every aspect of public service, Capgemini provides tailored solutions to leading players in this sector worldwide. These include the Australian Taxation Office, the Slovakian Finance Ministry, HM Revenue & Customs, Croydon Council, Skattedirektoratet (Norwegian tax authorities), the UK National Health Service, and in France, the CNAMTS (CaisseNationale de l'Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés - National Insurance), the Direction des Affaires Maritimes et des Gens de la Mer (Maritime Affairs), CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - national research institute). [1] Managers, financial controllers, accountants and "préfets" [2] The LOLF (French organic law on finance laws) of August 1st 2001 represented an in-depth reform of French government. It implemented more efficient and democratic administration for the good of citizens, public-service users, taxpayers and civil servants alike. Introduced in stages, it has applied to every aspect of government since January 1st 2006. [3] TPM: Third-Party Maintenance

Steria demonstrates leadership in carbon performance

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:00:00 +0000

In achieving the highest rating, Steria stands shoulder-to-shoulder with companies such as BT, Cisco and Nokia, who also received an A rating in the Carbon Performance Leadership Index. Steria is one of only three companies to achieve the A rating in the France 250 report, alongside Lafarge and Renault. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) was launched ten years ago to encourage companies to report on carbon emissions. It holds one of the largest databases of corporate climate change information in the world. The CDP questionnaire has been sent to over 4,500 of the world's largest companies in 2010. John Neilson, Head of Steria Group's Green Committee and Green Business Community said, "Last year, we achieved one of the highest disclosure scores for an international IT services company, establishing us among the leaders in sustainability in our first year of participation with the CDP. Not only have we boosted our score by a further ten per cent to achieve a total of 89% this year, but we are also ranked amongst the top three French companies in the global Index". Neilson continued: "We are delighted to be recognised by the Carbon Disclosure Project and applaud their efforts towards creating a knowledge base that provides transparency and opportunities for continued understanding of carbon emissions." Sustainability is a fundamental pillar of Steria's corporate responsibility strategy. This includes the exploitation of green IT to reduce carbon footprints; tracking and monitoring efforts to reduce carbon emissions; and harnessing the company's integrated approach to service delivery to tackle projects of social and environmental significance, locally and internationally. Paul Dickinson, Executive Chairman of the Carbon Disclosure Project, commented:
"Companies in this new Carbon Performance Leadership Index are demonstrating leadership in their commitment to manage greenhouse gas emissions. Companies which manage and reduce their emissions, maximise business resilience and capitalise on opportunities, will be the best placed to succeed as we move towards a low carbon economy."

Steria appoints new member to Group Executive Committee; Patricia Langrand to head up Business Development and Marketing

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Patricia Langrand is a 20-year veteran of the media and telecommunications industry, having worked in the private sector (Orange, Canal+, France Telecom...), as well as for the French Government. In her role as Executive Vice President, Patricia will be responsible for developing Steria Group's solution portfolio and driving their implementation across the Group's geographies and clients segments. She will lead the Business Communities and Marketing teams at Group level. "Patricia, having worked for major firms, has a proven track-record in developing new business activities. Drawing on both her hands-on experience and view of the market, she represents an extremely strong addition to our Executive Committee," said Francois Enaud, CEO, Steria Group. "Business Development and Marketing are at the heart of our growth strategy, so Patricia will hold a key role within the organisation in supporting us in our pursuit to win new market share." Patricia added, "Steria continues to lead the way in innovation and customer service, so as a member of the Executive Committee my objective is to extend its reach and drive the growth of the company in 2011 and beyond." Patricia's career began in 1988 at France Telecom, where she was promoted to Head of Group Strategic Marketing within four years. From there, in 1995, Patricia moved across to the public sector to work in the French Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de l'Industrie. From 1999 to 2001, she held roles as « New Technologies » Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer of the Canal+ Group, the first pay TV operator in Europe. In 2002, Patricia was appointed Chief of Staff of Orange's Chairman and CEO. And from 2004 to 2008, she was the CEO of Orange Media, in charge of the Media and Entertainment activities worldwide, and member of the Orange Executive Committee. Patricia is Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Go Voyages and a member of the Board of Directors of France Télévisions. Patricia is a graduate of L'Ecole Polytechnique and ENST Télécom (now TELECOM ParisTech).

Steria wins the “2010 SFR Supplier Challenge” in the Information Systems category

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Introduced this year by SFR's Purchasing Department, the SFR Challenge honours the best suppliers among the operator's Top 100, based on their contributions according to the following three criteria: Innovation, Customer Satisfaction and Sustainable Development. SFR and Steria: A relationship that goes beyond implementing IT projects
As SFR's partner for over 20 years, Steria currently provides global IT outsourcing for the operator's mobile information system, end to end testing of the Corporate and Operating Information System, and SFR service platforms. "We are extremely proud to receive this award, recognising the day-to-day work of our 300 employees and further strengthening our commitment to supporting the sustainable transformation of major telecom operators in this digital revolution," said Olivier Vallet, CEO of Steria France. Eric Ioss, Managing Director of Information Systems at SFR, highlights "Steria's attentiveness, its mobilisation, and its ability to adapt to difficult situations." Eric Ioss further points out Steria's community involvement working alongside SFR's teams, "Our two companies share common values in terms of citizenship and sustainable development, which helps us to achieve short-term goals together." Ecomouv': A tangible illustration of this sustainable relationship
Steria and SFR confirm their willingness to work together on innovative green projects, participating in the Ecomouv' response to the RFP with other European manufacturers, including Autostrade per l'Italia, SNCF and THALES. The project was started by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing (Ministère de l'Ecologie, du Développement durable, des Transports et du Logement), in order to establish an eco-tax system for heavy goods vehicles by 2012. Established by "Grenelle I" law, the eco-tax is paid by trucks for the use of the national non-licensed road system and departmental roads that may experience traffic delays.

Steria and the Cleveland Police Authority in the UK obtain high satisfaction rating from local community

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:00:00 +0000

In June, Steria and the Cleveland Police Authority announced a partnership which sought to deliver €60 million (£50 million) in cashable savings through the delivery of shared business services. Steria began providing these services on October 1st 2010, including the launch of a new call-back system which asks members of the public about the quality of service they received and provides feedback on performance. Of the possible 5,202 questions relating to either speed of call answer or handling of calls, 98.8% responded either "satisfied", "very satisfied", or "highly satisfied" with the service they received. Under the shared services agreement, Steria delivers key services including call handling; support for the preparation of criminal case files; and shared business services covering finance, HR, payroll, commissioning and fleet management. Delivering on its promise of Putting People First, the partnership is well on its way to improving call handling and enabling officers to devote more time to frontline policing and community engagement, through reduced administrative paperwork. Said Cleveland Police Authority Chair Councillor Dave McLuckie, "We always made clear that one of the key objectives of the partnership was to deliver a better service to the public, along with greater value for money and protecting the interests of staff. "The fact that in the first 30 days of the partnership we have been able to gain over 5,000 responses from members of the public through the call-back system and that we have received such a high level of positive responses is very encouraging." Sean Price, Chief Constable at Cleveland Police, said, "It is only by soliciting regular feedback and responding accordingly, that we can continue to improve the service we provide to all of our communities. The partnership with Steria is going extremely well, with performance levels across all areas is being maintained or exceeded." John Torrie, CEO of Steria UK, said, "The beginning of any business partnership is obviously a critical time, so I'm delighted to see how well our collaboration with the Cleveland Police Authority is being received. Ours is a long-term partnership and as such, we are committed to continuous improvement and service delivery excellence at every step of the way."

Steria recognised once again for its employee shareholding policy

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:00:00 +0000

This award once again recognises Steria's work in promoting a high level of employee shareholding and in involving Steria employee shareholders in the governance of their company through Soderi, the company that represents their interest. This model enables employee shareholders to play an active role in key decisions about the future of the company. No other company listed in Europe shares this model. The jury was impressed by the dual role of Steria employee shareholding - as it is both entrepreneurial (for strategic decisions) and asset-based (promoting growth based on share performance). For François Enaud, Steria's Chief Executive Officer, "This award, won for the second time, recognises our efforts in promoting an innovative model of corporate governance that closely brings employee shareholders into the heart of our strategic decision-making." Key Figures:
- Steria 2009 revenue: €1.63 billion
- 18,300 employees based in 16 countries
- 19.7% of capital held by employee shareholders
- Steria's Supervisory Board is composed of 8 members and represents all of Steria Group's shareholders.
- Soderi's Board of Directors is composed of 17 members and represents 4,500 employee shareholders. [1] French stock market index

Steria wins major contract with the Norwegian Armed Forces

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0000

"This is a highly important agreement for Steria and allows us to continue our strategic partnership with the Norwegian Armed Forces. Winning such a demanding contract holds a great deal of prestige," says Trygve Solem, Director of Business Development at Steria Norway. The framework agreement involves services to further develop the secure ICT platforms being used by the Armed Forces. This involves securing solutions that are as cost-effective as possible that will meet the Armed Force's requirements relating to availability, functionality and security. The framework agreement is valid for two years, with the option to extend the contract for up to another two years, and entails further development of the Armed Forces' secure ICT platforms. Steria will help the Armed Forces with secure operational environments on all grading levels, from operative systems and security functionality to ordinary office support applications. "We will also be delivering development services in IP and Ethernet based networks and platform-associated core services such as search, voice, portal services and training services," adds Solem Trygve. Steria won the framework agreement in a tender including several of Norway's major IT consultancy companies as competitors. Price and quality were prioritised equally in the Armed Forces' evaluation of the tenders received.

