CGI Signs Contract To Provide Full IS/IT Services To Bell Canada's Real Estate Subsidiary Nexacor Realty Management Inc.

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 1998--CGI Group Inc. (TSE:GIB.A.) (ME:GIB.A.) (NYSE:GIB) $24 million dollar contract to support J.D. Edwards ERP software; CGI picked as preferred supplier for new IS/IT projects.

NEXACOR Realty Management Inc. and CGI Group Inc. announced today that Bell Canada's real estate subsidiary has awarded CGI a full outsourcing contract for the support and development of its information systems and information technology (IS/IT) requirements. This $24 million, ten-year contract includes all applications built on J.D. Edwards enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.

"Since CGI's merger with Bell Sygma, this is our first major new IT contract with a member of the BCE family," says Michael Roach, CGI's Executive Vice-President, Telecommunication Information Systems and Services. "This is a contract we are proud of since it will further strengthen CGI's positioning in the growing market for outsourcing of ERP solutions. The full outsourcing of ERP systems is an area where very few companies have an expertise equivalent to CGI's."

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are integrated business-information systems which provide a consistent, enterprise-wide source of information. They represent a large and growing area of the information technology sector.

The contract with CGI allows NEXACOR, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Canada, to concentrate on its core business: managing real estate holdings for Bell Canada. "By outsourcing the maintenance, support, and development of our ERP system, NEXACOR will benefit from CGI's expertise in operating ERP systems," says Michel Saint-Cyr, President and Chief Executive Officer of NEXACOR. "This is a positive business development for our company because it positions NEXACOR as a competitive and efficient provider of real estate services, and I am very excited about this important building block for our future endeavors."

Eleven people currently employed by NEXACOR will be joining CGI's existing team of approximately 200 ERP specialists. They will continue to work in Montreal and Toronto. "These new people will allow CGI to continue to grow its ERP outsourcing base, and will add expertise in J.D. Edwards solutions," adds Roach.

CGI preferred supplier

The $24 million, ten-year contract provides for the maintenance of NEXACOR's IS/IT infrastructure, as well as support for existing ERP applications. But what makes the contract even more attractive for CGI is that NEXACOR has picked CGI as its preferred supplier for new IS/IT projects, including ERP. The dollar value for these possible future contracts is not included in the $24 million. -0-

The contract includes:
-    Tier 1 support: maintenance of NEXACOR's hardware, software, and
     communications from the data center all the way to the desktop.
-    Tier 2 support: maintenance of NEXACOR's existing IS/IT
     applications, including the J.D. Edwards applications.

As preferred supplier, CGI will provide for the further development of new, Tier 3 projects for NEXACOR's IS/IT applications, over and above what has been agreed upon as part of the present contract.

NEXACOR manages 22 million square feet and in excess of 3400 properties for Bell Canada in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. By providing integrated real estate services and solutions through innovative, competitive and responsive property, asset, project, facility and lease management to Bell Canada, NEXACOR has refined expertise in the areas of air quality, remote building systems monitoring, lease administration, commissioning, space and energy management as well as environmental initiatives.

CGI is the largest independent information technology consulting firm in Canada and the sixth largest in North America, based on its revenue run rate of $1.3 billion. CGI has 8,000 professionals and provides end-to-end IT services and business solutions to some 2,000 clients in Canada, the United States and 20 countries around the world. CGI's shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (GIB), as well as on the Toronto and Montreal exchanges (GIB.A). They are included in the Toronto Stock Exchange's TSE 300 Composite and TSE 200 indexes.

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