CGI among the first worldwide to earn the new CMMI Level 3, version 1.2 certification
June 15, 2007 (PRLEAP.COM) Technology News
Montreal, Quebec, June 15, 2007– CGI Group Inc. (TSX: GIB.A; NYSE: GIB) today announced that it has become one of the first companies in the world to earn the new CMMI Level 3, version 1.2 certification, as defined by the Software Engineering Institute’s (SEI) Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI), for its centers of excellence specializing in development in Montreal and Quebec City. Since 1984, the SEI identifies, develops and certifies the best practices in the technology sector.An increasing number of organizations are using CMMI models to establish effective development processes. “Our CMMI certified processes allow our clients to benefit from a wide range of advantages, such as improved productivity, fewer anomalies, lower costs, and higher quality services,” explained Pierre Turcotte, CGI’s Senior Vice-President and General Manager for Quebec.
The CMMI model provides a globally recognized structure that defines the essential elements involved in improving processes in a project, a department or an entire organization. It helps to integrate separate organizational functions, establishes objectives and priorities to guide process improvement, provides quality control process guidelines, and serves as a point of reference in the evaluation of current processes.
The Montreal center of excellence currently boasts some 300 professionals, while 200 CGI professionals work in the Quebec City center. The centers primarily offer business transformation, engineering, and application development services as well as a range of development, integration, migration and application upgrade maintenance services. The use of best practices and proven industry methodologies are also part of the basic offering. The centers’ professionals have extensive expertise in Microsoft, .NET, JEE, Lotus Notes/Domino, and mobile technology.
“CGI continually invests in new technologies in order to retain its competitive edge, both on local markets and internationally,” added Mr. Turcotte. “The wide range of services offered, the business know-how and the technological expertise of CGI in Quebec have attracted major businesses from throughout Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and our clientele continues to grow. In fact, in the past five years, the Montreal center of excellence has posted an annualized growth rate of 17%, while the center in Quebec City has seen revenues generated outside the region increase five-fold during the same period.”
CGI’s global service delivery strategy consists of providing the best possible combination of expertise and value to meet the needs of its clients around the world from its onshore, nearshore and offshore service delivery centers.
“I am very proud of our teams in Montreal and Quebec City, who worked very hard to earn this certification level in record time. As a result, we can now rapidly position ourselves to win major contracts,” concluded Mr. Turcotte. “We also plan to attain higher certification levels for these centers and have already taken initiatives to make this happen.”
About SEI
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a U.S. Department of Defense federally funded research and development center operated by Carnegie Mellon University. The SEI helps organizations make measured improvements in their software engineering capabilities by providing technical leadership to advance the practice of software engineering. For more information, visit the SEI Website at http://www.sei.cmu.edu.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in the world. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 25,000 professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific as well as from centers of excellence in North America, Europe and India. CGI's annual revenue run rate stands at $3.8 billion (US$3.3 billion) and at March 31st, 2007, CGI's order backlog was $12.3 billion (US$10.8 billion). CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in the S&P/TSX Composite Index as well as the S&P/TSX Capped Information Technology and MidCap Indices. Website: www.cgi.com.
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For more information :
Philippe Beauregard
Director, Corporate Communications and
Public Affairs
philippe.beauregard@cgi.com
514-841-3218