Global energy firm EDP uses Huawei and
Tecnocom’s Video Conferencing-as-a-Service
Background
EDP, a global energy company based in Portugal, has
expanded quickly over the past ten years through organic
growth as well as through acquiring other companies,
each with different legacy video conferencing equipment.
However, EDP considers it essential that its worldwide
force of 12,000 employees be connected by video as well
as voice. Although English, Spanish, and Portuguese are
spoken widely within the company, not everybody is fluent
in all these languages.
EDP realized that non-verbal communication is key for any
organization, especially one that uses multiple languages.
And it wanted all its employees to be able to communicate
more easily; whether they used tablets in remote locations
or board room video conferencing equipment in main
offices.
Challenges
EDP’s Corporate Services wanted industry-standard Video
Conferencing-as-a-Service (VCaaS), where staff could
communicate without any restrictions regarding location
and devices being used.
Video Conferencing-as-a-Service Simplifies Communications
for EDP
Executive Summary
Industry Oil & Energy
Challenges • EDP wanted a unified video conferencing solution to help
its employees communicate better
• The VC system needed to integrate with Skype for Business
and Microsoft Office 365
• EDP also required a shift from CAPEX to OPEX financing
Solution• Old and new video conferencing solutions were replaced
by Huawei equipment, from screens and peripherals to
smart software for improved imaging
• First introduction of OPEX model on a large scale
Benefits• By outsourcing implementation and managed services, EDP
invests less over a 4-year contract period with OPEX
than when it used to buy and manage equipment
• EDP employees experience higher image quality and
a unified user interface via Skype for Business
• Employees with no access to video conference rooms can
join a video meeting via smart terminals anytime, anywhere
“We have video conferencing as a
service, anywhere, anytime, independent
from any location and any device.” — Luís Clemente, Director of Corporate
Services, EDP
The company demanded VCaaS to be fully integrated with
Microsoft Skype for Business and Microsoft Office 365.
Since EDP’s core business is generating and distributing energy,
its management wanted their IT department to be able to
focus more on tasks related to their business and less on
setting up communications equipment.
Requirements included:
• All tools for communications and cooperation must
integrate with Microsoft software
• Replace EDP subsidiaries’ legacy technologies with newer,
standard technologies, especially when legacy conference
screens, end-points, terminals, and essential systems
cannot be written off financially
The project also required:
• 255 conference and telepresence rooms worldwide, from
large auditoriums with immersive screens and a capacity of
300 seats, to smaller meeting rooms with 6 seats
• Android and iOS tablets that could be connected to
the video communications service. In this way, a video
conference could be started by an account manager from
a desktop, continued during her coffee break, transferred
to a tablet terminal, and ended via smartphone.
VCaaS is a new customer-driven concept. EDP used to buy,
connect, and maintain video conferencing systems; often with
solutions from different vendors in a single country. In addition,
some legacy solutions were bought before industry standards
were recognized. Moving from Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)
to Operational Expenditure (OPEX), required a comprehensive,
financial understanding of the full implications of owning
equipment versus hiring services.
Solution
EDP chose Huawei and its integration partner, Tecnocom, over
13 other competitors. Tecnocom is based in Spain and has
projects throughout the world. The two companies showed
EDP how their version of Video Conferencing-as-a-Service
would not only enable EDP to replace its entire system at much
lower costs than purchasing new equipment, but also could be
integrated with Microsoft ‘s Skype and Office 365 solutions.
Tecnocom is an all-round system integrator active in data
centers and cloud services. They also have experience with
video conferencing systems from major manufacturers.
Rogério Do Canto, Unit Director of the Technology Business
at Tecnocom knew from the start that this project was an
extraordinary one.
“This is a game changer for the enterprise industry. We used to
sell and install according to a CAPEX model. But now we have
a contract for an OPEX model”, explained Rogério Do Canto.
The proposal included:
• 1. Replacing all video conferencing systems, including
screens and peripherals. Tecnocom and Huawei showed
EDP how the company could reduce costs, even if it got rid
of recently bought standalone systems from other vendors.
• 2. Huawei peripherals such as cameras, microphones, and
end-points that support industry standards. This ensured
that telepresence rooms or portable devices can make
video calls to other vendors’ systems outside the EDP
network. Advantages included:
• a. Transcoding solutions for managing, recording, and
streaming. Codecs from H.261 up to high-definition
H.264 encode real-time, dual-stream 1080p at 60 fps.
b. Smart proprietary algorithms like Video Motion
Enhancement (VME) ensure that even with packet loss of
20 percent, video and audio quality remains good.
