Software Hardball

[November 14th, 2007]

Why would Multnomah County spend $306,000 on a computer program that its own IT employees begged their bosses not to buy?

According to a new whistle-blower lawsuit by a former county staffer, it’s because her boss had a cozy relationship with the software company—so cozy that he made the purchase despite warnings from his staff that the program was a dud.

In a lawsuit filed Oct. 18 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Maureen Jackson, a former manager in the county’s IT department, claims she was forced out for raising concerns that the purchase was a waste of taxpayer dollars and an abuse of her boss’s authority.

Those same concerns were echoed by others in the IT staff, according to records obtained by WW. County spokesman Shawn Cunningham says the county won’t comment on pending litigation. County Chairman Ted Wheeler was unfamiliar with the details of the suit, but says whistle-blowers in general are an important check to ensure good government.

In spring 2005, county IT managers were shopping for a program to back up data on the countywide computer system. They narrowed the field to three vendors—Oceanport, N.J.-based CommVault Systems Inc.; Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec Corp.; and Islandia, N.Y.-based CA Inc.

At the time, CA was still recovering from an accounting scandal that led to a $225 million settlement in 2004 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. But Jackson’s lawsuit says she was worried CA was chosen because her boss, IT infrastructure-services manager Rick Jacobson, had been a member of CA’s customer advisory board at an unspecified time.

CA vice president Bob Gordon says there’s “no record” of Jacobson “serving in any official capacity” on CA’s customer advisory board. Jacobson did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.

Others on the county IT staff also raised concerns about CA.

On April 15, 2005, county system administrators Julie Baumler and DeWayne Gibson emailed county chief information officer Becky Porter, saying CA was not the best choice.

“It is general knowledge in Technical Services that Rick Jacobson prefers [CA] software,” they wrote. “We cannot afford to make an ill-advised decision based upon a senior manager’s affinity for a particular vendor,” Baumler and Gibson wrote.

The email outlined the staff perceptions of CA’s weaknesses, including cumbersome licensing, unexpected additional costs and negative reviews from other users. Nevertheless, on Aug. 24, 2005, the county bought the program—known as BrightStor—for $306,000.

That was slightly more than the $300,000 maximum price listed in the county’s initial request for information from vendors. But CommVault and Symantec never got a chance to beat CA’s price. The contract went to CA without competitive bids, because the state had a pre-existing contract with CA from a previous competitive bid.

Baumler, who quit working for the county soon after the purchase was made, says her employer had previous problems with other CA products. “A number of us were definitely upset about not being listened to,” she told WW.

According to Jackson’s lawsuit, BrightStor still didn’t work almost a year after it was purchased. She resigned July 16, 2007, claiming she’d been forced out by Jacobson. Her lawsuit seeks her old job back plus $75,000, or if not, $375,000.