Software Company Vitech Seeks Millions From State Of Wisconsin

A software company is asking the Wisconsin Claims Board for $14.3 million over a contract dispute that involves work done on a state system tracking retirement benefits for thousands of public employees.

In 2014, a New York software company Vitech Systems Group signed a $27 million contract with the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) to overhaul the system tracking retirement benefits. Last year, work stopped on the project. Vitech abandoned the project when it was only 7 percent functional, according to ETF. The software company contends otherwise.

“At no time ever did Vitech abandon this project. These parties had a conflict about how much additional money ETF owed to Vitech,” Vitech attorney Aaron Aizenberg told the State of Wisconsin Claims Board in a Monday hearing.

Over four years, between 2014 and 2018, ETF paid Vitech $14.3 million for the unfinished project. ETF terminated the agreement with Vitech in April of last year but Vitech says they weren’t given proper notice.

Aizenberg said the state was asking for services not originally sought and that ETF wasn’t committed to own design decisions in part because so many different people were working on the project at the same time.

Vitech wants more money for the additional work it did after the contract was signed but ETF maintains the contract was set at a fixed amount.

The company’s claim for breach of contract comes after the state filed a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court accusing the company of lengthy delays and unfinished work that didn’t meet expectations.

“ETF identified gaps where the software was not providing the functionality it was supposed to under the RFP (request for proposal). There’s many bugs and errors that were wrong with the system,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Keenan told the State of Wisconsin Claims Board.