One Further Step Towards IT Resources Integration at Electrabel Brussels

摘要

To summarise, Electrabel-Centre has defined, like the entire Electrabel company, challenging objectives in terms of performance and professional services to customers. This requires the support of an effective Information System (IS). To implement their IS, Electrabel-Centre do not do it all at once, starting from scratch: the legacy systems and available resources have to be taken into consideration. Furthermore, they give preference to shorter projects, easier to manage and more likely to satisfy the individual urgencies. At the same time, the various systems must inter-operate and remain consistent among each other, and towards future systems. Thus, each individual project is analysed in detail for its short and long term functionality, taking into account, in as much as feasible, the potential environmental and technological evolution. It is also taken as an opportunity for possible business process reengineering. Therefore, it is essential for Electrabel-Centre to select an IT Architecture that suits open solutions, combining existing and future systems, capable of integrating new applications and technologies. In their IS, the DMS has a particular position; it supports actively the network operation and control, the customer information and the network planing and documentation, while interfacing closely with the other related systems. It must satisfy the real time and availability constraints of the operation, and the expectations for flexibility and user friendliness for office automation. Electrabel-Centre has chosen, as DMS, a modern product based on Object-Oriented technology build around a CORBA message bus, with applications written in C++. For the communication between the software components and for the integration of other applications, it provides a CORBA based API, defined in IDL from OMG. With its Common Information Model, an object oriented data model for Energy Management System applications, which is being considered by IEC for standardisation and was developed originally by a widely accepted and supported institute, DMS should give the best base for an evolving IT Architecture that will adapt to new operational requirements. Object-Oriented Technology, in the analysis and implementation of solutions, provides "naturally" information consistency and higher software productivity while adapting more easily to changing needs. The IEC (TC57), in its work of defining new standards for "System Interfaces for Distribution Management" (IEC 61968), sees also the Object-Oriented as the enabling technology to implement evolving solutions in a complex utility's environment. In the constantly changing institutional and technical environment, Electrabel's strategy aims towards a consistent, open and future oriented Information System to support the business needs and the forthcoming challenges, while ascertaining the continuity of the information.