EDP Group deploys a worldwide employee information portal in 8 weeks with the OutSystems Platform

The Challenge:

• There were disparate systems in each country resulting in inaccurate data and communication challenges when accessing information;
• EDP Group wanted a system to centralize all employee information. This employee portal had to be accessible by the entire employee base, at anytime and had to provide real time data;
• The Employee Portal had to be accessible in both Portuguese and Spanish and, since EDP is a global company, the system had to be able to support future expansion into other countries and languages;
• The system needed to be integrated with several existing in-house systems to ensure that simplify data maintenance and entry.

The Solution:

EDP group selected the OutSystems Platform to create a powerful centralized employee information portal which streamlines processes and improves the accuracy of information. The Employee Portal is fully integrated with the existing ERP systems and tailor for each country and company specific needs. The Employee Information Portal provides a wide range of features and capabilities:

• Multilanguage front-office - based on the information from the browser, users are dynamically redirected to their native country language, but also have the ability to manually select a specific language;
• Variety of Search capabilities - employees can search the employee portal by any criteria including country, company, department, employee name, skills, and responsibilities. They can also use a hierarchical navigation with detailed country, company and department drill-downs;
• Keyword Dictionary – a keyword based search capability allows for the search of all related words that were pre-defined and configured through the back-office;
• Centralized facilities data  - provides a global repository for all meeting rooms, fax numbers, buildings and power plants with detailed information on their numbers and addresses;
• Import to personal contacts - using a vcard format, employee data can be downloaded and imported to both Outlook and Lotus Notes;
• Real time Integration with existing ERP systems - the employee portal currently integrates with SAP and Cézanne to get all employees data, and is designed for future integration with other applications through open web services;
• Import using spreadsheets - employee data can also be uploaded from spreadsheets in the back-office area of the employee portal. Facilities are also imported using spreadsheets. In both cases, potential data errors are logged through an Audit Application Events page;
• Exporting employee data – users that have access to the back-office of the employee portal can also export employee data. This feature allows HR and Marketing departments to get specific employee lists in a self service mode (e.g. a list of all group secretaries to send an internal communication or announce a new training course);
• Self configuration platform in the employee portal back-office - according to their privileges, back-office users can modify the employee portal reference data like adding new countries, new companies and groups or deactivate existing ones. Back-office users can also manage or remove company logos. 

Results:

• Fast and on-time deployment in just 8 weeks;
• Improved and simplified worldwide communication by providing a “who’s who” employee portal of all EDP Group's employees;
• Accurate and centralized data across the whole company saves time and user frustration;
• Accurate and central access to all employee related information, allowing HR at a global scale to view and manage it;
• The employee portal  is fully expandable to include additional languages at any time, thus supporting future growth strategies without any additional development effort needed;
• On the launch day, EDP employees were able to immediately search real time information for 270 facilities and 10,150 employees. 

About EDP:

EDP-Energias de Portugal, S.A. engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity, as well as in the provision of telecommunications and information technology services primarily in Portugal and Spain. It generates electricity for consumption in both the public electricity system and the independent electricity system. The company also distributes natural gas. In addition, the company provides fixed line telecommunications services, including voice and data services to corporate and residential clients in Portugal and Spain; and Internet access through asynchronous digital subscriber lines.

Visit EDP website