IT and BPO services organisation, CGI Group (Europe) Limited (CGI) (TSX: GIB.A; NYSE: GIB), has signed a contract worth over £1 million with the Gibraltar based Markerstudy Insurance Group, a UK motor insurer, for CGI's specialist motor insurance policy administration system, Realtime Transaction Manager (RTM). The agreement will also cover Markerstudy's related companies, Service Underwriting Management Ltd (Service) and Planet Insurance Company Ltd (Planet). The system will be installed at Markerstudy's offices in Gibraltar to enable full support to be provided for the business written by Markerstudy Insurance Company and Planet.
Service had already been successfully using R™ since 1996. Following Service's link up with Markerstudy in 2002, the Board was keen for R™ to be rolled out to all three companies, but was determined that each of them retained their individual identities and autonomy. CGI therefore developed two further identical policy administration systems for Markerstudy and Planet, so that each of the three businesses retained their own separate infrastructures, but were able to benefit from RTM's extensive motor insurance capabilities.
The R™ systems, which have a policy response time of less than two seconds, will be fully managed from a centralised CGI datacentre. The contract includes R™ development work across the three companies, disaster recovery, a broker EDI system and CGI's enhanced rating management solution, Ratabase, which has been developed with additional functionality specifically for the motor insurance industry.
CGI has recently migrated its R™ solution to the Windows NT platform which will enable Markerstudy, Service and Planet to benefit from significant performance and functionality improvements within the latest version. CGI will also provide full front line help desk support, and applications support, for both the R™ and Ratabase systems for all three companies.
Mike Lewis, finance director at Service, comments: "CGI's R™ system offers a very fast policy response time and provides excellent data storage. Furthermore, with its migration to the Microsoft NT/Windows 2000 platform, it is now even quicker and easier to use. There have also been significant improvements in batch processing which enables us to extend our online services during the day, as less time is required for processing overnight."
Gavin Chapman, managing director of CGI Group (Europe) Ltd, adds: "Markerstudy, Service and Planet will benefit from the added functionality offered by R™ in the Microsoft NT environment. This will enable all three companies to develop a future-proofed solution and process policy administration much faster than previously possible, providing real efficiency savings. This new contract further demonstrates our commitment to the Financial Services sector."
About Markerstudy Group
The Markerstudy Group was founded in April 2000 and Markerstudy Insurance Company Limited commenced trading in early 2001. The gross written premium of the group in 2002 was £63.2 million making Markerstudy Group one of largest insurers based in Gibraltar. During 2002 the group has also diversified its activities into insurance broking, underwriting agency activities and recruitment.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is the fourth largest independent information technology services firm in North America, based on its headcount. CGI and its affiliated companies employ more than 21,000 professionals. CGI's annualised revenue run-rate is CDN$3 billion (US$2 billion) and at December 31, 2002, CGI's order backlog was CDN$10.7 billion (US$7.1 billion). CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to more than 3,500 clients worldwide from offices in Canada, United States and Europe. CGI's shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB) and are included in the TSX 100 Composite Index as well as the S&P/TSX Canadian Information Technology and Canadian MidCap Indices.
Website: www.cgi.com
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