Steria to Deliver Cloud Computing Services Based on VMware Cloud Infrastructure Solutions

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Steria and VMware today announced a technology partnership that will enable Steria to deliver dynamic, cloud-based IT services to its European customers. Steria, which provides high added-value services built on the most innovative technologies, is today one of the first European cloud computing companies to offer its clients an immediate cloud solution. Steria has selected VMware technologies to further strengthen its own virtualized infrastructure and further build out its cloud services offering. As a result, Steria will be able to speed up the transformation of its clients' information systems into agile, cloud environments that deliver resources on demand and provide better SLAs for end users. The agreement includes the deployment of VMware vSphereTM 4.1, the latest version of the award-winning VMware virtualization platform, in addition to consulting services and training. VMware technology is now one of the cornerstones of Steria's On Command Infrastructure solution, a flexible and secure platform which allows customers to pay for the computing power they use, when they need it. VMware vSphere 4.1 enables the deployment of solid cloud computing foundations by bringing together an open-ended pool of IT resources accessible on demand; driving performance through advanced automation and management tools. VMware vSphere is an open platform that maximizes interconnections to existing systems and provides the freedom to migrate between clouds. "This partnership is a strategic component of our On Command Infrastructure solution recently jointly announced with Cisco. More than a simple technological choice, this partnership is the culmination of strategic discussions with VMware regarding the provision of virtualization and cloud solutions which fulfill the requirements of both clients and their markets. This agreement further strengthens Steria's ability to manage complex large-scale projects" stated Karine Brunet, Steria Group's Director of Industrialized Service Lines. "We are excited to partner with Steria to enable the agility and performance of cloud computing for customers. Leveraging the VMware cloud infrastructure platform, Steria can significantly reduce the cost and complexity of customer environments to deliver IT as a service." - Carl Eschenbach, Executive Vice President, Global Field Operations VMware. About VMware
VMware delivers virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable IT organizations to energize businesses of all sizes. With the industry leading virtualization platform - VMware vSphereTM - customers rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, improve agility, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2009 revenues of $2 billion, more than 190,000 customers and 25,000 partners, VMware is the leader in virtualization which consistently ranks as a top priority among CIOs. VMware is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

In Germany, Steria Mummert Consulting responsible for conversion to modern customer data management at Vattenfall

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0000

In all of the phases of conversion from SAP CIC to SAP 7.0, Steria Mummert Consulting was responsible for the entire project on behalf of Vattenfall - from performance specifications through realisation and testing to migration and roll-out. "Such a system transformation represents a major challenge for companies and is dependent on experienced consulting," claims Dr Thorsten Pape, Senior Manager at Steria Mummert Consulting and responsible for the project. "A key factor for success is primarily the systematic and detailed planning of all interlaced and parallel work steps," adds Janko Cukelj, Project Manager at Vattenfall Europe. One of the reasons Vattenfall decided to convert to SAP CRM 7.0 was that the software manufacturer SAP is no longer developing the SAP CIC customer contact management component previously so widespread within the sector and is therefore no longer able to guarantee mapping of the processes in conformity with the law. The new customer data management system provides legal security but above all represents new opportunities for Vattenfall in the area of customer support as well as forming a decisive basis towards achieving the declared goal of service leadership on the German market. A significant reduction in process times frees up employees and permits essentially swifter processing of customer issues. Apart from management of customer data, the new CRM also offers extensive marketing and controlling functions. Within the framework of the project, the sales processes in Berlin and Hamburg with more than 500 employees have also been harmonised.

In the UK, Steria awarded contract with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory to deliver ICT services

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Steria will be responsible for delivering core IT services for Dstl's corporate networks, including maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the provision of IT helpdesk support, and technical support for ad-hoc departmental projects. Due to the nature of Dstl's work, one of the networks contains protectively-marked information as well as varied scientific research - Steria will also be required to support complex and bespoke technical applications designed for Dstl's cutting-edge work. Commenting on its selection of Steria as a new IT services partner, Jill Cook, Dstl's Director of Infrastructure said, "flexibility, technological and service delivery, an appreciation for our exacting information security requirements and of course value for money, were the most important qualities we sought in an IT services partner." She continued, "We found Steria to be the best match for delivering against all four." "As a centre of excellence, responsible for the science and technology agenda in UK defence, Dstl fulfils a role of national and international importance. IT as an enabler of Dstl's daily operations and high-profile projects must stand up to its rigorous demands as well as create efficiencies," said John Torrie, Steria UK and India CEO. "Steria is committed to delivering significant cost savings over the contract lifetime and supporting Dstl in its drive to improve workplace efficiency and IT asset utilisation." The tender process was carried out in accordance with the Cabinet Office's Fair and Open Competition policy guidelines and the Ministry of Defence's commercial guidelines. The contract has options for up to an additional two years. About The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) leads the defence science and technology sector's response to the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) current operations and future defence strategy. Dstl's work saves lives in the UK, overseas and on the frontline. Dstl maximises the impact of science and technology (S&T) for defence and security requirements, working with industry and academia to deliver battle-winning technologies. It identifies real S&T advances and works to pull ideas rapidly in to service. Dstl also works with other government departments, exploiting its expertise and knowledge to improve the safety and security of UK citizens. The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence and is accountable to government, to the taxpayer and the troops it supports in the field every day. Around 3,500 of the nation's most talented and creative scientists, technologists and engineers work for Dstl at its three main sites: Porton Down, near Salisbury, Portsdown West, near Portsmouth, and Fort Halstead, near Sevenoaks. www.dstl.gov.uk

Steria wins major contract with Norway’s national power company Statnett

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 22:00:00 +0000

"We needed to change several of the core components in our IT systems. One of these changes involves the replacement of the national grid's regulatory and market system (LARM), which is used to secure the balance of energy supply and demand to millions of homes and businesses," says Peer Olav Østli, Group ICT Director, Statnett. The project will deliver a new platform which will replace the current system and modules, ensure effective system support for the end-users at the national grid, and enable Statnett to implement the changes to market systems more quickly and easily. "We received several good tenders, but Steria's offer set itself apart positively very early in the process. We feel confident that we have selected a strong partner with whom we will work closely in the coming years," says Østli. "The first Steria team is already in place at Statnett's premises to prepare and plan phases of the implementation. The Elaboration phase will continue the next month and the project will be stepped up with the next group in the Construction phase starting end of November." said Lene Melfald, Director of System Development at Steria Norway" Agile Statnett Project
The Norwegian energy industry is a dynamic, fast-moving environment which is subject to regulatory oversight at the local, Nordic and European levels. When changes to the market occur, Statnett must ensure that the supporting IT system can swiftly implement these changes, in accordance with complex regulatory frameworks. This is why Statnett wanted an agile project execution which can handle changes to requirements in a positive manner. In recent years, Steria has established its reputation in agile project execution, and has won several tenders on agile projects, including one with the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund. "We have succeeded in attracting some of the best profiles within agile development and management, and today we have a large and strong specialist team," said Melfald. Internationally, Steria has delivered business-critical solutions for the utilities sector including field management, billing and customer care, and smart metering for homes and businesses. Steria's expertise in IT-enabled business services helps companies achieve operational and process efficiencies that result in significant cost savings, helping them focus on delivering value to customers. About Statnett: www.statnett.no
Statnett is Norway's national power company which owns the national grid, or "the national roads" in Norwegian power supply. Power cannot be stored, but must be produced at the same time as it is consumed. Statnett has national responsibility for ensuring that power supply and power consumption is in balance. The company has the responsibility to develop and run power grids so that they at all times meet the community's requirements in the energy sector.

Steria Signs Memorandum of Understanding with UK Government

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Under terms of the agreement, Steria will continue to deliver all of its existing contracts. This announcement follows a process of collaborative discussion on existing contracts initiated by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, in July. John Torrie, Steria UK CEO said, "Following constructive discussions with the Cabinet Office, Steria remains on track to provide essential IT and business services to UK government departments. These services are delivered in close working partnership with our customers, and with the express purpose of reducing operational costs and achieving savings that will ultimately benefit the wider economy. As we have seen with the NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) model, these savings are achievable and can be re-invested in the front-line services which are most valued by citizens." In June, Steria reported that NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), a unique joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, delivered £1.06 million in royalties to the Department of Health. This amount was given back to client NHS Trusts following a DH request. Typically NHS SBS generates a 20% - 30% reduction in operating costs for client Trusts by utilising the BPO, shared services platform. The National Audit Office has verified that NHS SBS has already delivered £50M of savings to client Trusts and are on target to deliver £250m of savings by 2014. This also follows the announcement of a contract with the Cleveland Police, estimated to deliver £50 million in cashable savings over 10 years. Steria is a long-standing supplier to the UK Government, supplying IT-enabled business services to 21 departments and their associated agencies.

Steria Academy Introduces Third Executive Learning Programme in Chennai

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 22:00:00 +0000

The Sales Academy follows the opening of the Global Leadership and Programme Management Academy in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Within two years, 360 executives have enrolled in the Steria Academy. Like its predecessors, the Sales Academy will deliver a curriculum focused on advanced professional development for Steria's top-performing senior staff. Mukesh Aghi, Steria CEO for Asia and Group Sales Director, will serve as the Sales Academy's executive sponsor, overseeing the delivery of three sessions for 22 Steria Senior Sales Managers from all Steria countries. Steria has drawn from industry-valued courses, as well as its own tools and expertise to design a highly tailored curriculum. Participants will be guided through consultative selling in a global marketplace and strategies for achieving even greater client intimacy. Steria will take advantage of the Academy to strengthen its account management processes. "The Steria Academy is a powerful way to strengthen our managers' sense of belonging to an international group," said Aghi. "With the dynamism and vibrancy of India as its backdrop, the Steria Academy has really helped galvanise our executive teams and strengthen our approach to complex, international projects." He continued: "In addition to guiding our teams through innovative skills and education programmes, our academy presents a great venue for them to network and share best practices which ultimately benefit our clients." Skills and Talent Development with a Global ViewThe launch of the Steria Academy Sales Academy follows the graduation of ‘Class of 2010' participants from the Programme Management and Global Leadership Academies; the latter having been developed by Steria in partnership with U21 Global university, a provider of online graduate learning. The bespoke courses are designed to bolster the skills of senior professionals facing increased competition in a globalised business and talent market. The Programme Management Academy was entirely designed by the Steria programme management community. The Academy focuses on Steria best practices and the integration of Steria's industrial delivery model into onshore, nearshore and offshore programme management. Sessions incorporate interactive masterclasses, discussion platforms and the completion of team assignments. Change management, risk management, knowledge management, as well as legal and commercial management are also central to this programme. Today, 120 participants from 12 countries are part of the Programme Management School. "The Academy has opened up many opportunities to work with international colleagues," said Ivan Sauvage, a recent graduate of the Programme Management School. Sauvage, a Director of Quality in Steria France, continued: "My aim was to expand my knowledge on specific business areas, but the Academy delivered value above and beyond my expectations. It offered a tailored programme and opportunities for relationship-building that in future, will make cross-border collaboration much more effective. I'm now in regular contact with colleagues that I met through the Academy who are keen to bring what we've learned into the commercial arena. It's very reassuring to know that I have access to teams of knowledgeable associates worldwide."

Steria lands major Application Portfolio Management agreement in Norway

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:00:00 +0000

"This is a major applications maintenance contract for Norway. Given the extensive remit and areas of responsibility for this project, this agreement is very exciting," states Lene Melfald, director of systems development at the IT services company, Steria Norway. Under the agreement, Steria assumes administrative responsibility for 18 applications for the Norwegian Agricultural Authority (SLF[1]). A team of eight Steria employees will relocate to SLF's premises. Intense competition
SLF chose Steria following stiff competition from Computas, Cap Gemini, Ergo and Sirius IT. "We received five strong bids in the tender competition, with Steria's bid ranking the highest. We therefore feel confident that we have secured a good business partner for future years," explains Alf Selnesaunet, acting administrative director at the Norwegian Agricultural Authority.

Selnesaunet points out that the solution proposal presented by Steria was highly compelling. "Steria has experience of, and adapted methodologies for, flexible maintenance. Not only does it have a tremendously good programme for quality assurance and testing of deliverables for both maintenance and development, it also has extensive, relevant references within the field, demonstrating that they have done it before," says Selnesaunet. Major push internationally
In recent years Steria has committed heavily to APM (Application Portfolio Management), and this comprehensive applications agreement with SLF is yet another feather in Steria's cap.

