CGI releases 'Data to Diamonds' guide to creating business value through data

Based on client insights and implementation experience this new book describes data's transformation from raw material into products, services and insights

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FAIRFAX, VA, April 5, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) announced the release of Data to Diamonds, its guide to help clients harness the power of data analytics to create new business value at a time when the world's volume of stored data doubles every year.  Based on the implementation experience of 5,000 CGI data analytics consultants worldwide and 965 in-person client interviews conducted in CGI's annual Voice of Our Clients program, Data to Diamonds points the way forward for businesses and government organizations looking to build stronger customer relationships, improve operations and generate new sources of revenue.

"We hear from clients and see in the work we deliver that organizations everywhere are focused on becoming customer-centric, digital organizations," said Matthew Kuckuk, CGI's Data Analytics Global Practice Leader and author of Data to Diamonds. "In their digital transformation initiatives, business and IT executives want to evolve the role of data from a raw material asset to a generator of increased value through the creation of data-based products, services, information and insight."

Now in its second edition, Data to Diamonds integrates the insights from the latest digital transformation trends with the analysis of thousands of client engagements to identify priorities for the data and analytics industries. These priorities include integrating data silos to create new enterprise views, marrying information to the product and service development cycle, harnessing sensor data to better run and change organizations, and using customer data to improve the digital customer experience.

"Customer and citizen actions speak louder than words," said Kuckuk. "Given the rapid pace of technology innovation, customers today have higher expectations for instant gratification—they are real-time obsessed and expect a seamless experience, across all interactions and channels with the commercial organizations they buy from or through the services they receive from government organizations. For large enterprise organizations, delivering on these expectations is complex as they need to connect data across lines of business and legacy systems. That's why we focused in Data to Diamonds on showcasing case studies that are practical and proven."

Whether applied to predictive elevator maintenance, setting car insurance rates, guiding guests to the best theme park experience, or analyzing rush-hour traffic patterns, Data to Diamonds details CGI's methodology and how its consultants help organizations worldwide realize the value of information, which lies in its use and application by consumers.  The book cites examples from a variety of industries including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, distribution, government, energy and utilities, and communications and media.

"If getting insights from data analysis is good for an organization's internal purposes, it is even better when insights are shared securely across its ecosystem with customers, partners, and other key stakeholders," added Kuckuk. 

About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is the fifth largest independent information technology and business process services firm in the world. Approximately 65,000 professionals serve thousands of global clients from offices and delivery centers across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, leveraging a comprehensive portfolio of services including high-end business and IT consulting, systems integration, application development and maintenance, infrastructure management as well as 150 IP-based services and solutions. With annual revenue in excess of C$10 billion and an order backlog exceeding C$20 billion, CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Website: www.cgi.com.

SOURCE CGI Group Inc.

Image with caption: "The CGI Data2Diamonds Book (CNW Group/CGI Group Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160405_C6552_PHOTO_EN_657402.jpg

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