Logistics company sues Oracle alleging crash-prone, cumbersome software

Oracle Transportation Management has failed to deliver for Sadleirs, WA company claims

WA-headquartered logistics group Sadleirs has sued Oracle, alleging the vendor lied about the capabilities of its transportation management platform.

The company has filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court against the software vendor, arguing that claims made about the Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) system were false or overblown and in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

Sadleirs alleges that the software was “not robust and is prone to crashing and timing out even during simple operations” and representations by Oracle that the software was efficient were also false because “the OTM system does not allow for operational efficiency”.

In 2015 the privately owned logistics company began searching for a single software system to handle logistics, warehousing and finances.

Oracle submitted a response to a Sadleirs request for information (RFI) and following negotiations a contract was signed in August 2017. The group that month also signed a contract with Oracle partner PrimeQ, which Sadleirs said was recommended by the software company.

In a December 2017 media release, PrimeQ said it would implement “a fully integrated end-to-end Oracle Cloud solution incorporating Oracle Customer Experience (CX), Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Oracle Warehouse Management (WMS), Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) and Oracle Cloud Business Intelligence.”

“The logistics industry in Australia is typically characterised by older information technology,” PrimeQ CEO Andrew McAdams was quoted as saying in the release.

“By replacing its legacy system with a cloud-based solution, Sadleirs will benefit from lower capital costs and rapid implementation times as well as greater delivery efficiencies.

“These efficiencies will extend across all areas of the Sadleirs business, from the streamlining and optimisation of fleet through to the automating of administrative activities.”

Sadleirs alleges that Oracle misled it when the vendor, in its RFI response, said that all of the transportation company’s stipulated requirements were “supported”, a court filing reveals.

A statement of claim filed by Sadleirs cites 27 instances where it claims Oracle’s software fell short of RFI criteria by not supporting Sadleirs’ needs (such as cost allocation by dimensional weight, which the company says is a “standard method of transport costing”), or required extensive additional customisation or the purchase of additional Oracle products, or by being cumbersome to use.

Data capture, for example, is “not efficient and streamlined, including because screens are not intuitive, and the user has to drill through multiple layers and perform an excessive number of separate functions to complete basic tasks,” the document claims.

Another eight additional representations made by Oracle were “false,” Sadleirs alleges, including that the software was efficient, robust and supported multiple Internet browsers (the OTM Mobile system is also “not fit-for-purpose” Sadleirs argues).

Sadleirs has asked the court to declare the contract with Oracle void or to have Oracle refund the licence fees it paid. It’s also seeking potential damages or compensation and its legal costs.

Oracle declined to comment on the legal action. Sadleirs and PrimeQ have been approached for comment.

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