For a cautionary tale about an SAP implementation run amok, take a look at the case of Portland, Ore. The city's auditor issued a report this week detailing the poor planning and lack of leadership that led to upward spiraling costs and missed deadlines, reports Chris Kanaracus of IDG News Service.

When the Portland SAP project was planned in 2004, it was supposed to cost $14 million, but it wound up costing more than $47 million. While it was supposed to take 14 months to implement, it ended up taking more than 30 months.

According to Portland's auditor, SAP can't take the blame. It was city officials and the initial systems integrator for the project who were at fault, according to the report. To begin with, the 14-month schedule was too aggressive, and the government's own bureaucracy caused delays in making decisions. When initially budgeting for the project, officials failed to take into account the cost of new hardware, and they later added on more functionality. 

The systems integrator, Ariston Consulting and Technologies (now owned by Black & Veatch), had difficulties with staffing and did not always complete project documents on time, according to the report. In 2008, Portland terminated the contract with Ariston and turned to SAP's Public Services unit to complete the implementation.

For more:
- see Chris Kanaracus' article at Computerworld

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