CGI and leading institutional investor strengthen their innovative outsourcing partnership

"Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec needs a partner with exceptional versatility and stability. CGI has proven that it can meet our needs through the breadth of its service offering, its pool of expertise and the rigor of its methods. We are extremely pleased with CGI."

Daniel Huard, Vice-President - IT, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

The Client
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDP) is the largest fund manager in Canada, with total managed assets of close to $130 billion. Its center of operations is in Montreal and its head office in Quebec City. The Caisse manages public and private pension and insurance plan funds as well as various other types of funds. Through CDP Capital, its asset manager, the Caisse also invests in the main liquid markets, private placements, private equity and real estate.

The Challenge
In 1996, when the Caisse selected CGI as its outsourcing partner for its IT functions (infrastructure management, applications maintenance, consulting, development and integration), it demonstrated both vision and boldness. In fact, such a strategy was not yet common practice in the business world, although the trend would become pronounced within just a few years. What prompted the leaders of the Caisse to make this groundbreaking decision? With its assets experiencing accelerated growth, the institution found itself at a turning point in its history.

The Caisse invests in a wide range of financial vehicles and therefore requires an extensive portfolio of IT applications that function within a complex synergy. The IT outsourcing initiative coincided with a timely infrastructure change and the transfer from a centralized to a client-server environment.

"Given the exceptional size of this outsourcing project and its innovative nature at the time, the initial years presented many challenges for CGI and the Caisse," stated Daniel Huard, Vice-President - Information Technology, for the Caisse. "But our respective teams worked very hard and in close collaboration to improve processes according to best industry practices, increase their collective efficiency and gain overall great results. In fact, it was this that led the Caisse, at the end of the first five years of the partnership with CGI, to renew the outsourcing agreement for three more years with an option to extend it another two years."

The Strategy
The combined efforts of the two companies and the introduction of highly rigorous processes contributed to the success of numerous projects. CGI began preparations for the eight-phased move of thousands of employees and corresponding IT resources eighteen months prior to the go-live date. And, during the most intensive three-month moving period, CGI provided the Caisse with a 40-person team of specialists to coordinate the institution's entire IT needs.

The establishment of a strong bond of trust with the Caisse was among CGI's key strategies, and this type of project played a major role in the strengthening of the relationship. "In our project management as in our infrastructure management - two top priorities for the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec - CGI has met our expectations completely," added Mr. Huard. "It respects the scope, budget and timetable of the projects, something rarely taken for granted in this sector."

It is of course of primary importance that CGI assure sound maintenance of the applications on a day-to-day basis. This is a domain where IT specialists often work in the background but have a marked impact on the achievement of results. In addition, CGI's integration of the Caisse's people and expertise is yet another strategy that has contributed to the partnership's solid success. And since 1996, at the request of its client, CGI has conducted its activities from key Caisse facilities rather than remotely.

The Technology

• Platform: UNIX servers - models 3000, 5000 and Enterprise series - for business applications; Windows NT/2000 servers for applications for various departments; Windows NT workstations
• Main financial applications: Portia (Thomson) for the management of back-office activities; SmartStream Accounting (GEAC) for the general ledger; TIB and MarketSheet (TIBCO) real-time distribution and display of market data 
• Real-time feed of market data: Bridge, Reuters and Bloomberg, among others
• Market history data bases: RIMES, DRI, Barra, Compustat, Datastream, CSI and Scotia McLeod Bondsman, among others

The Results
In March 2003 - more than a year before the due date - the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec confirmed it was extending to 2006 its second outsourcing contract with CGI and the vital associated user services and support. This decision was yet another reflection of the Caisse's successful 2001-2003 business period.

"Not only has the Caisse-CGI business relationship evolved constructively since we signed the initial outsourcing contract," said Mr. Huard, "but the second contract has integrated our efforts to systematically adopt the best practices in all we do." Each person's roles and responsibilities, for example, are more clearly defined, as are the service levels and management processes. "This rigor," he concluded, "has maximized our overall IT efficiency and even our relationship with CGI, the structure of which has also been further enhanced. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec needs a partner with exceptional versatility and stability. CGI has proven that it can meet our needs through the breadth of its service offering, its pool of expertise and the rigor of its methods. We are extremely pleased with CGI."