Redlands, California - Two major Brazilian electric distribution companies, AES Sul and AES Eletropaulo, signed an enterprise license agreement (ELA) with ESRI's Brazilian distributor Imagem Geosistemas E Comércio Ltda. The ELA will provide deployments of current ESRI geographic information system (GIS) software for the desktop and server as well as support, training, and maintenance. Both utilities are taking advantage of this program, which allows them to expand GIS technology across the company while keeping costs low.

AES Sul recently integrated its accounting data from SAP with the physical data in its GIS. ESRI's ArcGIS platform enables the development of GIS visualization and geoprocessing services that can easily be used by other platforms, such as SAP NetWeaver, to create composite applications specifically for utilities. Using ArcGIS Mobile and ArcGIS Server technologies, AES Sul field crews keep data fresh with real-time updates of work orders and customer information.

"With the integrated platform, AES Sul has the guarantee of automatic updates that were in the past manual and not completely reliable," said Sandra Heck, GIS coordinator for AES Sul. "Asset management is conducted through a unique channel that involves access to data through the SAP and GIS environments."

AES Eletropaulo uses GIS to meet and keep its company-wide goal of more rapid response to work orders and outages. The utility recently updated its distribution maps and customer database within an ArcGIS platform.

"Since implementation of enterprise GIS, we have seen marked success in the productivity and quality in our work as well as a significant reduction in operating cost," said Silvio Baldan, a business analyst with AES Eletropaulo. "We are a company with the highest level of technology related to the electric assets. It is essential for us to be aligned with international best practices, and this includes the use of GIS from ESRI."

AES Sul and AES Eletropaulo are divisions of major international power company AES. As one of the world's largest power companies, AES owns and operates a diverse and growing portfolio of generation and distribution businesses with the capacity to serve 100 million people worldwide. AES Eletropaulo serves six million customers in 24 municipal districts of the metropolitan area of São Paulo. AES Sul serves one million consumers in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, the Rio Pardo and Taquari Valleys, and the central and western frontier regions.   

"We are pleased to support AES Sul and Eletropaulo with this new agreement," said Gustavo Dias, a GIS expert with Imagem. "This ELA will save the time and money typically expended on updating GIS technology. Instead, the utilities will be able to focus on asset management, customer service, and expansion of networks."

The core technology for the ELA is ESRI's ArcGIS software, a complete system to author, serve, and use geographic information. The technology provides geographic information to those who need it, including analysts, decision makers, and field staff, through its support of mobile, Web, and desktop clients.