Waste Management
CET 111-ITGC
CASE 2: WASTE MANAGEMENT SUES SAP FOR ALLEGED FRAUD AND BREACH OF CONTRACT
1. What actions should WMI have taken to lessen the risk of this project and avoid these problems?
ANSWER:
WMI should test first some of SAP’s software before letting each party sign their contracts. This will help to lessen the risk of the project and to avoid problems in the future. They should do some research about SAP and test the program.
2. What sort of losses has WMI incurred from the delay of this project? How has the lack of success on this project affected SAP?
ANSWER:
The WMI loses clients which leads them to the loss of sales and jobs.
3. Do research on the Web to find out the current status of the lawsuits between WMI and SAP. Write a brief report summarizing your findings.
ANSWER:
Waste Management’s lawsuit against SAP for a “complete failure” of a $100 million software implementation boils down to promises. What did SAP promise Waste Management? And how much responsibility does Waste Management bear for believing those promises?
As background, news surfaced last week that Waste Management filed a complaint against SAP in the district court of Harris County, Texas. The suit, filed March 20, was fairly well publicized, but many of the accounts were thin on detail. Typically, IT failures aren’t black or white. There are many shades of gray. Projects change, there’s scope creep and often the vendor and the customer share some of the blame.
With that in mind, I’ve been perusing Waste Management’s complaint against SAP. For its part, SAP doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation. If this spat ever does get to court, it will highlight the enterprise software sales process, which really revolves around promises. According to Waste Management’s complaint, SAP said it could offer an out-of-the-box ERP system with no customization. Waste Management’s reality was different. That disconnect isn’t all that noteworthy. Enterprise software companies typically
CASE 2: WASTE MANAGEMENT SUES SAP FOR ALLEGED FRAUD AND BREACH OF CONTRACT
1. What actions should WMI have taken to lessen the risk of this project and avoid these problems?
ANSWER:
WMI should test first some of SAP’s software before letting each party sign their contracts. This will help to lessen the risk of the project and to avoid problems in the future. They should do some research about SAP and test the program.
2. What sort of losses has WMI incurred from the delay of this project? How has the lack of success on this project affected SAP?
ANSWER:
The WMI loses clients which leads them to the loss of sales and jobs.
3. Do research on the Web to find out the current status of the lawsuits between WMI and SAP. Write a brief report summarizing your findings.
ANSWER:
Waste Management’s lawsuit against SAP for a “complete failure” of a $100 million software implementation boils down to promises. What did SAP promise Waste Management? And how much responsibility does Waste Management bear for believing those promises?
As background, news surfaced last week that Waste Management filed a complaint against SAP in the district court of Harris County, Texas. The suit, filed March 20, was fairly well publicized, but many of the accounts were thin on detail. Typically, IT failures aren’t black or white. There are many shades of gray. Projects change, there’s scope creep and often the vendor and the customer share some of the blame.
With that in mind, I’ve been perusing Waste Management’s complaint against SAP. For its part, SAP doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation. If this spat ever does get to court, it will highlight the enterprise software sales process, which really revolves around promises. According to Waste Management’s complaint, SAP said it could offer an out-of-the-box ERP system with no customization. Waste Management’s reality was different. That disconnect isn’t all that noteworthy. Enterprise software companies typically