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'Rigged' product demo in SAP suit goes missing

28.05.2009
A presale product demonstration software package that is key to Waste Management's rancorous lawsuit against SAP has gone missing and both sides are claiming the other should have it, according to documents filed in a U.S. District Court.

Waste Management sued SAP in March 2008 in District Court of Harris County, Texas, 164th Judicial District, claiming more than US$100 million in damages in connection with an allegedly failed ERP (enterprise resource planning) project.

The trash hauler has said SAP used "rigged and manipulated" demonstrations during sales presentations. A motion Waste Management filed May 18 said the demos were a key element of the "false representations" SAP made to "induce Waste Management into entering a software licensing and implementation agreement."

Waste Management has been asking SAP for a copy of the demo since mid-2008, according to the motion.

But in a May 22 filing, SAP said it had the system until August or September 2006, but does not any longer.

SAP has "searched extensively" for the system and wants it "as much or more" as Waste Management, since it "will help SAP disprove WM's fraud claim," the filing states. In addition, SAP said it has produced ample discovery materials related to the demo, such as its scripts and hundreds of e-mails.