A Case Study in IT Failure: Marin County v Deloitte Consulting and SAP
Missed the Roundtable, but wish you hadn’t? Listen to the MP3 file.
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I’m a panelist for a teleconference discussion on the Marin County, CA lawsuit against Deloitte Consulting and SAP for a failed systems implementation. Moderating the panel is ZDNet’s Michael Krigsman and joining us is Panorama Consulting’s Eric Kimberling.
The call will be held on Wednesday May 4, 3:00pm CT/4:00pm ET, and it’s free of charge.
Toll-free Dial-In Number: (866) 951-1151
International Dial-In Number: (201) 590-2255
Conference # : 4999006
A Twitter hashtag has been set up so you can follow the discussion there and submit questions for the panelists in advance. #
For more information about the panel, go here.
My previous post on the case:
Marin County Dumping SAP. Still Suing Deloitte. Stay Tuned.
Krigsman was looking for more insight so I put him in touch with Mark O’Connor, CEO of Monadnock Research, “the consulting client’s most trusted source of objective research and advice on the global consulting and advisory services industry, and on best practices for maximizing value from consulting engagements and from strategic firm relationships.”
O’Connor wrote a report on the Marin County move on August 27th. Between Krigsman and O’Connor there’s now areport on ZDNet that is one of Krigsman’s most popular columns ever. The comments alone, while mostly critical of Marin County, are knowledgeable and incisive. I encourage you to take a look and to keep an eye on Krigsman and O’Connor for updates.
Maybe Deloitte screwed up on the implementation but that doesn’t amount to racketeering. However, this is very bad publicity for Deloitte’s consulting practice.
it’s normal to have implementation failures. the core of an implementation is the customer. The customer needs to know what they want and what they are buying in terms of the software and the customization/implementation services. a consultant’s job is to oversell and manage expectations. Software is what it is. It is software. You can make it work. It’s costs/resources. In all of this, a lot of good work needs to come together.