Volkswagen Group selects CGI for managed IT services
CGI has agreed a five-year engagement with the UK entities of German automotive giant Volkswagen Group.
Donna Kelly, Senior Vice President, South & Midlands at CGI, said, “We are delighted to announce our five-year partnership with Volkswagen. We are excited to support them on their digital journey and help them offer an improved user experience for employees and customers alike.”
The new partnership will see CGI provide the automotive company with managed IT services, helping support Volkswagen’s IT agenda and digital transformation journey. This will see Volkswagen given access to CGI’s IT service desk, based in Bridgend, while the two groups also look to prioritise adopting sustainable practices, demonstrating a commitment to ensuring their everyday operations meet their combined sustainability goals over the five-year period.
Recently CGI announced a set of science-based targets to help it achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2026. Globally, CGI has already reduced its emissions by 50% since 2014, through environmentally-oriented best practices.
Michael Marr, CIO at Volkswagen Group in the UK, said, “We chose CGI due to their compelling service offering, reputation for quality of delivery and organisational values which align with ours. We are very much looking forward to working with the CGI team together with Group IT departments of other Volkswagen Group entities.”
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, with 78,000 consultants and other professionals internationally. According to a release from the firm, CGI’s efforts for Volkswagen will be underpinned by CGI’s focus on continuous improvement and innovation, including the introduction of modern contact channels and service automation.
This expertise will be important for Volkswagen, particularly as it looks to enhance its digital sustainability credentials. Just six years previously, the company was embroiled in an international emissions scandal (known as Dieselgate), when the US Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation of the Clean Air Act to the Volkswagen Group.
The agency found that Volkswagen had intentionally programmed turbocharged direct injection (TDI) diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during laboratory emissions testing which caused the vehicles’ NOx (a generic term for the nitrogen oxides) output to meet US standards during regulatory testing, but emit up to 40 times more NOx in real-world driving.
Shortly after the revelation, Volkswagen hired consultants from Deloitte and McKinsey & Company. The latter was asked to support the development of the 2025 corporate strategy, while Deloitte was enlisted to review the certification process for diesel exhaust emissions.
