The maker of expensive printer ink HP is in hot water over a new lawsuit over a $49 million project a US state said is still not finished after 10 years.
The contract – filed by the state of Michigan – dates back to 2005 and called for HP to replace a legacy mainframe based system built in the 1960s that is used by more than 130 Secretary of State offices.
The job was supposed to have finished by 2010, but HP could not manage it. This means that Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget and SOS staff dependent on the old technology for functions such as vehicle registration.
Michigan has paid HP a total of roughly $33 million.
In the suit filed in Kent County Circuit Court, the state seeks $11 million in damages along with attorney’s fees and the funds needed to rebid the contract.
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said in a press release that she inherited a stalled project when she came into office in 2011 and, despite her aggressive approach to hold HP accountable and ensure HP delivered, it didn’t.
The state wants the source code for an online services portal HP delivered as part of the project.
HP said that it was unfortunate that Michigan chose to terminate the contract, but HP looks forward to a favourable resolution in court.