Steria will also supply SLF with technological and architectural consultancy. The agreement includes assistance in connection with setting up central administration processes based on IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards and flexible development, in addition to which the IT consultancy company will assist SLF in putting in place and implementing test regimes.

Lene Melfald, Steria, explains: "SLF has its own development agreement with three different applications suppliers, and Steria will quality-assure deliveries on behalf of the client here."
[1] Statens Landbruksforvaltning (SLF)

Cleveland Police Authority in the UK selects Steria for €211m (£175m) shared services partnership

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Effective October 1st 2010, the shared services model will be rolled out force-wide, to benefit the force's 2,200 employees and local community. Under the partnership agreement, Steria will work with the Force and Authority in delivering key services including call handling; support for the preparation of criminal case files; and shared business services covering finance, HR, payroll, commissioning and fleet management. The landmark shared services deal will support Cleveland Police in delivering its vision of Putting People First and provides a transformation model for other UK forces. It will enable the delivery of customer service improvements including enhancements to call handling and enabling officers to devote more time to frontline policing and community engagement, through reduced administrative paperwork. The partnership will also safeguard local jobs and provide opportunities for future employment through a state of the art shared service centre. Chairman of Cleveland Police Authority, David McCluckie commented, "This is a groundbreaking partnership deal. The search to find an ideal partner has been a long and complex process, involving a well-researched and clear business rationale. The partnership with Steria will make a direct and positive impact on the local community of Cleveland, improving our service, generating more jobs for local people and significant cost savings for the authority. "It is important to stress that this is a genuine partnership-Steria will work with us in providing services, but the control of responding to calls from the public will remain firmly with the Force-and the control room will remain at our Force headquarters." Sean Price Chief Constable at Cleveland Police commented, "The shared services partnership with Steria will enable considerable savings for the force, both in terms of time and money, and will positively impact the services we can provide to local residents. We wanted to enlist a more innovative, dynamic and flexible IT and business services provider with whom we could forge a long-term relationship, and we have certainly found that in Steria." John Torrie, CEO of Steria UK, commented, "We feel proud to have been selected by Cleveland Police and we are looking forward to working in a true partnership with them to deliver ever better services to the citizens of Cleveland".

ERDF network technicians to gain mobility thanks to Steria, through optimised management of their work and emergency repairs

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Tamaris constitutes a small revolution for the ERDF network technicians. They will gradually be able to leave behind their work and repair orders in favour of an efficient mobility tool. They will receive their work orders in real-time and will therefore be able to deal with emergency repairs more quickly. Their jobs and journeys will be allocated to achieve optimum efficiency. In December, Steria delivered a model of Tamaris to ERDF which gave a good indication of the project. Thanks to the model, ERDF was able to ensure that the solution would be able to meet its needs. The first version that was delivered in March will enable the project to be rolled out to 100 ERDF agencies in France (Orléans and Digne-Gap) in order to obtain feedback on its operational effectiveness, before rolling out the project on a larger scale. The agile method set up by Steria has made it possible to keep to ambitious deadlines under predetermined conditions to carry out vitally important tasks. The Tamaris project is based on Steria know-how in Field Force Management (FFM)*. This industrial, integrated solution includes the following services:
- A core component comprising a data repository and a workflow database
- Geographical services including map functions and journey optimisation
- Resource optimisation services (resource allocation and management)
- Mobility services
- A solution to synchronise data securely between PDAs and the IT system Steria is also working on the Pictrel project, the system that manages jobs on electricity metering, and on the SID Linky project that deals with the roll out of new smart meters. "The GDI (operations management) programme is one of ERDF's ten major projects. The aim of the project is to equip more than 15,000 technicians with modern communication tools within the next four-to-five years. These new tools will enable us to completely overhaul our processes for planning, carrying out and reporting all our work carried out in situ. Thirty-three million clients connected to the 1.3 million kilometres of network lines that we operate will benefit from this overhaul. Steria has taken on the integration of two current developments, namely PICTREL and TAMARIS, which are both at the heart of this ambitious challenge." Patrice Philippe, Director of the GDI programme at ERDF, the distribution subsidiary of EDF. About ERDF: www.erdfdistribution.fr
ERDF - Électricité Réseau Distribution France (the Electricity Distribution Network in France], created on 1st January 2008, is a 100 % owned subsidiary of the EDF group, and operates the electricity distribution network for 95% of metropolitan France. The company employees 35,000 people and operates, develops and maintains 1,247,600 km of electricity lines for 33 million clients. It carries out a number of tasks on the network such as setting up connections and activating the service, carrying out repairs and switching clients to other suppliers. *: Field Force Management: On the ground repair and service management

NHS Shared Business Services wins five new trusts including Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 22:00:00 +0000

LTH considered a number of finance solutions and selected NHS SBS because it offered the most technologically advanced service at the lowest cost, enabling significant annual savings. The Trust also wanted to incorporate an efficient e?Procurement platform, which its previous system could not accommodate. Paul Havey, Finance Director at the Trust, said, "The Trust is currently in the migration phase of the project which is being managed well with excellent partnership working from both teams. We will be focusing on driving out savings, enabled by the procurement functionality within Oracle. NHS SBS provides a wealth of management information through a range of up to the minute dashboards, which means we will have improved financial controls, better systems management and a more robust IT infrastructure." John Neilson, Managing Director of NHS SBS, said, "We are delighted to welcome Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH) to NHS SBS. We have seen a real surge in NHS organisations choosing to join NHS SBS. The value is not only about saving money - it is also about quality of service, improved business intelligence, speed, accuracy and a team of people dedicated to supporting our clients." "We have also seen a substantial rise in levels of client satisfaction over the last three years. Our most, recent survey shows that 90% of NHS SBS clients ‘would recommend NHS SBS,' NHS SBS has also achieved ‘World Class' ranking for the second year running in the Hackett global benchmark on effectiveness and efficiency. "We are hugely proud of this result and I believe it reflects the commitment of our people to make improvements and measure the effects of these improvements to benefit our clients" comments John. "We have worked very hard to make sure all our clients have great service, value for money and better management information. Our overall ambition is to deliver even more savings for NHS Trusts and we are on target to put back around £250m over 10 years, which could pay for more than 12,000 extra nurses" John continued. The other recent NHS SBS clients are:

Finance & Accounting
NHS Northamptonshire
NHS Kingston - Your Healthcare
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Payroll
Care Quality Commission
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust About NHS Shared Business Services: www.sbs.nhs.ukNHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is a unique joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, and leads the way in developing and providing Finance & Accounting, Payroll, e-Procurement and Family Health Services to all types of NHS organisations. More than 21 million people in the UK have NHS healthcare delivered by NHS SBS clients. NHS SBS provides a range of value added services to enable NHS Trusts to focus on strategic decision making and business improvement activities, whilst benefiting from operational efficiencies and savings of between 20% and 40%. NHS SBS was cited in the 2009 HM Treasury Budget Report "improving efficiency in back office functions by building on the success of NHS Shared Business Services" and also featured in the OEP final report on efficiency savings. With over 1,200 people employed and in excess of 4.5 million transactions processed per annum, NHS SBS works with over 30% of NHS organisations to deliver operational efficiencies, cost savings and improved service quality. It is on target to deliver savings of around £250m over ten years - which could pay for more than 12,000 extra nurses.

ESIEA’s “Praticarte” Project – Winner of the ‘Steria Foundation-Institut de France’ Grant

Sun, 09 May 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Helping People with Reduced Mobility to Integrate in the City Although everyone knows how easy it is to follow a route mapped out by a geographic information system on foot or by car, being able to use this technology when one has reduced mobility is far more complicated. Current systems only supply cadastral information, and do not integrate particularly important information such as the slope of the street, the elevation, the quality and type of the road's surfacing or the various obstacles (permanent or temporary) which hinder wheelchair access.

The project will enable a dedicated database to be established, allowing users to receive specific mapping with a "practicability index" so that their journeys are no longer such a struggle. Technology and the Community

The project proposes to make the most of the increasingly widespread use of smartphones and other tactile terminals, the vast majority of which are equipped with inclinometers, GPS and other devices to pick up images. Furthermore, numerous platforms exist which are designed to support third party developers' applications made available to as many people as possible. As part of the framework of the grant, the students will give priority to processing data collected by people with reduced mobility. The project's ultimate goal is for each user to be able to update the database in real time during their journey with new information or changes to existing data (e.g. a new temporary or permanent obstacle): - The inclinometer will enable users to give information about the gradient of the road.- Images will allow the state of the road surface to be determined.- GPS will geo-localise the information.- The tactile interface will make it easy and ergonomic to provide information.- The use of commercial smartphones will make it easier to distribute the tool. Using the data collected, an algorithm (defined in partnership with communities of people with reduced mobility) will establish a practicability index which could, for example, use the colour codes for ski slopes (green - blue - red - black) set up a few years ago by the ‘Mobile en Ville' Association. The ultimate goal of the project is to be able to integrate this database into one or several existing community GIS. This will also enable people with reduced mobility and those who work with and for them to benefit from new technological tools which will allow them to manage their environment. For further information, please visit the sites
www.fondationsteria.org
and
www.facebook.com/pages/Bourse-de-la-Fondation-Fondation-Steria-Institut-de-France/199611226059

Cloud services in less than 30 minutes? Created by Steria, built on Cisco technology

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European provider of IT-enabled business services, today unveiled Infrastructure On Command enabled by Cisco, the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between Steria and Cisco to deliver dynamic, cloud services that will enable enterprise customers to access highly secure and cost-effective computing power in less than 30 minutes. The service will be immediately available in June 2010.

Commenting on the collaboration with Cisco, Steria Group CEO, Francois Enaud, said: “Steria has earned a reputation for expert implementation and management of a full range of complex IT services projects. Our collaboration with Cisco to enable us to deliver Steria “Infrastructure On Command” is a strategic evolution of our multi-tiered service delivery model. For the first time, utilizing the automation of Steria’s outsourcing operation and the innovation embedded in the Cisco Unified Computing System platform, customers will have access to incremental computing power and associated infrastructure services “on command”, at the click of a button.”

Infrastructure on Command enables IT platforms to be purchased as a straightforward ‘pay as you need’ service – requiring no investment in physical IT infrastructure – which is automatically provisioned via an online portal affording customers a flexible and adaptable platform that can be scaled up or down to reflect changing business requirements. Infrastructure On Command allows customers to pay for the computing power they use, when they need it, whether they are looking for a short-term solution to rapidly develop, test and deploy new applications and services in the cloud, or a longer-term production environment over a fixed period.

“The combination of Steria’s global service delivery model, our associated automated service management framework, STARS (Steria Advanced Remote Services), and the strength of the new Cisco Unified Computing System platform gives this offering a unique market differentiator,” commented Karine Brunet, Steria Group’s Director of Industrialised Service Lines.
”Infrastructure on Command enables us to provide secure and reliable platform access, while enabling our customers to address their business challenges in terms of cost containment, cash optimisation and time-to-market.”

Brunet added: “We are excited to offer this cloud-based, business services launch pad in conjunction with Cisco, who share our vision for a highly agile platform that can continually evolve alongside customers’ needs.”

