Regent: Computer services payment waste of money

Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 | 10:06 a.m.

Nevada System of Higher Education officials paid $108,000 for computer consulting services that were supposed to have cost less than half that amount, and Regent Mark Alden said Friday that the service provided has been compromised by a conflict of interest.

"It's a complete waste of taxpayer money," Alden said of the contract.

The Board of Regents technology task force, charged with selecting and implementing a new computer system that will serve all eight institutions, hired Cedar Enterprise Solutions in May to help the task force evaluate the different software programs available.

Cedar recently merged with Crestone International, Inc., the parent company for one of those software companies, Oracle's PeopleSoft, raising questions about whether their consulting work might have leaned favorably toward PeopleSoft.

"I think its tainted," Alden, the only regent on the committee, said of the data provided by Cedar.

Doug Seastrand, the former regent who is still overseeing the committee, said he asked Cedar not to present their final report Friday to ensure that there could not even be the perception of an imbalance toward one vendor. Cedar did give system officials the raw data the company collected based on vendor demonstrations performed over the summer.

The demonstrations were designed to help the system decide what software features it needs in order to submit a bid request, Seastrand said. The task force expects to select a vendor by June 2006.

Cedar met its contractual obligations and the data will still be helpful, both Seastrand and Lee Alley, the newly hired vice chancellor for technology, said. Alley started Sept. 1 at a salary of $155,000 a year.

Alley, the former chief information officer for the South Dakota University System, said he will take a careful look at the information provided.

Alden said he is also upset that Cedar was paid $108,000 because the initial contract approved by the task force was for $50,000. He's asked for a review on how contracts are awarded at next week's budget and finance committee meeting.

Roberta Roth, director of applications and systems for system computing services, said the contract was extended when the task force expanded Cedar's duties to include the on-campus demonstrations.

The task force's goal is to find a software program that will better integrate human resources, finance and administration, student services and financial aid into one operating system, higher education officials have said. The information will be used to improve operations across those areas.

When including the costs to implement the program and train staff, system officials have estimated the total cost of the project to be up to $100 million.