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Gold/Mining/Energy : CGI Group (GIB.A) - -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gilbert Drapeau who wrote (902)	12/31/1998 12:28:00 PM
From: BM	Respond to of 1673

PC DOCS, CGI Group net big federal deal [We knew about this deal already but nice to hear this week about the pent up demand. Perhaps CGI will end up lending a hand with PeopleSoft implementations as well.] Letter from Toronto JoAnn Napier - Ottawa Citizen Dec 28, 1998 The New Year looms, and new beginnings await, but PC DOGS of Toronto and CGI Group of Ottawa have serious catching up to do. Not that they mind. PC DOCS Canada won the nation-wide federal contract -- possibly the largest of its kind in document management history -- to supply the core software components for the federal government's national "RDIMS" (Records, Document, Imaging Management Systems) project. CGI Group will provide the integrated solution across the country. The RDIMS project, a shared systems initiative, involves the Canadian Treasury Board, Public Works, Government Services Canada and other government departments. Three years ago, there was a lot of momentum: four companies were short-listed for the contract, government departments were holding on, awaiting the official nod. Nobody wanted to buy if there was this RFP out there, says company president Lynn Kauffman. Today, says CGI vice-president Gord Brisco, pent-up demand is staggering, and a challenge with this contract will be fulfilling demand as quickly as the client departments would like. Which is a long way to come in a short while. Document management, historically, grew up in niche applications: PC DOCS began by supporting the legal profession, various competitors got their start in oil and gas, and others by filling pharmaceutical industry needs. "It sort of all happened independently, in little niche pockets everywhere: networks were growing and, as electronic files were growing, it was hard enough for people to find their own stuff," says Mr. Kauffman. "When I started in this, about eight years ago, nobody outside of legal had heard of document management.... I feel like we're hitting prime time." Treasury Board has set aside a $109 million revolving fund for departments to facilitate the purchase, of which "as much as $50 million and more" could come to PC DOGS over six years, says Mr. Kauffman. Meanwhile, PeopleSoft Canada is gearing up to uncork phase two of its enterprise resources planning (ERP) project with 16 federal government departments. The company recently announced the successful completion of the first phase of the co-operative project to establish a single shared ERP human resources system. The $1.1-million project came in on time and under budget, and sets a new standard for the long-term support and modification of ERP software in the federal government. (The redesign project will support more than 40 per cent of the Canadian public service, and has already spurred similar shared services programs for that company with federal governments in the United States and Australia.) For a little perspective on this contract, you have to go back to 1994, when the federal government licensed PeopleSoft HRMS as part of an innovative new concept: the company's human-resources system was approved as the only commercial human resources ERP software for use among 16 departments. The shared-services system was developed to create efficiencies by using one common system for moving employee-related data between departments; the software was used to better manage employee records, oversee project performance, and track employee movement through each organization. (Company sources say a major factor in the selection of PeopleSoft was its flexibility in accommodating changes brought about by shifts in federal government regulations such as the official languages policy.) Earlier this year, when the newly developed Universal Classification System called for a major restructuring of how public job positions are classified, the various departments decided to use the opportunity to collectively build these changes into their systems. Under phase two, similar changes will be made to other modules in the HRMS suite. Recruitment, leave processing and labour relations functions are all heavily supported by the software. PeopleSoft's Web-enabled features and interface will be used to automate various processes. Employees will soon be able to apply for leave time, or check on other HR-related information, via their desktop. Thus, they'll be able to avoid at least one tradition: the time consuming, federal paper shuffle. JoAnn Napier can be reached at jnapier@sympatico.ca