Laurent Blanchard vice president for European markets, general manager of Cisco France, added: “Cloud computing profoundly transforms the way in which information and IT services can be consumed. Our collaboration with Steria in bringing this service to market is unique; together, we are putting intelligence into the infrastructure which will create dynamic, powerful cloud computing services that put the customer back in control.”

Infrastructure on Command delivers multiple benefits to enterprise customers; key amongst these are:

Security – robust security features helps provide assurance that valuable data is isolated and highly secure, and that services are delivered in keeping with regulatory compliance measures
Responsiveness – ‘on the fly’ service provisioning in less than 30 minutes helps ensure that business services can be delivered when customers need and want them
Cost efficiency – the variable, consumption-based pricing model means customers pay only for the services that they use while removing the need for capital expenditure. They will further benefit from infrastructure at a lower TCO
Flexibility – elasticity and ‘click-to-buy’ functionality lets customers experience Infrastructure On Command as easily as an e-commerce transaction
Reliability – provides access to a best-in-class IT infrastructure platform and ongoing operational services backed by Steria Advanced Remote Services (STARS)
Sustainability – Infrastructure on Command can lower energy consumption and emission by up to 30% for a “greener” IT

Steria extends relationship with Centrica

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0000

The extended 12 months partnership, which began in January 2010, is worth an additional €802k (£712k) to the existing €3,400,000 (£3,000,000) support contract. It will see Steria support Centrica's Meter Industry Flow Simplification Programme. This is part of the Metering Industry Process Simplification initiative, which itself is part of a larger transformation aimed at delivering Smart Metering solutions to Centrica customers. In order to ensure that programme objectives are met, Centrica requires an in-depth understanding of their current metering applications and systems and how industry data process is managed. Steria has the required system and industry knowledge as well as experience gained through changing some of Centrica's legacy applications and systems. The partnership will see Steria provide 21 employees, consisting of system and testing analysts five based onshore, including the test manager; the remainder offshore in Noida, India. John Torrie, Steria UK and India CEO, commented "Centrica's initiative is certainly at the leading edge of this type of implementation in the energy industry. Metering is core to Centrica's business and we are delighted to be providing accurate metering data, ultimately leading to more efficient business processes and better customer services." "The extension of our relationship is a testament to Steria's understanding of Centrica's systems and the industry processes," says Paul Mayhew, Applications Manager at Centrica, "Steria's expertise will be crucial during the operation of this programme."

GIE SESAM-Vitale supported by Jouve and Steria in digitising photos for health insurance ID

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0000

The quality of its technical and technological proposal in addition to its content knowledge, industrial dimension and capability of providing a global response, enabled Jouve to win the tender issued by GIE SESAM-Vitale.Jouve will partner with Steria, a leading IT-enabled business services provider, to ensure the overall steering and delivery of this photo digitisation project. Steria's experience, both of major transformation project management and of the social security and welfare sector, will ensure a secure, reliable and effective solution for GIE SESAM-Vitale. Two major challenges: to digitise insurance ID photos and to safeguard the data

For this project, security is a primary consideration. Jouve, a key player in the digitisation and processing of document flows, has acquired strong experience in protecting sensitive data, subject to CNIL approval. As project supervisor, the Jouve Group takes responsibility for global project delivery and provides the following services:
- Digitisation and control of the photo forms and data consistency compared with identity documents,
- Computerised management of discards,
- Storage and availability of digitised data,
- Archiving of documents and viewing of digital records,
- Synchronising the data-processing centres linked to the sickness insurance schemes A major player in the health and insurance sectors, STERIA can rely on its know-how in IT security to support Jouve in steering the project. Production is scheduled to begin in mid 2010. The contract will be entered into for a two-year, renewable term. Jouve is a benchmark for document process outsourcing (incoming mail, invoices, contracts, patents, etc.), and will consolidate its position in the health sector.

About Jouve
As a service-provider, Jouve covers the entire content value chain (creation, conversion, enhancement, distribution in print and electronic formats) and responds to all the needs of companies, institutions and publishers, which produce and disseminate information. At the heart of the digital world and the new media for distribution, Jouve is the leader in ebook conversion in Europe and the United States of America.

On the back of its industrialised production capabilities, the Jouve Group has recognised expertise in the digitisation of content: every year, it digitises thousands of books of unequalled quality. With its workforce of 1,300, the Jouve Group generated turnover of some €105m in 2008.

Steria scoops Gold at International Visual Communication Association Awards 2010

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Steria, a leading European provider of IT-enabled business services, today announced that it has won a Gold award for the ‘best introduction video' category at this year's International Visual Communication Association (IVCA) Awards. The awards ceremony took place in London on 26th March and was attended by more than 700 commissioners, government representatives, industry colleagues and the media. Now in their 29th year, the IVCA Awards are considered to be the most acclaimed celebration of effective business and public sector communications in video, interactive projects, business television and digital media across Europe. Steria's winning piece of work involved the creation of a film, called ‘I am Steria' marking the company's 40th anniversary, which was shown at its birthday event held at the Pompidou Centre in Paris. The film created a visual timeline of achievements for Steria from its inception in 1969 to the current day. Sally Robins, group communications director, who collected the award on behalf of Steria, said: "We're thrilled to have achieved this recognition from the industry experts, in particular because the winning content documents something very close to our hearts, which is 40 fantastic years of Steria history." To view the film, please visit: http://www.steria.com/en/4oth-anniversary-video.htm

Steria Bolsters its Infrastructure Management Delivery Capability with a New Global Delivery Centre in India

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:00:00 +0000

The new delivery centre in Noida fulfils several client-centric objectives: it provides offshore service delivery coupled with the efficiencies of automated support, as well as specialist expertise in direct delivery of configuration management and software distribution services. In addition to serving external clients, RIMS will also benefit Steria Group, which itself is an internal customer of desktop services provisioned from Steria in Noida. The RIMS centre in Noida will deliver a full portfolio of remote IT infrastructure management services - including desktop, systems and network management - to clients who rely on robust, always-available IT to underpin their business. Building on two years' investment in service industrialisation, the new centre will open with 200 full-time IT analysts and technology services professionals who already support Steria clients in the financial services and utility sectors, amongst others. Steria in Noida has provided application management services and BPO to enterprise clients for nearly twenty years, and its enhanced profile reflects Steria's ongoing commitment to develop its industrialised service delivery model and enable clients to deploy a blended sourcing strategy. Steria's innovative approach to infrastructure management, as with its complete IT services portfolio, leverages the strength of its industrialised service delivery model, which includes onsite, onshore, nearshore and offshore strategies that can be blended according to client needs. The optimal mix will reflect clients' business priorities; the complexity and maturity of the IT service being outsourced; and an ability to scale and rapidly bring new technologies and service offerings online. Most importantly, RIMS can be deployed in the client environment with zero-to-minimal disruption and without the need to replace legacy IT investments. Karine Brunet, Steria Group's director of IT services, commented: "Increasingly, clients are approaching Steria with the same mandate for more strategic, tailor-made sourcing that affords them flexibility, an excellent cost-to-value ratio, robust due diligence measures, and most importantly, expert IT service delivery, regardless of geography. Our continued investment in a strategy that expands our global service delivery capability, whilst incorporating the latest tools, technologies and best practice ensures Steria is able to respond fully to client requirements." Brunet continued: "Industry needs to evolve from an ‘either-or' scenario when it comes to where IT services are offshored. For Steria, the new global delivery centre in Noida represents a timely and strategic, long-term investment, as well as reflecting our belief that clients can benefit tremendously from our focus on achieving the optimum blend between proximity and remote services, 24/7 enterprise-grade IT support and the value-added services that are best delivered through a blended and industrialised service model."

Steria and Novélia drive cost-effective green agenda

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Novélia's Ecolia® eco-driving solution, based on Steria's "Kilometrix Green," system, gives Novélia's customers the opportunity to reap several important benefits, including:- Reduced travel costs, by optimising fuel consumption and improving vehicle life expectancy - Environmental friendliness, by cutting down on CO² emissions and wasted fuel- Improved road safety, by adopting a more relaxed and flexible driving style using perfectly maintained vehicles. The on-board telematics solution, Kilometrix, is used to gather extensive data from all vehicles in which it is installed, allowing organisations to comply with all directives from the French data protection watchdog, CNIL. Such recorded data includes the number of kilometres driven, type of roads taken, certain driving conditions (travel time, daytime or night time driving, etc.) and vehicle specific driving information (such as speed, use of brakes, engine braking, etc.). Kilometrix's "Green" solution offers a data-analysis model that helps vehicle users and fleet managers improve their driving habits from an eco-driving best practices standpoint. The vehicles transmit this feedback using innovative M2M(**) communication device and GPRS communication technologies. This industry-wide initiative required collaboration across the sector, bringing together a number of partners with expertise in each area, such as Navteq, a specialist in digital mapping data. Novélia plans to launch Ecolia® to the market on April 1st and it will also be presenting the technology at special informational events before the summer aimed at raising the awareness of the importance of eco-driving among organisations, both to significantly reduce their travel costs and to protect the environment in optimum safety conditions. About Novélia : www.novelia.fr
Novélia, a subsidiary of the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa Group, is among France's top 40 insurance brokers. Particularly aware that insurance and prevention go hand-in-hand, Novélia has chosen Steria to provide companies and local governments with Ecolia®, an eco-friendly fleet management solution. Ecolia® is also totally in line with Novélia's commitment to the environment as the first private company to earn the Greater Rennes Sustainable Development Certification for its Company Travel Plan. Created in 1992, Novélia currently employs 35 staff. Its head office is in Rennes. (*) Ecolia® is a registered trademark of Novélia in France
(**) M2M: Machine To Machine

Swiping on the motorway has given way to the chip

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Electronic banking with Stecard© by Steria not only meets current business and regulatory requirements for motorway toll payments, but also guarantees that the 100 million payment card transactions undertaken every year via the sanef network are fast and secure. Until now, the swiping of magnetic bands on credit cards was sufficient for authentication purposes, in ensuring speedy payment processing on motorways. However, EMV standards have changed the obligations by now requiring motorway management to read the smart card chip for all toll transactions. This, in addition to PCI-DESS[1], presents a major challenge for sanef and sapn (subsidiaries of the sanef Group) in migrating their systems architecture to the new structure. In response to these challenges, sanef has implemented the Stecard© industrial modular platform, ensuring continuity of service from the initial transaction request through to final payment. This enables efficient management of higher volumes of up to 100 transactions per second. . The Steria Stecard© solution has the capability of operating across new European "card" protocols and formats, which places it at the forefront of the banking industry and payment system standards... "The Stecard© option satisfied our requirements and constraints on all scores," said Edouard Fischer, Director in charge of new technologies at sanef. "We needed an open-ended solution, capable of managing high volume banking flows independently on the road, and without requiring a PIN while guaranteeing secure payment and MPAA (Manuel de Paiement Automate sur Autoroute: French motorway automatic payment manuel) compliance." About Sanef: www.sanef.com
Sanef is a group, which manages mobility infrastructures and operates services.Its objective is to foster the sustainable mobility of goods and people, to innovate and roll out top quality services, and contribute to the vitality of the different regions through its networks and toll solutions.Sanef is part of the Abertis Group, leading European operator of mobility and telecommunications infrastructures, and top Abertis motorway network.Its business model is based on high quality concession management, geared by customer satisfaction and cutting-edge development strategy for all new concessions and major toll projects in Europe, in addition to interconnected wireless toll services.Sanef directly operates 1,743 kilometres of motorway, and has interests in motorway companies representing 280 kilometres of motorway in service or under construction. The Group employs 3,400 people. It posted aggregate turnover of €1,414 billion in 2009.Its principal subsidiaries are sapn and eurotoll. [1] PCI-DSS: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. PCI-DSS is a standard that protects the privacy of card holders' data. The PCI-DSS standard defines security requirements for the storage, processing and transmission of payment card data in information systems.

