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Stanford Learns a Software Lesson

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the school-of-hard-knocks dept.

Nick Irelan writes "In 1994 Stanford set aside $60 million to aquire the latest financial and management software from PeopleSoft and Oracle. However, the upgrade that was planned years ago is still not complete. Stanford has even begun outsourcing! 'Those who can't do teach :)'."

4 of 314 comments (clear)

  1. this isn't the only PeopleSoft debacle by johnthorensen · · Score: 4, Informative

    Another PeopleSoft SNAFU is at the University of Missouri. They have been working on their project for > 5 years and are STILL using their old COBOL-based mainframe system. Millions of dollars down the drain because the pointy-headed academic administrators can't lead their way out of a wet paper bag.

    -JT

  2. Re:Conflict of interest by REBloomfield · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here in the UK we're required to register our pecuniary interests at the start of each financial year. Our auditors would flay us alive if this sort of thing happened here...... And as an .edu admin, I can respond and say that it *is* the teaching faculty who make the upgrade decisions. They want the latest buzzwords, we do what we're told.....

  3. Those who can't do, teach by bob65 · · Score: 4, Informative
    I think a more accurate phrase would be,

    Those who can't teach, do.

    Many of those who teach can in fact do, and what the heck do you think teaching is? Is it not doing?

    However many that can do, can't seem to teach. Which is why they pretend that those who can't do, teach.

  4. Re:or not by kfg · · Score: 5, Informative

    There was a story here on Slashdot a while ago about resistence to an "open source" solution to the educational intraweb at Princeton.

    Said professor made the argument that a bunch of "kids" writing experimental software weren't qualified to write such software and that it should be left to the experts. Bear in mind that one of these "kids" is Brian Frickin' Kernighan who is a professor at Princton.

    I did some digging on said professor who holds himself out to be an expert on web design. His online tutorial a)is some of the worst web design I've ever seen and b)was a pretty shitty tutorial.

    A little further digging showed he's been in PeopleSoft's pocket since before day one.

    There's a lot of politics in these things, and a lot of money flying around and buying opinion. As often as not the last thing those in power want is their own Computer Science people involved. That would queer the whole money flying around deal. Nevermind that it all, ultimately, has to be taken out of the hides of students and other customers.

    KFG