Oracle 'bribe' scandal closes Californian IT department

NEWS The California state government has disbanded its IT department following a two month fight to cancel a $95m software contract with Oracle. The government plans to overhaul the IT department following claims it signed the six-year contract after receiving thousands of dollars in campaign funds from Oracle. IT work will now be farmed out to other state agencies. The scandal broke after an independent audit concluded that it would cost Californian tax payers $41m to maintain the Oracle software rather than save $100m as predicted by Oracle. The audit also reported that the deal had not been approved by managers and had not been open to competitive bidding. Four state officials have resigned or been suspended since the controversy was revealed, including the head of the IT department. State agencies have now been instructed to tighten their e-procurement processes. Government officials have also issued a ban on hiring external IT consultants to run the state government portal.