Steria recognised for exemplary corporate responsibility in India

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Steria India, a leading provider of IT-enabled business services, today announced that it has been awarded two prestigious plaudits from venerable Indian institutions including the Bombay Stock Exchange and the NASSCOM Foundation, that recognise the company's efforts to engage, educate and empower India's local communities. For the second consecutive year, Steria India has been awarded the Best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practice award by NASSCOM Foundation, Bombay Stock Exchange Limited and Times Foundation, under the auspices of the Social and Corporate Governance Awards, 2009. The award recognises the achievements of Steria Community Services, which emphasises individual empowerment, self-sufficiency and contribution to local society, and is delivered through a collaborative effort between Steria, central and local governments, and industry bodies across multiple locations. Steria's corporate responsibility charter focuses on four domains: Environment (minimising the company's impact on the environment and helping its clients do the same); Workplace (supporting the growth and development of our people); Marketplace (promoting ethical business practices); and Community. The company's approach to community engagement emphasises access to IT, education and job opportunities as the keys to dramatically improving the lives of individuals, thereby strengthening local communities. Steria's work in India is part of its global Corporate Responsibility initiatives, which are volunteer-driven, involve more than 3,000 Steria employees, and provide support to 72 international charities. Steria has also accepted the NASSCOM Social Innovation Award Honours, 2010, for its continued drive to provide a ‘superior experience' for more than 46,000 school-aged children in 36 Steria-supported schools across Chennai, Pune and Noida. The initiative aims to bridge the digital and social divide by providing quality, ICT-enriched education to both boys and girls living in the poorest and most underserved rural areas in India. The Steria programme follows the children's progress from the very early stages of primary education onward, providing computer centres, libraries, English language software and mentoring, as well as the opportunity to obtain financial assistance for pursuing a university degree. This University assistance is funded by One Day Challenge, a Group wide initiative whereby Steria's employees engage in community programmes in order to raise funds for sustainable projects. The programme is helping to significantly curb drop-out rates and is encouraging parents to learn computer skills, as well. Commenting on the awards, Gayathri Mohan, vice president, Corporate Responsibility, Steria India, said: "We are honored to receive these awards which motivate us to set new benchmarks in corporate ethics and citizenship. Steria has a long-standing commitment to, and track record of engagement in social causes that lead to inclusive growth, by empowering marginalised communities with access to education and sustainable livelihood. We strongly believe our initiatives will continue to help bridge the existing socio-economic divide." Other community initiatives of note undertaken by Steria India this year include:

- Life Skills Training for children of Steria-supported schools - attended by more than 1,200 students, the programme focused on sex education and healthcare, to address the acute lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS in impoverished communities.

- Free vaccination programme - Steria India partnered with Max India Foundation and Max New York Life Insurance to provide vaccination to children between 0-12 years of age for BCG, DPT, MMR, Measles and Hepatitis B.

- Hands-on environmental awareness - local Steria volunteers conducted a workshop to teach children how to grow common herbs and their various uses; in the process, helping boost their awareness of key environmental issues, such as sustainability. "Many of these programmes and the benefits they deliver would not have materialised without the enthusiastic support of Steria clients," said Francois Enaud, CEO, Steria Group. "We owe them thanks for sharing our vision to contribute to social causes that make a real difference to people's lives."

Steria expands service offering to India’s domestic market

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Steria India, Steria's long-established service delivery hub for international clients, will now deliver services to local clients who can benefit from the Group's know-how. To respond to the needs of a fast-growing local market, Steria will rely on the skills of its 5,000 Indian employees and a comprehensive offering developed not only in Europe but also in Asia, through its subsidiary located in Singapore. "India continues to undergo massive transformation. From air, land and sea, the underlying infrastructure that propels daily life is evolving; firstly, so that it can better serve the lives of the Indian people today; and secondly, to prepare for the strong GDP growth of one of the world's top 12 economies," said Dr. Mukesh Aghi, CEO, Steria India. "This means there is both opportunity and tremendous pressure to modernise India's infrastructure and public services in the fastest and most effective way possible." In recent years, Steria has made significant investments towards expanding its footprint in India, where local employees now account for 30 per cent of the company's global workforce. This presence dates back to 1989, when IIS Infotech was founded. Today, Steria operates from three strategic locations in Chennai, New Delhi and Pune. Steria India's development of a highly industrialised global service model has delivered more effective IT and BPO services for European customers such as the BBC, BT, the NHS and Tesco. This powerful combination of scale, value-added service and innovation will now be accessible to the Indian market. Recognising India's role as the world's growth engine, Steria has made strategic hires and mobilised a dedicated team to implement its India go-to-market strategy. Steria India CEO, Aghi will be supported by newly-hired Chief Operating Officer, Asma Aidi, who will oversee the continued evolution of Steria India as a centre of excellence for integrated IT and BPO services. Previously, Aidi played a key role in developing Steria in Singapore, where the company has been delivering innovative, mobility and transport solutions for more than 10 years. "This is a watershed moment in Steria's history. We are now making our expertise and our model accessible for the Indian market which has, for many years now, enabled us to provide business solutions and innovative services to our European clients," according to François Enaud, CEO, Steria Group. "Having achieved buy-in from our very engaged and talented Indian workforce, I am confident that we have all the ingredients for success in this dynamic market." IT enabled services (ITeS) - a market which is expected to grow 15% in India in 2010 alone (according to industry analyst firm, IDC), will play a key role in the transformation of India's national infrastructure. Several areas are earmarked for modernisation; among these, Steria has an impressive track record for developing bespoke solutions for homeland security, mobility and transport. Steria-developed solutions catering to these areas include: ManagAirport
Integrated with flight arrivals and departures, ManagAirport provides intelligence on passengers' use of airport facilities such as bridges, baggage handling, lounges, trolleys and shuttles, so that airlines can be accurately re-charged cost of maintenance. ManagAirport is also integrated with Steria's Taxi Management solution, which allows taxi flow to be controlled at different times of the day, ensuring a balanced availability of cabs in the city and at the airport. Steria STORM
A comprehensive solution for police communities which helps manage police station activity in a dynamic way to ensure quicker turn-around time for emergency situations. It enables incident management, identification of suitable resources, deployment of force, messaging, location validation, and real-time information management, including geographical views and GPS, as well as intruder alarm system management. The Right Stuff Steria helps both local and central governments to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively, whilst helping them realise their ambitions through public infrastructure projects enabled and enriched by IT. Steria's deep sector expertise can deliver benefits to India in several areas, including the following case examples: Healthcare
Steria Spain's Civitas solution enables citizens to be directed to the appropriate health services and integrated management of all human and material resources, enabling healthcare to be provided cost-effectively. Defence
For the last 20 years, Steria has partnered with the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the supply of IT systems and services. In addition to the projects managed on behalf of the MoD, the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force, Steria has also collaborated extensively with auxiliary and reserve forces, several defence agencies, British intelligence, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Steria offers a whole portfolio of solutions for logistics information, secure electronic messaging systems, security and intelligence, infrastructure systems in addition to solutions for administration, training and support. Digital ID
Steria was called upon to develop the software, IT infrastructure and services required for the first European electronic ID (eID) card rollout in Belgium. At the close of 2009, the transition from paper-based to electronic identity cards was completed and foreign residents have now also been issued an eID card. Internal security
In Europe, Steria is at the heart of the large-scale IT systems such as Schengen, VISA and Eurodac, enabling safer border control and management of visa applications and requests for asylum. Transportation
Steria took part in the development of an interoperable air transport simulation platform (airplane, airline, traffic control, airport, satellite). This platform is a vector of innovation for modernising the European air transport sector. A leading traffic management solutions provider in Europe, Steria has also developed a cutting-edge road control system implemented in Switzerland, for the Canton of Zurich. This enables the Canton to supervise major road infrastructures and obtain real-time traffic information. This highly modular and scalable system will incorporate more than 210km of highways, including over 20 tunnels. In 2008, Steria launched a mobility centre of excellence in Singapore which combines the latest communication technologies (RFID, GPS, GSM, M2M) to create innovative services supporting mobility. The range of applications spans real-time and personalised information delivery for transport times, fleet management, senior citizen mobility, parcel delivery optimisation and emergency services management.

Steria and Isoft to install Orion Clinic 1.2 system in La Fe Hospital in Valencia to facilitate collaboration between medical teams

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:00:00 +0000

A consortium of Steria and Isoft will install and manage the Orion Clinic 1.2 system in La Fe Hospital in Valencia, the largest hospital in the entire Autonomous Region. This one year project is designed to implement a system which will assist healthcare professionals in their clinical activity and improve the quality and efficiency of patient care. This public medical centre has around 7,000 staff made up of healthcare and administrative professionals. With 1,300 beds and almost 50,000 registered admissions per annum, La Fe Hospital is also one of the leading Spanish hospitals in organ transplants, both on a European and worldwide level. Orion Clinic, which has already been installed as a pilot project in the Doctor Peset and Arnau de Vilanova hospitals, is being rolled out to the rest of the Valencia Region hospitals and specialist clinics. This application is integrated into the Region's Health Department information systems. It will enable patient care records to be updated electronically with their hospital care details and also provide access to all clinical test results and exploratory work that may have been undertaken. Orion Clinic enables the integration of other existing information systems both locally (IRIS, anatomical pathology, laboratories and x-ray departments) and centrally (SIP, CRC, COMPAS) and represents further progress towards the adoption of Abucasis II (the system that currently runs in primary healthcare centres). Benefits
The introduction of Orion Clinic in La Fe Hospital will lead to greater flexibility and security in the exchange of information and requests between clinical units and back-up departments (laboratories, medical imagery and others). For instance, the system enables the use of electronic prescriptions, thereby providing medical traceability. Orion Clinic includes built-in alerts to improve clinical quality and security and to facilitate collaboration between the various specialists through integrated management of the surgical, obstetrical and operating theatre activities. This application also brings further improvements to support new approaches to patient care, eg. home and short stay hospitalisation, operations carried out on an outpatient basis, and day and medium to long term inpatient hospitalisation. Steria and healthcare
Steria boasts strong experience in the Spanish healthcare sector, both public and private, and has clients such as the Ministry of Health and the following autonomous regions: Madrid, Castilla-León, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón, Extremadura, Murcia, Baleares, Andalucía, Galicia, País Vasco, Valencia, Cantabria, Asturias, La Rioja and Ceuta y Melilla, the Hospital Trusts in Granollers and Alcorcón, the San Juan de Dios and San Roque hospitals and the Benidorm clinic. Steria can also demonstrate expertise in IT for European public healthcare. In France, Steria is in charge of maintaining hospital management applications for AP-HP (the Paris public hospital board) which runs a group of 41 hospitals in Paris and the surrounding area, employing 90,000 people; and it has also developed the Sesam Vitale healthcare card. In terms of private healthcare, Steria has other clients such as the Swedish Karolinska and the French Marie Lannelongue hospitals.

