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California to Cancel Oracle Deal

Posted by michael on from the golden-parachute dept.

ShaunC writes "Back in mid-April, the state of California bought $95M worth of Oracle software, which turned out to include more licenses than the state has employees, at a taxpayer cost of $41M more than necessary. Now, CNet is reporting that the contract is being cancelled. Oracle apparently made a $25K donation to governor Gray Davis' campaign fund after the sale was made, several state officials have been suspended, and a criminal investigation into the deal is already underway."

1 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Sales Tax - OUCH! by phoenix26x · · Score: 5, Interesting
    $3 million in sales tax? Ouch! Wait a minute... a $95 million dollar deal, and only $3 million in sales tax? Since when did California's sales tax drop from 7.25% to ~3%?

    To be on topic: this deal was fishy on many fronts:
    • More Oracle licenses than state workers
    • Not just a third party (Logicon), but a fourth party (Koch Financial Services) was involved
    • The contract was signed last May, but the software is still not in use. You spent $95 million to sit on software licenses?
    • Finally, the sales tax issue already mentioned
    We can only hope that $95 million dollars worth of state officials are ousted.