Contractors Sue For Having To Pay For Their Own Mistakes
from the another-government-computer-special dept
If we're learning anything about the many many failed government computer upgrade projects, it's that they're not limited to the US. The latest international flop comes from Canada, where the government of Ontario just settled with contractors suing over a canceled project attempting to link the entire provincial justice system. Apparently, the contractors -- a consortium led by EDS -- weren't happy about spending $200 million of their own money in capital investments before the government pulled the plug. They settled for $63 million and a promise not to talk trash about each other. Of course, the government is at fault for naively buying into these overambitious plans, and it's unfortunate that taxpayers must foot the bill. That's why we're glad the contractors here are sucking up a decent share of the cost -- eventually, someone needs to make these companies take responsibility for overselling untenable goals, which the companies charge more to pursue when they inevitably require more work than planned. And maybe as an evenly distributed punishment, both parties should be forced indefinitely to use their clunky new systems (if they reach this point) that take 15 steps to save a document.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Wow...miss marx much?
Doesn't the fact that they WON $63 MILLION tell you who's at fault here..?
That's ok though...businesses have to learn that dealing with the govt. is a lose-lose situation anyway. Best to leave the beurocrats scratching their heads on how to use their mouse while the rest of us privatize space travel and leave these govt. leeches to die off.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Contractors at fault?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]