Posted by Ben Worthen
Software giant SAP is getting sued for failing to deliver an “out-of-the-box integrated end-to-end solution that increases…effectiveness.” Amazingly, the meaning of these buzzwords may cost SAP over $100 million.
This blog’s hatred of tech jargon is no secret: We think that more people would be interested in technology if insiders didn’t describe the stuff in a made up language. Despite our protests, the tech industry refuses to abandon these terms. Maybe the threat of legal action will scare it straight.
The jargon is central to Waste Management’s claim that SAP used deceptive practices to sell its software. Waste Management needed to upgrade the software it uses to manage its waste removal and recycling business, and turned to SAP because the software maker said it had a “mature” and “proven” product for the job, according to a complaint filed with a district court in Texas. (The court hasn’t made the complaint available online.) In demonstrations, SAP officials led Waste Management to believe that it was looking at the finished product, Waste Management alleges, when in reality it was mock-up of the software “intended to deceive.”
The software project, which began in 2005 and still isn’t complete, has been a total disaster for Waste Management. So the company is suing SAP for $100 million plus punitive damages. An SAP spokeswoman tells us the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
We’ve learned to be skeptical of lawsuits like this. That’s because a successful tech project requires more than new software: It also forces businesses to change the processes they follow to get work done and for individual workers to accept the new way of doing things. Any one of these three factors can cause a project to fail.
The only reason we aren’t writing this case off is the allegations of fraud. Waste Management claims it has internal SAP documents that prove the software maker knew it was misleading its customer. A Waste Management spokeswoman declined to make these documents available to the Business Technology Blog. When pressed for more detail about the charges, she told us that the suit speaks for itself.
For what it’s worth, we’re excited to see a judge decide the case. If only to have a legal definition of what “integrated end-to-end out-of-the-box solution” means.
Business Technology : SAP Sued Over Tech Jargon
