By Nicola Leske
Nov 9 (Reuters) - Avantor Performance Materials has filed a
lawsuit against IBM for fraud and breach of contract over the
implementation of a software project that resulted in a
"disaster" for the chemicals manufacturer.
The company, which produces chemicals and raw materials for
pharmaceutical products, laboratory chemicals and chemicals used
in the electronics industry, said in a statement that it was
seeking tens of million in damages from IBM.
According to the lawsuit filed on Thursday in the U.S.
District Court for the District of New Jersey, Avantor said IBM
had misrepresented the capabilities of a software program that
runs on a platform by SAP, resulting "in a near standstill" of
Avantor's business.
IBM, which partners with German business software maker SAP
in its consulting business, was not immediately available for
comment.
Avantor in 2010 chose to replace its legacy information
technology systems with a global SAP roll-out as part of a
rebranding and growth strategy.
Contrary to IBM's pre-contract representations, Avantor said
the software program "was woefully unsuited to Avantor's
business, and could not provide crucial functionality that
Avantor needed to run its core business processes".
Avantor also called IBM's consultants "incompetent and
inexperienced".
When the system went live, Avantor said it was a disaster
due to a number of errors ranging from failure to track or
process orders correctly to directing "that dangerous chemicals
be stored in inappropriate locations".
According to the lawsuit, IBM received around $13 million in
fees and was asking for more to remedy the issues around the
software implementation.
Follow us on Twitter @ReutersLegal | Like us on Facebook