DCV and M4S Pool Their Expertise

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Aug. 23, 2011) - Montreal firm DCV & Associates ("DCV"), a leader in business investment cycle management solutions, has entered into a partnership with Quebec City based research and development (R&D) consulting firm M4S. Under this agreement, M4S will use DCV's INVE$TFOLIO© investment project management solution to automate and optimize its processes for managing and analyzing the SR&ED projects submitted by its clients to the Canada Revenue Agency under the "Scientific Research and Experimental Development" (SR&ED) program. In addition to improving its overall effectiveness, this will also enable M4S to offer higher quality services.

INVE$TFOLIO© is a software solution used to optimize the process of planning, selecting and prioritizing all types of investment projects. Developed by DCV and marketed for three years, the solution allows users to consider and analyze the many factors that affect the issues, objectives, profitability and monitoring of the various projects planned by an organization. By ensuring that these are optimally selected and managed, INVE$TFOLIO© makes it possible to harmonize a company's investment portfolio with its business strategies and governance objectives, while at the same time achieving savings in the order of 5% to 20% of total investments. In addition, INVE$TFOLIO© is available in software as a service (SaaS) mode, making the solution easy to implement and very affordable.

"We very quickly realized the extent to which INVE$TFOLIO©'s suitability, its platform and its configuration capacity could help us analyze our clients' projects and offer them improved quality of service," said Dominique Fluet, Strategic R&D Consultant at M4S. "INVE$TFOLIO© provides real-time data, centralizes information, and rigorously documents and identifies the work accomplished throughout the course of a project. Since it is integrated with the Web, we can track projects and monitor them remotely. We also take advantage of DCV's experience managing projects in large corporations."

In order to establish the cooperation between the two companies, DCV is in the process of adapting INVE$TFOLIO©, incorporating M4S's methodology for contemporary project documentation as well as additional document management and calculation functions. DCV will also host Quebec City M4S employees at its office, which will help the firm penetrate the Montreal market.

"We are very pleased that a company of the calibre of M4S has chosen to integrate INVE$TFOLIO© into its business processes," said DCV & Associates Senior Partner and CEO Christian Vaillancourt. The judicious use of INVE$TFOLIO© by M4S's clients will allow a greater number of organizations, including SMEs, to familiarize themselves with technology that is essential for the sound governance of their SR&ED projects. These organizations will have an opportunity to take full advantage of the solution, also using it in-house for all of their own projects."

About DCV & Associates

DCV & Associates Inc. specializes in the development of software and expert systems, specifically in the field of investment project management. The firm offers consulting services in the areas of project management, strategic planning, business plan development and optimization of business processes and budgeting. Its products and services are designed for medium-sized and large companies in a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, finance and insurance, real estate, public administration, public services and retail. In 2008, DCV made a shift toward products to meet the needs expressed by its clients to develop a more rigorous management framework, allowing them to make the right choices and monitor their investment projects. Its flagship product in this area is the INVE$TFOLIO© solution, which includes five specialized, fully integrated modules and helps organizations to optimize the evaluation, selection and management of all their potential projects. Efforts made in recent years to educate business managers on portfolios management practices – in the context of the socio-economic transformations that are occurring around the globe – are very much in line with the concept of management advocated by INVE$TFOLIO©. For more information: www.dcva.ca.

About M4S

M4S provides businesses with strategic support to help them recover the tax credits they are entitled to for investment in SR&ED and all other innovation-related programs. It also helps companies establish R&D strategies and technical solutions for investors. In addition, M4S has expertise in a number of technical areas involving the creation and improvement of products or processes in various industries. In business since 1995, M4S has collaborated on over 3000 projects with more than 800 companies in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. Every year, the company takes on 250 new SR&ED contracts. Specialized by industry, M4S's professionals look at their clients' operations from a different perspective, rigorously determining the processes and activities that are eligible for government innovation assistance programs. For more information: www.m4s.ca.