Business cases

Powering an island’s future: SIDELEC digital journey with Claris FileMaker

SIDELEC Réunion’s digital leap with Claris FileMaker turned manual chaos into operational mastery, enabling the organization to manage thousands of energy projects with speed, precision, and sustainability at its core.

Cathy

17 June 2025 • 5 min

In the heart of the island of Réunion, SIDELEC Réunion (Intercommunal Electricity Syndicate of Reunion Island) stands as the cornerstone of its electrical distribution network. As the owner of the public electricity distribution networks, SIDELEC has delegated their operation to EDF through a 30-year concession agreement.

Twenty years ago, SIDELEC Réunion was a small operation with a big responsibility: managing the island’s entire electrical distribution network on behalf of all 24 of its municipalities. Back then, just four agents were charged with overseeing essential infrastructure projects that brought power—quite literally—to the entire island.

Today, with a dedicated team of 65 employees, SIDELEC Réunion has adapted its operations to meet the evolving challenges of the energy sector:

• Modernization and expansion of electrical networks
  SIDELEC oversees the extension and modernization of public electricity distribution networks, particularly in rural areas, ensuring balanced infrastructure development across the island.
• Development of new energy services
  To meet the evolving needs of users and communities, SIDELEC invests in innovative solutions such as high-performance public lighting, off-grid solar systems for remote locations, and the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations.
• Support for the electrification of isolated areas
  SIDELEC also leads electrification projects in isolated areas, contributing to universal access to energy and reducing territorial inequalities.
• Promotion of renewable energies and energy efficiency
  The syndicate implements actions to promote renewable energy (RE) and energy demand management (EDM), aligning with local energy policies.
  Among these initiatives, the ‘Mafate Village Solaire’ project provides clean electricity to residents through photovoltaic panels combined with storage systems, permanently replacing polluting diesel generators.

Through its diverse projects and commitment on the ground, SIDELEC Réunion has established itself as a key partner in the energy transition, ensuring both equitable access to electricity and supporting the region’s shift towards a more sustainable and innovative energy model.

Embracing digital change

As the volume of work surged, the limitations of existing tools like Excel and a small Access database became glaringly apparent.

As soon as we had more than one or two people needing to access the same files, everything broke down. Locked files, data conflicts… it became unmanageable.
recalls Marc Dijoux, the IT Director.

What they needed was a system that could keep pace with their growth – one that provided instant access, automated workflows, and ironclad documentation for every aspect of their complex operations.

The search for a solution would lead to a technological transformation that reshaped how SIDELEC managed its entire network.

A turning point: Discovering the power of Claris FileMaker

It was during this search for a more robust approach that Claris FileMaker entered the picture. For Marc Dijoux, the IT Director and a member of the SIDELEC team since its inception, FileMaker presented a different kind of solution – one that promised flexibility to fit the contours of their evolving organization and the ability to be tailored precisely to their unique needs.

The results were immediate and transformative:

“In less than a day, we had a functional system,” he says. “Very quickly, we were able to transition from disorganized Excel files to a fully operational centralized solution.”

Transforming operations: Efficiency at every level

What started as a simple project tracker soon became the central nervous system of SIDELEC’s operations.

We started with a single project for tracking, but over time, as regulations evolved and new procedures emerged, FileMaker allowed us to keep up with this rapid growth, going from 1 to 50, then 100, and now 14,000 projects, without the need for lengthy development cycles.

Used by 50 internal users and 15 partners, FileMaker is the backbone of SIDELEC’s project management:

• Comprehensive project tracking: Over 14,000 projects are managed in FileMaker, covering everything from rural electrification to public lighting.
• Document management: More than 173,000 scanned documents, supporting 10,700 project files and 23,000 purchase orders are stored and accessible in real time.
• Collaboration: Internal teams, external contractors, and service providers all access the platform to upload documents, submit plans, and manage invoices, fostering a unified workflow.
• Integration: FileMaker is seamlessly connected to SIDELEC’s financial software via API, automating purchase order creation and financial tracking.
• Reporting: Users automatically generate activity reports, providing valuable insights into the number of projects, timelines, and other key performance indicators.
• Efficiency: The ability to quickly adapt and develop new functionalities in FileMaker has allowed SIDELEC to respond rapidly to evolving needs and regulatory requirements.
  Most processes are executed with a single click, drastically reducing administrative overhead and empowering SIDELEC to complete in hours what once took days or even weeks.

Patrick Francomme, Head of Southern operations and Deputy Director of rural electrification, sums it up: 

Before FileMaker, everything was manual. Now, we handle complex administrative workflows naturally—it’s simply incomparable.

The game-changing impact of Claris FileMaker

FileMaker has revolutionized the way SIDELEC manages complex administrative procedures, which can span 1-3 years and include building permits, infrastructure handovers, multiple contracts.

With FileMaker, this complexity is now manageable, and the results are impressive:

• 80% of technical workflows are now handled in FileMaker
• 90% faster grant processing
• Effortless onboarding— intuitive design ensures quick and easy adoption by new SIDELEC employee

What makes this possible? The answer lies in FileMaker’s unmatched adaptability.

As SIDELEC scaled up, FileMaker scaled with them. SIDELEC was able to build and adapt tools, workflows, and tracking systems on the fly—responding in real time to new regulations, shifting partner demands, and internal changes.

“When a new challenge arises, we modify the tool instantly.” says Marc

Today, FileMaker is far more than just software—it’s a cornerstone of SIDELEC’s operations. As Marc puts it: “Without FileMaker, we wouldn’t know how to manage our operations—it’s that essential.”

His advice for those considering the platform? “Don’t hesitate to dive in and experiment — it’s fun, flexible, and powerful. Once you start, you’ll see how much you can do with it!” 

Powering the future

SIDELEC has ambitious plans to further enhance their FileMaker solution:

• Field mobility: Developing a user-friendly interface for tablets to allow technicians to access operation details and submit reports directly from construction sites.
• Geographic integration: Implementing a Geographic Information System (GIS) server to locate their files geographically, enabling better project coordination and spatial analysis.

SIDELEC’s journey with Claris FileMaker is a model of digital transformation, demonstrating how the right technology can drive efficiency, adaptability, and growth-even in the most complex public sector environments.

By placing FileMaker at its core, SIDELEC has not only managed exponential growth but turned complexity into clarity, inefficiency into automation, and challenges into opportunities.