Steria and HPI sign a strategic partnership for BPO Procurement Business Process Outsourcing

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0000

By accomplishing this alliance with HPI, Steria will gain comprehensive procurement service and new industry skills and will be able to provide enhanced BPO services to its international clients. HPI will have access to Steria's new service delivery organisation in Germany and to Steria's industrialised integrated delivery model. HPI provides excellent sourcing skills together with category management expertise for optimising direct and indirect costs. These are highly complementary to the Steria's existing Procurement and Purchase to Pay services. Together HPI and Steria can provide an end to end service portfolio on Procure to Pay encompassing Quote to Contract, Procurement and Payment cycles. BPO is one of the most important business areas for Steria. Within this, the procurement sector being one of the fastest growing segments, this alliance will enable the company to expand its position in the European BPO market through in depth and complementary sourcing skills of HPI. Juergen Sponnagel, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of BPO of Steria Group said: " For Steria's clients with international operations, our partnership with HPI will bring enhanced operational efficiencies in their procurement operations, saving them costs and time that they can reinvest within their core-business." Steria is acknowledged as a European leader in BPO. Its portfolio of services reaches into the very heart of the business support activities that underpin its clients' organisations. These include Finance & Accounting, Procurement, Human Resources and processes tailored to individual sectors and organisations (Life and Pensions, Customer Services etc). Since entering the BPO market in 2001, Steria has been recognised as a key player in the top-value chain in BPO service delivery. For the second consecutive year, Steria has secured the No. 1 position as the purchase-to-pay (P2P) business process outsourcing (BPO) supplier of choice across Europe. Steria's P2P (accounts payable) BPO ranking was unveiled in the NelsonHall BPO Market Assessment, 2009-2013 published on November 12. In addition, the NelsonHall BPO rankings follow Steria's recent announcement that it has been awarded ‘Best BPO Project' by the British National Outsourcing Association (NOA) for its landmark achievements as one-half of the joint venture with the UK Department of Health, the NHS Shared Business Services, established in 2005. This included positive acknowledgement in the 2009 UK Budget report and the achievement of world class finance accreditation by benchmarking firm, Hackett, earlier this year. About HPI: www.hpigmbh.com
HPI belongs to the leading Procurement Services Providers (PSP) in Germany. Spun-off from Hoechst AG in 1998, as their former Central Purchasing Department, HPI manages a spend of about €5bn on behalf of approx.170 companies with more than 200 employees (group) and offices in 12 countries (UK, NL, IT, Es, G, Cz, Slo, CH, Pol, China, India, Dubai). HPI's service portfolio covers sourcing, management and transaction of all procurement relevant processes, category management, strategic alliances management and sourcing projects.

The 6th Steria - Institut de France Foundation Scholarship: Applications start now!

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0000

The Steria - Institut de France Foundation Scholarship - an "incubator" for community projects which make use of Information Technology The aim of the Foundation Scholarship is to show students that they can play a vital role in community projects to help disadvantaged people, such as fighting social exclusion or illiteracy, helping elderly or disabled people, protecting the environment .... While it offers them the means to exercise their creativity and demonstrate their commitment, the Scholarship also provides the opportunity for students to put into practice what they have learned during their studies and to gain more in-depth knowledge through their contact with the Steria volunteer sponsors who supervise them and provide them with both the necessary skills to manage projects as well as technical expertise. The innovative aspect of the projects is encouraged through the use of technologies promoting mobility, accessibility or using home automation, robotics, etc. Students are invited to put forward their projects before 15th April 2010. Three projects will be shortlisted, according to the Foundation's criteria - the use of new technologies, the ability to adapt these new tools to the needs and aims of a structure or community project, the extent to which the tools are user-friendly and adapted to the public concerned, and the measures taken to ensure that the project is sustainable. In May 2010, the chosen teams will have to defend their projects in front of the Foundation's Grand Jury composed of members of the French Academy of Sciences and Steria Managers. Instructions for Applying for the 2010 Steria-Institut de France Foundation Scholarship:

Students interested in applying should form an association. To start with, they can pre-enrol on-line at www.fondationsteria.org, and can, if they wish, ask the Foundation to help them validate their project. The students, in teams of 3 to 6, then have until 15th April 2010 to send in their completed application forms, following the instructions below:

- Presenting the team and the project leader
- Including a project summary outlining the actions envisaged,
- Presenting the project's simplified budget and provisional schedule,
- Regulations can be found at www.fondationsteria.org "Ben'INT" from the Télécom SudParis Institute and ESIEA's "Computer Assisted Vision (VAO)" project - winners of the 2009 Scholarship

In 2009, the Jury, composed of members of the French Academy of Sciences and Steria Managers, decided to award two prizes. The first award-winning project, Ben'INT, was put forward by a team of engineering students from the Telecom SudParis Institute. It involved providing computer training to Beninese teachers and pupils, who will then pass on the skills they have learned to others.

The second award-winning project, VAO (Computer Assisted Vision) was presented by students from ESIEA. It aims to design software incorporated into a portable digital magnifying glass. The students created a computer-assisted channel of vision placed inside a mini video camera built into the magnifying glass. This free, adaptable, portable and ergonomic system is designed to help the partially sighted to read documents, both on a computer screen and in print. For further details, please visit www.fondationsteria.org About the Institut de France (www.institut-de-france.fr)

The Institut de France groups together five Academies: the French Academy, the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Academy of Ethics and Political Science. The Institut de France was founded on 25th October 1795 and its current chancellor is Gabriel de Broglie.

Steria Ranked No. 1 in Europe for Accounts Payable Business Process Outsourcing

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0000

In the same report, Steria rose to the No. 3 position in Europe for multi-process finance and accounting (F&A) BPO, which covers accounts payable, accounts receivable, general accounting, and treasury and cash management, amongst other key services. Steria was also ranked No. 1 in the UK for overall finance and accounting BPO, according to NelsonHall's research. Juergen Sponnagel, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of BPO of Steria Group and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Steria Mummert Consulting said: "We recognise that our clients have been and will continue to be under tremendous pressure to create operational efficiencies, and BPO in the finance and accounting segment has grown significantly because of this need." "As we emerge from the recession, our European client base is also showing great interest in BPO as a board-level strategy for creating more agility and flexibility in the business. It's exciting to see BPO evolve into a strategic instrument for forward-thinking organisations." The NelsonHall BPO rankings follow Steria's recent announcement that it has been awarded ‘Best BPO Project' by the British National Outsourcing Association (NOA) for its landmark achievements as one-half of the joint venture with the UK Department of Health, the NHS Shared Business Services, established in 2005. This included positive acknowledgement in the 2009 UK Budget report and the achievement of world class finance accreditation by benchmarking firm, Hackett, earlier this year. Steria achieves consistent gains in BPO subcategories According to NelsonHall, in 2008 Steria captured 6.4% of the purchase-to-pay market in Europe, maintaining its No. 1 position. In multi-process F&A BPO, Steria gained a position, moving from fourth in 2007 to third in 2008, with 7.3% market share in this category. François Enaud, CEO of Steria Group, said: "Over the years, we have made strategic investments and scaled up our capacity to deliver on our clients' business needs - addressing their operational pain points today and offering additional scope when other areas of the business require BPO expertise. "Our growth in areas like multi-process F&A serves as great supporting evidence that our investments are paying off, and more importantly, that a growing number of clients find strategic value in Steria BPO service delivery." NelsonHall is the BPO industry's most established analyst firm, having published market-leading insights and BPO industry analysis since 1998. Steria's portfolio of clients who rely on its BPO expertise include, among other brands, the BBC, British Telecom and Whitbread, and is supported by more than 2,300 finance and accounting professionals across the company.

Steria: innovation and agility to support “BforBank”, the 100% online private bank

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

BforBank addresses a clientele wishing to invest its money by offering a wide range of savings products and services accessible from a single portal. Thanks to its services of a quality usually only found in private banks, the site offers competitive savings solutions, accurate and up-to-date information and customised tools at online banking prices. www.bforbank.com has the advantage of simulation and comparison tools for the main offers existing on the market to help clients' make investment and management decisions. The site stands out from others because it adapts to clients' individual needs and their knowledge of the market. The creation of this single portal constituted a triple challenge for Steria: it had to provide a site with extremely rich content that was accessible, simple and intuitive; it had to integrate the bank's management system as well as all its partners' IT systems and the products offered on BforBank; and of course, the whole system had to be totally secure. The European IT-enabled business services company Steria, with its integrated industrial delivery model, managed to complete the project in seven months, thus pulling off the challenge it had been set. It met all the Time to Market requirements of an extremely competitive market. Steria's teams - its industrial development centre, ergonomic teams, and IT development and competence centres worked together perfectly, in Agile mode, with a high level of commitment to deadlines, guaranteeing responsive support for BforBank, which can be adjusted as needs evolve. Steria can rely on its integrated industrial delivery model, and on its experience in managing similar projects at European level. These projects include innovative solutions such as its portal offer based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), or its testing offer (TestToMarket®), used, among other things, to validate the site. "Signing a contract such as this confirms Steria's ability to provide support for major banking clients with their transformation, innovation and market positioning strategy. Our integrated delivery model, combining innovative architecture and flexibility, means that BforBank can provide a complete offer that is attractive and simple to use while respecting its Time to Market demands," states Olivier Vallet, CEO of Steria France. "We chose Steria for its ability to combine an industrial model with proximity, and for its responsiveness, and were able to set up a close partnership between our teams and work in a totally transparent manner. This responsiveness, combined with an Agile approach enabled us to define and meet our needs more precisely as time went by, coming up with an organisational structure and innovative services so that we could work together while keeping in mind the important milestones of the project. This is a real partnership for BforBank," declared Vincent Chatard, Director of Operations & Customer Services. About BforBank BforBank is a new model of "private online bank" so that savers can manage their assets themselves. The site features useful and customised advice from experts as well as online and telephone assistance.

BforBank is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Caisses régionales de Crédit Agricole and Crédit Agricole SA offering effective saving solutions: a savings account with an attractive interest rate, life insurance without an entrance fee, and, as of October, a full Stock Exchange and Funds package, including 50 funds specially chosen for their level of performance offered by renowned companies, and access to over 2,000 funds without an entrance fee.

