In March 2010, the Queensland Health payroll system launched an IBM program to distribute payroll checks to employees.
The IBM selection drew controversy from the beginning. Terry Burns, the official in charge of reviewing Queensland's government shared IT services in 2007, recommended that one large contractor oversee all government systems.
Because of Burns' recommendations, IBM fought four other large vendors to secure the lucrative multi-million dollar contract. One of those vendors was Accenture.
In fact, Burns was accused of giving IBM an unfair advantage by urging bureaucrats to adopt IBM even though Accenture was the preferred vendor during the bidding process. Burns had served as IBM's "top man" in South Africa before he started his review of Queensland's government IT services.
IBM's payroll program was a disaster. The company overpaid, underpaid or failed to pay thousands of employees from Queensland Health. Overall, the failure could cost taxpayers about $1.2 billion.
A current inquiry has pitted IBM against Accenture over the payroll debacle. Accenture executive Simon Porter allegedly drafted an e-mail comparing both Accenture and IBM pricing structures. IBM executive Lochlan Bloomfield used information in the e-mail as he worked to secure the Queensland Health contract for his company.
IBM's problem with the e-mail is that it contained an offer for lunch. IBM alleges that the lunch offer was contingent on how good an outcome the e-mail's recipient got for Accenture.
Accenture accused IBM of failing to make accusations against Porter when he was on the witness stand earlier in the inquiry. The company accused IBM of trying to smear both Porter and his former employer, Accenture, in an attempt to divert the inquiry commissioner's attention from its payroll system's failure.
Obviously, IBM needs to address the payroll system failure, and the Queensland government needs to improve the transparency of the bidding process. And maybe Accenture, for its part, should have made a better lunch offer.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
