Our biggest challenge is the competition for resources. We are constantly looking for well qualified managers, technical architects, business analysts, and developers for our projects. Competition for these high-end resources is fierce among both US and Indian-owned companies.

What do you think about the talent in India? Do you face a talent crunch?

CGI believes that India leads the world in terms of high quality IT talent. The universities in India are graduating almost a half a million students yearly with technical degrees. While North American continues to be the largest market in the world for IT, CGI can only service this market with additional talent from India. India is and will continue to be strategic to CGI's global growth. We plan to more than double our staff in India within the next 2 years.

What are your views on the slowdown in the US economy? Will your company be affected?

Certainly the economy in the US has slowed. Discretionary IT budgets are affected, particularly in the financial services market. However, CGI is not seeing a real impact on sales. In fact, in the recent quarter that just closed (CGI's Q2), CGI posted a record high in sales bookings in the US. We believe this is because CGI solutions drive real business results and are most often funded out to operational budgets vs IT budgets. We successfully position our offerings and deliver results that improve efficiencies and drive improved business results for our clients.

CGI is actively focused on creating new "solutions for tough times" that help both our government and commercial clients weather this storm. We are looking for ways to increase client revenue, streamline processes, and capture additional benefits.

For example, in the financial services industry, CGI recently announced a new credit diagnostic service to help banks and investment houses review their credit portfolios, pinpoint potential risks and devise a plan to minimise any potential losses while positioning for expansion when the market upturns. In the state and local market, we are emphasising our solutions that help governments increase revenue without raising taxes, and looking for ways to consolidate their purchasing power while reducing costs.

Image: Donna Morea at the inauguration of the Bangalore office | Photograph: CGI