and Britain's Computer Answers International and then in June 2000, it acquired Admiral Computing, another British IT consultancy. It has been agreed that the unusually high price for Goodwill (accounting) spent by CMG on Admiral was the indirect cause of the Logica merger, as the cash position of CMG became compromised the next year when an economic downturn in the Netherlands caused an internal upheaval and later layoffs. The merger of Logica (60%) with CMG (40%), on 30 December 2002, represented the union of an established technology firm (Logica) with an established consulting firm (CMG). Operations CMG supplied services and products in the finance, trade and industry, transport, telecommunications, energy and public sectors. The Company also provided managed information processing services, including networks, payroll and personnel. CMG created its own quality system that it successfully used to gain ISO 9000 accreditation, called Commander, which included a Waterfall model of software project management. Though the most mission critical business process for CMG was always selling consulting services, the company also had a large internal IT department to service the company's infrastructure and manage services for large customer applications. One of the most popular applications which it developed and sold for decades, was PAYFACT, a payroll and HR reporting system that gained widespread use in the Netherlands in the 1990s. Another popular service was short message service centers for mobile telephone operators, using the proprietary EMI protocol. Such large-scale service offerings were managed thanks to strict adherence to Commander, and when Commander did not have the answer, the Commander body of knowledge was extended with the contribution of the company with the specific demand. Commander's added value as a quality system over the years was thus improved and adjusted through proprietary use, as well as from projects for customers or industry standards. Commander was later used against the company itself in court proceedings in 2002 when the company laid off workers in the Netherlands using legislation regarding temporary personnel. There was a lawsuit brought against CMG using Commander as evidence to show that employees were the responsibility of CMG, and therefore could not be seen as temporary personnel. Despite protests that Commander was proprietary information, the entire Commander cd was released to the court proceedings and became public record. References Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies based in the London Borough of Croydon Consulting firms established in 1964 British