It takes two to tango, says SaaS vendor
Lindsay Clark Wed 14 Apr 2021 // 10:49 UTC Share
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Maine has accused Workday of showing no accountability for its part in a flawed process to replace the US state s HR system.
Following a request for an official review into the $54.6m project, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability has published correspondence that Workday would almost certainly rather remain private.
In a May 2020 letter to the SaaS vendor about the replacement of the state s ageing HR and finance system, Kirsten Figueroa, commissioner of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, said the project last year missed two go-live dates.
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With the launch just months away, Maine’s finance agency conducted test runs in early 2020 of a state-of-the-art but costly payroll program slated to replace a decades-old system that state officials said was “held together with duct tape and paperclips.”
The test results did not inspire confidence.
More than 50 percent of the payroll tests contained errors – a major red flag, given that that system was supposed to begin handling the paychecks and benefits for 13,000 state employees starting on April 1 of that year. The subsequent decision to delay the launch for a second time was a turning point that eventually led to the state’s decision to cancel the contract and seek $22 million back from the company, Workday Inc.
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Legislature’s oversight panel expects answers about failed contract for human resources software
The state s administrative and financial services commissioner will appear before the committee Friday to answer questions about a $22 million contract dispute with Workday, a Silicon Valley vendor.
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AUGUSTA A legislative committee will continue its inquiry Friday into the Mills administration’s effort to reclaim $22 million from a Silicon Valley software vendor in a dispute over a contract to upgrade the state’s outdated human resources management and payroll system.
Commissioner of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services Kirsten Figueroa
Joe Phelan/ Kennebec Journal
Kirsten Figueroa, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, will appear before the Government Oversight Committee to provide information and answer questions about the contractual dispute with Workday Inc., which was hired in 2018 to do the software s
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In 2010, Michigan’s economy was reeling. The Great Recession had hit the state hard and U.S. automakers were struggling to survive. Seeking to ease the pain, state officials authorized tax credits under the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) program as part of long-term deals with distressed automakers. But the program did not include fiscal protections to control the state’s costs. This would prove to be a damaging misstep years later when Michigan had to close a multi-million dollar budget gap with spending cuts after automakers began claiming credits in larger amounts than expected.
How did this happen? When developing the agreements, the state relied on unrealistic estimates of the number of jobs the companies would create and the salaries they would pay. The companies hired more workers at higher than anticipated salaries, qualifying for more tax credits and driving costs higher than expected. Fortunately, such situations can be avoided.