Cover Oregon: Kitzhaber says it's time to sue Oracle for health exchange disaster

[alp227]

Source: The Oregonian

Oregon's long-simmering feud with Oracle Corp. is about to break out into open warfare.

Gov. John Kitzhaber has asked Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to initiate legal action against the giant information technology company for its central role in the state's bungled effort to build a health insurance exchange. The state has paid Oracle well over $130 million for the exchange, which never operated as intended.

"There is ample cause there to file a lawsuit," Kitzhaber said. "We were not delivered a product that worked and we certainly weren't delivered a product on time."

Kitzhaber also reached out to officials in Washington, D.C. asking them to act against Oracle. In a May 29 letter, he asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to "levy the appropriate fines and penalties" against the company. He also asked Oregon's two U.S. senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to use their clout against Oracle.

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2014/05/cover_oregon_kitzhaber_says_it.html

---

Meanwhile, Portland TV station KATU (pronounced K-Two, since it's channel 2) had a Bill O'Reilly-style ambushing of the Guv last week regarding Cover Oregon.

[billhicks76]

1. Oracle CEO?

Who are they? Did they sabatoge Obama but take the money and run?

[defacto7]

4. Oracle is the company that owns

Java. They bought out several open source groups and turned them into non-free versions. I think they are the company that bought out OpenOffice. I changed to LibreOffice anyway. They also own the Solaris operating system.

[billhicks76]

5. Larry Ellison's Oracle?

I assumed it was a different one

[defacto7]

6. Yep

http://www.oracle.com/index.html

The one and only.... at least that I know of.

[olddad56]

8. Oracle bought out Sun Microsystems long ago. That is how they got java and solaris

[defacto7]

15. Yep but not that long ago.

The buyout concluded in 2010.

on edit: contract signed April 2009 - concluded transaction Jan. 2010.

I remember, I was not happy about it at all.

[olddad56]

16. neither was I

[SoapBox]

2. Uhhhhhhhh....DUH!

Ya think?!?!

[davidpdx]

3. This is the one thing I'm worried about in terms of the governor's race here in Oregon

The governor needs to come up with a better explanation of what happened. Oracle may have done a crappy job, but in the end him blaming Oracle and Oracle blaming him is not going to wash really well. I sure as hell don't want Urination Richardson for governor.

[olddad56]

9. Oracle has blown so many large projects in the public sector that this one is small potatoes..

for Oracle. Oracle consulting services does not have a good reputation in the public sector. But what they do have are attorneys that are sharp and write ironclad contracts. If the state of Oregon sues Oracle, I will put my money on Oracle prevailing.

[defacto7]

14. Agree, money on Oracle.

It's the game and Oregon is a lucrative target. Lawyers and Ellison are the only players and they don't even need to know how to turn the computer on.

[defacto7]

10. Oracle is a major software company.

along with Larry Ellison.

I would have to conclude (subjectively) that Oracle purposefully undermined the project. They couldn't possibly have been that bad at writing script. More likely Ellison has an ax to grind with Oregon. I wouldn't doubt the likes of him would be happy to have a suit for the publicity of a corporation taking on a state.

[davidpdx]

17. That is bad news

[jtuck004]

7. Just a little more to add depth for those interested...

http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/oracle-assails-states-false-narrative-of-blame-over-cover-oregon-debacle

[defacto7]

12. Good point of view.

A little stabilizing of blame throwing may be in order including mine above. But it ceases to amaze me how a corporate project could go so awry considering Oracle's resources? How could a state take technical charge of anything of that magnitude without technical resources to match? Why would a company like Oracle want to let this project slide?

Dunno.

I'll be reticent, reticent I say!

[olddad56]

11. there is a book entitled "The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison".

I would recommend any CEO of any company read that book before entering into a long term contract with the Oracle Corporation.

[defacto7]

13. Hear, Hear!

[sinkingfeeling]

18. Do it! Do it!