BforBank also offers a knowledge database comprising articles on all subjects relating to assets management, decision-making tools, and expert content with exclusive videos. The website user will have access to all the useful and necessary information to make better investments, directly and effectively.

Johan Vermeule is appointed Steria Group Human Resources Director

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Steria currently employs 19,000 people across 16 countries. Johan will direct Group HR policies across the organisation in support of Steria's strategic objectives. He will lead, define and implement dynamic international human resources policies, designed to meet the challenges of the IT services market and support our clients to gain competitive advantage. Johan Vermeule will focus on making Steria's employees a differentiating factor and inspire professional excellence through the introduction of first class HR programs. In addition, he will promote the uniqueness of Steria Group SCA in terms of employee shareholding. Johan Vermeule started his HR career in the automotive industry at Nissan Europe in 1985. In 1999 he joined Atos Origin where he became Director of Compensation & Benefits and International Assignments. Prior to joining Steria Johan was Senior Vice President Global HR policies & processes at Atos.

Johan Vermeule holds a Masters Degree in Human Resources Management from Hertfordshire University.

Steria strengthens the industrialisation of its managed service centres with HP Software's HP Operations Center platform

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Steria's industrialisation strategy is based both on rolling out an integrated global production model making use of offshore resources and on automating its production processes utilising standardised methods and tools. The strategy is designed to offer Steria's customers the best level of service at the best price while taking into account the specific aspects and the history of their IT environment. IT infrastructures are faced with growing transformation needs. The need to reduce the time to market for new products or services, acquisitions, consolidations and restructuring processes, increasing governance and security demands, and higher profitability objectives are just some of the challenges that an IT system must handle in shorter and shorter time spans. All of these changes lead to technological complexity and a compartmentalization of expertise in IT departments. Given this situation, it is crucial to obtain and keep an end-to-end view of customers' increasingly diverse infrastructures, while coordinating communication among those involved in a particular IT project (from IT specialists to users). In 2007, Steria chose an HP Service Manager platform to round off its STARS offer (Steria Advanced Remote Services) in order to standardise and automate the management of client service requests. Based on a Global Delivery Model that includes on-, near- and offshore skills centres, Steria has rolled out this solution in 19 countries for 200 customers worldwide. With the HP Operations Centre, Steria offers a high level of industrialisation in terms of supervision of its customers' IT environments that is not confined by geographical borders, thanks to standardised tools that check and monitor the performance and availability of all components in the IT infrastructure (networks, systems, databases, applications, key services and Internet). This partnership with HP, which started in 2000 on the Testing Services portion, has now been expanded to include the entire range of HP Software solutions. As a Platinum partner, Steria holds the highest level of partnership granted by HP Software worldwide. Steria is also a member of HP's Customer Supervisory Board for the HP Service Manager platform, and, as such, can contribute to the development of its future versions. Bruno Buffenoir, Director of HP Software France, has this to say: "Thanks to the HP product suite, Steria can continue automating its production centres to deliver added-value infrastructure management services". Karine Brunet, Steria Group's Director of infrastructure management services, explains that "We are very keen to offer our customers the best possible service through flexible solutions that are in keeping with their environment. The roll-out of HP platforms in all our service centres in Europe and in India means that we can offer our customers services that take into account the complexity of their environment while ensuring the very best level of quality and efficiency in our production centres. Steria can also support our customers who do not have an outsourcing strategy to manage their infrastructures through the use of HP solutions within their own environment".

Steria wins major application management contract with the Norwegian National Rail Administration

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:00:00 +0000

"The contract includes the implementation, operation and management of a centralised operations platform, as well as the operation of the central applications environment, the operation and management of the office support environment and user support for Jernbaneverket employees," says Jan Hokstad, Director of Operation Services at Steria. In addition to providing local services to Jernbaneverket offices in Norway, Steria will implement an emergency management solution and new communication solutions for Jernbaneverket. Steria already supports Jernbaneverket with consulting and system development services. A three to eight years contract
The contract, signed for an initial three years with an option to extend it a further five years, will be worth around 14 million Euros (NOK 120 million) over the first three year period. Knut Frækeland, ICT Director at Jernbaneverket, has high expectations for the contract. "Steria will be responsible for ensuring that all Jernbaneverket employees in each of our offices in Norway always have access to the tools and services they need to complete their job. This is vital in enabling us to concentrate on our core activities," says Frækeland. As a state-owned authority, Jernbaneverket reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. The public rail network in Norway covers over 4,000 kilometres today.

Steria has won the managed services contract for the entire mobile information system of SFR: a flagship contract worth almost € 100 million

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:00:00 +0000

This contract, for a term of 4 years and worth almost € 100 million, involves Steria taking on the overall management of the IT production of this operator, covering all the front office applications (sales and subscriptions, CRM tools, marketing, invoicing...) and back office (administrative and financial applications, SAP, network applications, corporate tools...). The tailor-made production model delivered by Steria will enable SFR to take advantage of the industrial capacities of the European service company, while maintaining a high operational proximity. Steria's global delivery resources will be closely coordinated with the teams on site. This organisation, to which will be added a mirror governance team between Steria and SFR, is proof of the commitment of both parties in this partnership. The common aim is to transform and rationalise the IT system."Signing such an important contract with a company like SFR confirms Steria's capacity to assist such large clients in a transformation project, and demonstrates the relevance of our strategic direction. Our integrated production model brings high added value for our clients in terms of reliability, efficiency, service quality and price attractiveness," declares Oliver Vallet, CEO of Steria France. Steria's in-depth knowledge of the specific aspects of the IT production, in particular in the field of telecommunications, means it can commit itself to improving the operational performance and achieve significant productivity gains to the benefit of the operator. "We chose Steria for its ability to assist and speed up our transformation, while making considerable commitments for an entire area and in a standardised manner. This should enable us to increase our agility in managing our IT system and make real economies of scale, which are vital for our future investments. This partnership is a major asset to support our continued innovation policy for the benefit of our clients and thereby improve our attractiveness in an ever more competitive market," states Emmanuel Erba, Purchasing Director for IT Systems and Services of SFR. About SFR: www.sfr.com
The new SFR, the result of the merger between SFR and Neuf Cegetel, is the number one alternative telecommunications operator in Europe with a turnover of over 12 billion Euros in 2008. Almost half of the population of France uses its services.

By becoming a global operator, SFR is able to meet the needs of its clients whether they be the general public, professionals, companies or even operators, for mobile, landline and Internet services. During the first quarter of 2009, SFR had 19.8 million mobile phone clients, over 4 million Internet clients, and 164,000 corporate sites were connected to its network.

The new SFR owns mobile and landline infrastructures and enjoys a high level of expertise in the field of IP (Internet Protocol). It has the means to achieve its ambitions, which are to be an open and responsible player that enables everyone to have easy access to digital services, while providing greater simplicity, useful innovation and a quality service.

SFR employs almost 10,000 people and the company is owned by two large, stable shareholders: Vivendi (56%) and Vodafone (44%).

Steria signs €51 million deal (£45 million) with the IPCC

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Commencing later this year, the partnership will offer the IPCC an enhanced range of ICT and business services, with the ability to adapt the service to better fit future needs. Steria will provide a refreshed ICT environment supporting flexible working and improved access to information through new case and integrated information management systems, enabling the IPCC to respond to current and future demands more efficiently. John Torrie, Chief Executive Officer, Steria UK and India, says, "IPCC and Steria share a number of common values and we are excited by the partnership approach that this agreement represents. This is a long term commitment by both organisations and I am confident will deliver significant operational and business benefits to IPCC through its life." The IPCC is a non-departmental public body, funded by the Home Office, responsible for overseeing the complaints system for police forces in England and Wales. It also investigates serious complaints against HM Revenue and Customs the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the UK Border Agency staff exercising police-like powers. As guardians of the complaint system the IPCC has the task of increasing public confidence in the complaint systems and aims to make investigations more open, timely, proportionate and fair. From 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2009 the IPCC has used its powers to begin 353 independent and 759 managed investigations into the most serious complaints. It has set new standards for police forces to improve the way the public's complaints are handled. The Commission also handles appeals by the public about the way their complaint was dealt with by the local force. The contract with Steria forms a vital part of the IPCC's wider change programme which is a key strategic initiative for the organisation. It involves a restructure and is enabling the IPCC to build flexibility and efficiency to meet future challenges against limited resources. IPCC Chief Executive Jane Furniss says, "The new contract with Steria provides us with modern ICT and critical business systems. These are crucial to the ongoing restructuring and development of the organisation and will underpin the work being done to provide greater frontline resources. In future as we develop and respond to new challenges the ICT infrastructure will give us the ability to provide the public with a more transparent and accessible complaints system."

Steria selected by CSC to provide BPO services for UK Identity and Passport Service contract

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Steria will provide BPO services to manage the front-end of passport application, including essential data verification and validation processes, ensuring speed and accuracy of service. The BPO service will complement the technology platform to be introduced by CSC and, in the future, may also be used in the National Identity Service, for the provisioning of identity cards. Jim Vincent, head of Steria's central government practice, said: "Our extensive work with public service bodies such as the NHS puts us in a great position to share Steria expertise with other branches of central government. The IPS provides a valuable service to British citizens, so we are very pleased to work with CSC on this project." "The CSC-led consortium for the application and enrollment element of the National Identity scheme leverages best-of-breed expertise across technology and business services for the IPS. Steria, one of the prime BPO service providers in the industry, is helping us to design and deliver the BPO services for the programme," said Nick Wilson, president of CSC's operations in the UK, Nordics, Middle East and Africa.

NHS Shared Business Services signs 9 new NHS organisations

Tue, 19 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Capitalising on its momentum from 2008, these new customers join more than 110 existing NHS organisations already using NHS SBS. Working with 25% of all NHS trusts, NHS SBS enables clients to deliver operational efficiencies through improved financial control, leading edge technology and shared best practice.

"We took the decision to move finance and accounting and payroll services to NHS Shared Business Services because we believe it will deliver real long term value to our organisation and support our drive to become World Class Commissioners," said Andrew Booth, director of finance and performance and deputy chief executive, NHS Derby City. "NHS Shared Business Services provides an impressive level of information through a range of comprehensive dashboards backed by a robust future proofed IT infrastructure. The Operating Framework recommends shared services as one of the most effective ways to assist in reducing costs and we believe that working in partnership with NHS Shared Business Services will support us in this area.

"John Neilson, managing director of NHS Shared Business Services, says, "NHS SBS has seen a dramatic increase in NHS organisations wanting to tap into our expertise and get the same benefits that other trusts have enjoyed through our unique service delivery model. We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to work with a growing number of NHS trusts and are confident in our ability to provide back office services that can make a big difference to their daily operations."

"We are delighted to welcome these nine new Trusts to NHS SBS, particularly as we continue to expand our services to deliver real value to the NHS. The recent Treasury Budget Report mentions NHS Shared Business Services as one of the ways to achieve real savings and we are working with all our clients to ensure they get a high quality, best value services".

