Elster will work with Science Applications International Corp. to deliver a comprehensive hosted Smart Grid solution that will empower utilities with a variety of advanced functionalities across electric infrastructures. The hosted end-to-end solution is especially cost-effective for public power municipal and cooperative agencies, and will enable them to improve operating efficiencies and customer service.

This full life-cycle offering will enable utility customers the opportunity to realize the benefits of SmartGrid as a Service (SGaaS), such as demand response, distribution automation, meter data management, voltage conservation, transformer monitoring, electric vehicle charging and more. With the bundled offering, small and large utilities can operate a high-availability smart grid system at significantly lower cost.

"Elster and SAIC are providing the foundation for smart grid projects of all sizes and requirements through a hosted offering that can be customized according to the needs of our customers," said Mark Munday, president and CEO, Elster Solutions.

The joint solution will build on Elster's EnergyAxis Smart Grid solution and SAIC's Tier 3 SAS 70 Type II service. EnergyAxis, which is already active in more than 85 deployments worldwide, enables advanced metering infrastructure  and DA convergence through built-in applications.

EnergyAxis supports TCP/IP, IPv4 and IPv6, and provides utilities with increased interoperability and more multi-technology options. EnergyAxis uses standard interfaces to Customer Information Systems (CIS), Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Outage Management Systems (OMS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), and is compliant with industry standards, including National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) approved security standards. SGaaS also provides scalable MDM for Smart Grid deployments of all sizes.

"Similar to SAIC, Elster has a very successful track record of Smart Grid deployments that have provided both utilities and their customers with energy-reducing and cost-saving services," said Mark J. Fronmuller, executive vice president of SAIC's energy IT and smart grid operations.

"The need for a hosted solution is clear, and by combining our field-proven technologies and service offerings, Elster and SAIC are delivering on the promise of the Smart Grid," Fronmuller added.

The comprehensive solution from Elster and SAIC provides program management services, as well as business process and change management. The entire solution takes advantage of multiple wide area network (WAN) technologies, eliminating the need for a system backhaul. In addition, the solution is backed by leading customer support processes from both SAIC and Elster.