Firm seeks another $20 million to finish job; deal in jeopardy
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The Colorado Department of Labor accused technology giant Accenture on
Tuesday of trying to hijack the state for nearly $20 million more to
complete an update of one of its computer systems.
Rick
Grice, the agency's executive director, threatened to pull the plug on
the deal, worth $40.8 million, if the New York-based company and the
state cannot come to terms by end of the month to salvage the project.
"Obviously, this is unacceptable," Grice said. "Accenture is in breach
of contract. We're involved in intense negotiations over the next two
weeks. My sense is if we don't get anything acceptable, than we are
done."
The state may have little choice but to work overtime to salvage the
deal. Accenture has already been paid $35.7 million to update the
system the Labor Department uses to track unemployment benefits,
officials said during a briefing to the Joint Budget Committee.
This article appeared in The Capitol Times. It is reposted here with permission of the author and publisher.
Glitches Plague Voter Registration System
Another state has pulled the plug on its voter registration contract with Accenture LLP, the controversial firm that is also compiling a statewide voter registration system for Wisconsin. According to an Associated Press report this
week, Colorado terminated its $10.5 million contract with the
management and technology company, citing several problems, including
difficulty signing up voters. Accenture spokesman James McAvoy, in
turn, blamed Colorado officials for project delays. The state had
already spent $1.5 million on the system. Earlier this year, Kansas
also terminated its contract with Accenture.
Wisconsin Elections Board Executive Director Kevin Kennedy issued a
news release Thursday noting that Wisconsin "is in a different
situation and stage of development" than Colorado. But his news release
indicated bugs still plague the system. "We are still working hard with
Accenture to solve some software problems," Kennedy said. "At the same
time, other challenges are telling us to slow down our deployment."
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Rick
Grice, the agency's executive director, threatened to pull the plug on
the deal, worth $40.8 million, if the New York-based company and the
state cannot come to terms by end of the month to salvage the project.