TECHONE SAYS BCC CREATED IMPOSSIBLE PROBLEM

A CONTRACT spat has descended to Technology One accusing Brisbane City Council of loading up the software outfit with an impossible problem.

Council has resorted to a “legal tactic” requiring TechOne to configure a system in line with a 2015 contract – even though this no longer meets the local government’s requirements, the Brisbane-based IT company said yesterday.

That demand was despite BCC’s processes having changed since 2015 and the council in October last year providing “updated business process requirements that expanded the scope of the project”, TechOne executive chairman Adrian Di Marco said. “BCC is engineering a situation where (TechOne) is unable to perform against the contract,” he added.

Council did not respond to specific allegations but maintained it was “committed to ensuring the best outcome for Brisbane ratepayers”.

“Council will continue to perform its obligations in accordance with the contract,” a spokesman said.

The project was to convert 13 local government service systems to one platform, but council in January this year said costs had blown out by $60 million. TechOne has said its own contract with council was for $50 million, while another $72 million in the original contract was for BCC staff and other contractors. Both sides have waged verbal war on each other since. Council has issued a “show cause” notice asking why the contract should not be terminated, to which TechOne has until July 17 this year to respond.

But TechOne yesterday also said council had breached contract by not paying invoices for a couple of milestones in May. Council had since coughed up the $750,000.