The development of the SAAQclic platform faced significant language challenges, with a former IBM manager revealing that much of the work was outsourced to India.
During her testimony at the Gallant Commission investigating the technological issues at the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), Martine Gagné highlighted the difficulties caused by the limited pool of French-speaking IT professionals in the province. This scarcity led to the consortium, comprising SAP and LGS under IBM, relying heavily on resources from India.
Gagné explained that the need for extensive development work left them with no choice but to seek expertise abroad, particularly from India. However, this decision resulted in a complex translation process, as specifications had to be translated from French to English for the overseas team, leading to a multilingual work environment akin to the United Nations.
The language barrier not only added complexity but also posed challenges for team members who had to navigate through translation processes. Commissioner Denis Gallant emphasized the importance of French in the SAAQ’s tender documents, indicating that underestimating its significance might have been a miscalculation.
Gagné reassured the commission that the consortium had considered the language requirements and associated costs in their planning.
