"The Police Department has been with SAP for a while and is currently extending the software's functionality; it is a long and staged rollout," he said. "We had to draw a line in the sand and allow Police to remain on SAP software."

Mance admitted the obvious timeframe for any migration would be when contracts are renegotiated and the Police Department is due for an upgrade. "When the department is due for an upgrade, we will expect a strong business case around any further investment," he added.

Upgrade timeframes were not immediately available but a SAP spokesperson did confirm that the software was introduced at WA Police in 1998.

Another agency that has also been excluded from the Oracle plan is the Education Department which is sticking with PeopleSoft for HR and payroll.

However, with Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft this isn't likely to create any real problems, according to Oracle managing director Ian White.