CGI can bid on $6B in U.S. cybersecurity work
‘Very positive’ amid tight spending
Infor mation technology company CGI Group Inc. has been pre-cleared by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to bid on up to $6 billion U.S. worth of cybersecurity work over the next five years.
The clearance could help the Montreal-based company bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenues to monitor online threats to more than 20 federal government agencies.
The U.S. subsidiary of CGI was one of 17 companies that won positions on the program, allowing them to quickly win work without a drawn-out bidding process.
The program is designed to provide government agencies, including the more than 60 per cent which don’t have mature surveillance programs, with the ability to continuously monitor computer threats and detect abnormal network activity.
CGI says the U.S. government contract could add about $350 million in revenues if CGI wins its traditional share of such blanket purchase agreements, although there are no guarantees.
Spokesman Lorne Gorber the pre-clearance will allow CGI to capitalize on its exper- tise providing cloud computing services for the U.S. government.
“It’s something that can only grow for us in the future,” he said.
Kris Thompson of National Bank Financial added that CGI is “punching above their weight in the U.S. Federal market.”
“These contract vehicles are very positive for CGI in a tight government spending environment,” he noted.
CGI has 1,200 experts working at nine security operating centres and three cybersecurity labs around the world.
Among its work for the U.S. military is the deployment and support of more than 9,000 biometric devices at more than 100 locations around the world.