The NHS Trusts which joined NHS SBS in April 2009 are:
- Derby City Primary Care Trust
- Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust
- Derbyshire Mental Health Trust
- East Midlands Ambulance Service
- East Midlands Strategic Health Authority
- Newham University Hospital NHS Trust
- South Downs NHS Health Trust
- Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust
- Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology

About NHS Shared Business Services: www.sbs.nhs.uk
NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is a unique joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria, and leads the way in developing and providing Finance, Accounting, Payroll, e-Procurement and Family Health Services to all types of NHS organisations.
NHS SBS provides a range of value added services to enable NHS trusts to focus on strategic decision making and business improvement activities whilst benefiting from operational efficiencies.
NHS SBS works with clients to transform their business functions and maximise their purchasing power. It delivers best-in-class, future-proofed services and actively promotes the sharing of best practice for continuous improvement between client trusts. NHS SBS was cited in the recent HM Treasury Budget Report April 2009 "improving efficiency in back office functions by building on the success of NHS Shared Business Services."
With over 1000 people employed and in excess of 4 million transactions processed per annum, NHS SBS works with 25% of NHS organisations to deliver operational efficiencies, freeing up funds to reinvest in frontline services.

ERDF selects Steria to support implementation of 35 million new-generation smart meters.

Tue, 12 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000

ERDF, an EDF group subsidiary created in 2008, is responsible for operating, managing and developing the public electricity distribution network. ERDF operates 1,256,000 km of networks, or 95% of the continental distribution network.As a player on an open energy market, ERDF is aiming to modernise the electricity distribution network and improve the performance of its metering system in order to better meet its users' new and growing demands. In connection with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), ERDF has decided to test 300,000 smart meters in 2010. The ERC's and ERDF's feedback from this experiment will determine the go-ahead to extend it to France's 35 million traditional electric meters between 2012 and 2016. Steria is a key player in this large-scale project as the developer of the entire rollout information system: prior to the test phase (beginning in June, 2008), during the test phase (from April 2009 to October 2010), to contribute to feedback (end 2010), and then during the extension phase (2012 to 2016). The rollout information system plays a crucial role at the heart of the system by feeding the Linky Information system, which will be in charge of the supervision and administration of the meters once they have been implemented. It will be used to manage the replacement of 3,000 meters per day in Indre-et-Loire and in the Lyon area during the first phase, and then of 35,000 meters per day throughout the territory during the extension phase. The challenges of industrialising, securing and improving the reliability of the Information System development process are all central to Steria's mission to provide all project players, ERDF or outside on-site contributors, with a service platform that meets their increased expectations of flexibility, reliability, performance and easy access to information. The Rollout Information System will allow the effective management of the replacement of the 35 million traditional electric meters with smart meters, while guaranteeing the parametering of the new meters as well as the quality and security of all data exchanges."The Rollout Information System is an essential building block in the plan to implement 35 million new-generation meters. By processing millions of pieces of information gathered during the meter installation operations, we will be able to measure the quality of the service provided so that we can both better meet our customers' expectations and better measure our performances for a continuous improvement of our processes.Steria has just finalised the first operational phase of the project on time and within budget. This first phase was extremely important as the entire remainder of the project, up to the installation of the first meter in 2010, is dependent on it. Its successful completion is due to the talent and the drive displayed by the Steria and ERDF teams, who work in an entirely integrated manner using an innovative project-management methodology," explains Mr Jean Vigneron, Managing Director for Metering at ERDF. "Handling high volumes right from the test phase is one of the challenges ERDF has asked us to meet, by developing the system to coordinate the replacement of 35 million electric meters. With the completion of this first stage within a very short timeframe, we have been able to demonstrate the validity of the entire technical solution we had offered, and we are convinced that we are going to design a high-performing Rollout Information System, based on BEA solutions and our Webtransfer[1] tool for on-site work, that can support ERDF throughout this initial test phase, as well as during the upcoming extension phase," explains Steria's Project Director Michel Cordier. Schedule Overview:
- 5 March 2008: launch of the call for bids for ERDF's AMM (Automatic Meter Management) project's Rollout Information System.
- Arrival of Steria's teams on the Rollout Information System's project platform, opened in Lyon, on 30 June 2008.
- Test phase from April 2009 to October 2010: replacement of 100,000 meters in Indre-et-Loire, 200,000 meters in the Lyon region, and the installation of 5,000 concentrators in both regions.
- Feedback for the experiment by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and ERDF end 2010 for the decision to extend (go/no go).
- Extension phase from 2012 to 2016: replacement of the 35 million meters throughout France. [1] The WebTransfer solution is a generic tool developed by Steria to model and exchange business data.

The Antwerp Diamond Bank relies on Steria for its expansion in the Middle & Far East

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:00:00 +0000

For more than 5 years Steria has managed the IT infrastructure of the Antwerp Diamond Bank (ADB). This outsourcing fits entirely in the business IT alignment strategy of the bank and uses the newest concepts of infrastructure consolidation and virtualisation. In order to ensure conformity according to Basel II and CBFA standards, Steria has implemented a Business Continuity and a Disaster Recovery Plan. These outsourcing activities are based on a Service Level Agreement that is fully in line with the expectations of the business users. Antwerp Diamond Bank recently opened a new branch in Singapore. In accordance with the strategy to offer all IT services from central applications on a central infrastructure which is available 24/7, ADB has outsourced the IT infrastructure for Singapore to Steria. ADB Singapore is connected to Steria's data centres in Belgium for its business critical applications and Steria Singapore hosts and manages the local servers. "Thanks to the collaboration between Steria's teams in Belgium and Singapore and our own IT department, we are able to guarantee our Asian customers a constantly available service" commented Pierre De Bosscher, Managing Director of Antwerp Diamond Bank.

SAMSIC Iberia choose Steria to implement new ERP infrastructure to improve business efficiency

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Samsic Iberia, is a member of the French group Samsic. Samsic has over 20,000 customers in Belgium, France, Luxemburg, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Switzerland and 1.3 billion euros in total revenue. Samsic in Spain has 4,000 specialised cleaning and decontamination technicians in the service, food, industrial, pharmaceutical and health industries operating throughout Spain and reports more than 60 million euros in revenue. The project awarded to Steria will achieve standardised information and integrate the different processes of Samsic's twelve local branches throughout Spain, as well as improving data visibility. During phase one Steria will implement the finance modules for Accounting, Purchasing, Operations and Billing departments, as well as the PeopleSoft HCM Payroll tool for all personnel administration processes, from hiring to payroll calculation. In the second phase, Steria will use Oracle technology to enable Samsic Iberia to improve business decision making through a suite of reports which can be provided directly to the Group's head office in France. Following set up, Steria will maintain the ERP applications for Samsic in addition to maintaining the infrastructure and lines of communication connected to the project, until 2014. The end-to-end outsourcing service will be provided to Samsic under a Service-Level Agreement, using ITIL methodology, from Steria's Data Processing Centre in Madrid. This centre serves as a shared platform for a number of clients who use similar outsourcing services including Findus, Intervec and Suzuki Motor España. These clients benefit from highly-available systems and specialised support teams at significantly reduced rates. Pedro Ceballos, Samsic Iberia's Administrative and Financial Director, comments: "This project will provide us with a centralised view and improve our control across our business which will enable us to optimise costs and provide better service to our customers. What's more, our choice of Steria as our provider is a guarantee of an enhanced performance of our systems and ensures that we can upgrade our technology as required by our business and by the market alike."

Steria, technical partner to the ING Renault F1 Team, wishes good luck to the team for the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship!

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:00:00 +0000

The expertise of Steria helps improve the performance of the ING Renault F1 Team
Steria manages an intelligent interface between the critical on-board systems and the automatic data analysis system. During the race, the on-board IT systems process over 2,000 operations per second. The data is then analysed to improve the performance of the vehicle and give the driver the best chance of success.

Cutting-edge advice to maintain the competitive advantage of the ING Renault F1 Team
In addition to the races, Steria provides advice to optimise the efficiency of SAP solutions used to develop the engines. The idea is to increase the overall performance of the team in order to ensure optimal racing conditions. The 2009 season will be run during 17 races
The 2009 season begins on 29 March in Melbourne (Australia) and will end on the 1st of November at Interlagos (Brazil). 17 races are planned:
29 March Australia, Melbourne
05 April Malaysia, Sepang
19 April China, Shanghai
26 April Bahrain, Sakhir
10 May Spain, Barcelona
24 May Monaco, Monte Carlo
07 June Turkey, Istanbul
21 June United Kingdom, Silverstone
12 July Germany, Nürburgring
26 July Hungaria, Hungaroring
23 August Europe, Circuit Urbain de Valence
30 August Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps
13 September Italy, Monza
27 September Singapore, Singapore
04 October Japan, Suzuka
18 October Brasil, Interlagos
01 November United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi More information on: http://www.ing-renaultf1.com

The Belgian Federal Police choose Steria and Cogent Systems to provide an innovative fingerprint capture system

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 23:00:00 +0000

The Federal Police's Legal Identification Division conducted an in-depth evaluation of each offer, including intensive performance testing for each of the proposed solutions. Steria's offer of Cogent Systems' APFIS technology demonstrated its high-level performance and resulted in the Police awarding the contract to Steria. Cogent's new APFIS system will replace an earlier version, which was installed 10 years ago. It will support all future new functionalities, provide more precise results with a shorter response time, and include new, improved functionalities. Indeed, the new system can store finger- and palm print trace images at 1,000 pixel per inch (ppi) resolution and allows traces to be examined in comparison with flat or rolled fingerprints as well as palm prints.This new identification system will further increase the Belgian Police's crime-solving capacity. It will offer increased search precision, significantly improved response times, a palm print search option, and other innovative functions as well. For example, the new system will offer 90% precision in finger- and palmprint trace searches and up to 99.9% precision in fingerprint searches. Moreover, the new system will allow a fast, high-quality exchange of dactyloscopic data with other countries (with Interpol and other countries covered by the Prüm Treaty). High-level integration with the other IT systems used by the Belgian Police has been planned in order to optimize the flow of information."This contract at the heart of Europe considerably strengthens our presence there, where Cogent Systems technology is already being used in other European Union countries," says Cogent Systems' President and CEO Ming Hsieh. "Cogent technology's strength resides in its precision, its reliability and its quick implementation; characteristics that played a crucial role in the awarding of this contract." "For Steria, this is a strategic project in systems integration and security. Our expertise in biometric systems integration unquestionably played an essential role in the final phase of evaluation. This project illustrates our ability to offer our public- and private-sector customers innovative solutions delivered by our biometrics expertise centre," says Steria Benelux CEO René Luyckx. About Cogent Systems: www.cogentsystems.com
Cogent (Nasdaq: COGT) is a global biometric identification solutions provider to governments, law enforcement agencies, and commercial enterprises. Cogent provides the highest quality identification systems, products and services with leading technology, accuracy and speed. Cogent's Automated Fingerprint/Palmprint Identification Systems, or AFIS, enable customers to capture fingerprint and palm print images electronically, encode prints into searchable files, and accurately compare a set of fingerprints/palm prints to a database containing potentially millions of prints in seconds.