Michael, it's an interesting article of what went wrong at a high level but it's not clear what specifically isn't working and why. We all know that SAP is proven, state of the art software, and that it works when properly configured. So the root cause of the problem must be that the software is either not properly configured or that Marin County didn?t understand the implications of the configuration decisions and how the software would work based upon these decisions. In either case, the responsibility clearly rests with Deloitte and the County.
Rather than dump a $30 million investment, my recommendation would be for the ?Devil?s Triangle? players (SAP, Deloitte and the County) to work together to figure out exactly what isn?t working and fix it. Start from the beginning and review each configuration decision. Is it correct? If not fix it. If it is properly configured, does the County understand how the system will work based on this configuration. Are changes in workflow and processes required and are the users properly trained on these new processes?
SAP and Deloitte should agree to go through this process at costs and the County should agree to pay these costs, since it is probably that these costs will be lower than starting over. It?s not that hard to determine the vendors? costs, which would include salaries of the people assigned and eligible travel expenses (based upon County policies). Most likely there are bad relationships between the people who have worked on this project for the past 5 years, so it?s also a good idea to address this problem.
Dumping SAP is a bad idea, since any alternative solution will cost the County an additional $30+ million at a minimum and be subject to the same problems. Moreover, there will be a whole new learning curve to surmount and the users will need to be trained on a new look and feel, a different workflow and new/different processes. Unless the County wins its lawsuit against Deloitte, which sounds questionable, the alternative proposed of working together to resolve the problems will be less costly and take less time. I would be amazed if the current problems couldn?t be resolved in less than a year if all parties work together as a team.
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