• 3. A system that would interoperate with the latest iOS
and easy-to-use remote control system GUIs.
• 4. Tecnocom installed Huawei’s telepresence system in 255 rooms around the world.
At a key point in the project, Huawei flew in a team of R&D
specialists to better understand EDP’s technological ecosystem
and the gray areas between different systems.
“I value the effort of Huawei R&D specialists so much, that I
have invited them to come for two weeks a year to work with
our local teams so that we all can learn from each other.”
— Luís Clemente, Director of Corporate Services, EDP
Benefits
Since VCaaS is based on an OPEX subscription model, EDP now
enjoys lower costs compared to the previous situation where
they bought and maintained solutions from different vendors.
What’s more, Tecnocom’s experience is a valuable asset to EDP:
• Tecnocom provides a four-year contract to service video
communications and enables full integration with Skype for
Business and Microsoft Office 365.
• Tecnocom has over 30 years’ experience with network
management. The company’s Network Operations Center
(NOC) monitors the EDP-owned network 24/7. The NOC
provides insights on a regular basis when bandwidth
capabilities need to be upgraded or downgraded.
Video-calling a person is now as easy as sending an email.
Sharing content, video, and voice in real time are integrated and
connected with a few swipes or keyboard strokes. And, more
importantly, non-verbal communication has finally moved from
personal to long-distance meetings.
Employees can attend a meeting from home and reduce
spending valuable time traveling to another location; improving
the balance between work and personal life ensures better
productivity.
Besides video meetings, EDP now easily conducts webinars and
records video for playback afterwards. In addition, staff based
in remote locations like hydroelectric and renewable power
plants with few terminals and low bandwidth can participate in
meetings with EDP executives as easily as employees in urban areas.
About Huawei Enterprise Business Group
Huawei Enterprise Business Group (“Huawei Enterprise”) is one
of the three business groups of Huawei, a leading global
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions
provider. Leveraging Huawei’s strong R&D capabilities and
comprehensive technical expertise, Huawei Enterprise provides
a wide range of highly efficient customer-centric ICT solutions
and services to global vertical industry and enterprise customers
across government and public sector, finance, transportation,
electric power, energy, commercial businesses, and ISPs.
Huawei Enterprise’s innovative and leading solutions cover
network infrastructure, Unified Communications and
Collaboration (UC&C), cloud computing and data centre,
enterprise information security, and industry application
solutions.
For more information, please visit: e.huawei.com.
About EDP
EDP’s vision is to be an integrated energy company and a
leader in value creation. Today, EDP operates one of the most-
balanced power generation portfolios in the Iberian Peninsula:
substantial hydroelectric generation, the operating efficiency of
its coal power stations, and the importance of its natural gas
combined cycle power plants.
EDP’s presence in Spain through HC Energía makes it the first
company to own significant electricity generation assets in
both Portugal and Spain.
The company is among the major European operators in the
energy sector. The energy giant is one of the largest energy
operators of the Iberian Peninsula, the largest Portuguese
industrial group, and the third largest producer of wind energy
in the world. Besides the electricity sector — generation,
distribution, and trading — the company has a significant
presence in the gas sector of the Iberian Peninsula.
EDP is part of the Dow Jones World Sustainability Index for
the eighth consecutive year, a reflection of the company’s
efforts to integrate sustainability in all priority areas of its value
chain across all business units and in all countries in which it is
present.
For more information, please visit: edp.pt
(Photo courtesy of EDP - Energias de Portugal).
About Tecnocom
Tecnocom is one of Spain’s top three companies in information
technology (approximately 400 million euros in revenue) with
extensive experience in high-tech operations in the Finance
sector.
The company provides a wide variety of services (AMS,
IMS, business consulting, BPO, outsourcing, managed
services, network and systems integration) covering all
sectors of public and private life (banking, insurance,
manufacturing, telecommunications, media, utilities, and public
administration).
Its clients include 23 of the Ibex 35 companies and 60 of the
top 100 companies in Spain. Tecnocom signed a strategic
alliance with Getronics International B.V., an industrial partner
and shareholder. This alliance allows Tecnocom to offer a
reliable alternative to other outsourcing services.
For more information, please visit: tecnocom.pt
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