SAP not at fault for Qld Health payroll

A statement from the office of Queensland Public Works, Information and Communication Technology Minister Robert Schwarten today highlighted that the report into the problems with the Qld Health payroll system made no specific mention of SAP.

"Minister Schwarten also noted that the auditor-general's report makes no reference to the base software SAP or any failing of this component," the statement said.

Instead, the statement pointed out that the Workbrain rostering system — for which two experts were brought in from Canada — was now the subject of a review by Ernst & Young as to whether it was "best suited for the delivery of the health payroll under the new structure announced as part of the government response to the report".

As a result of the report, Premier Anna Bligh has announced that the Queensland Government would back away from an all-agencies-shared-services approach to IT and would review the role of IT services provider CorpTech.

Schwarten's comments about SAP confirm analyst beliefs that the SAP system would be retained in any restructure of CorpTech.

The minister said he agreed with the recommendations made in the auditor-general's report as well as Bligh's response. Schwarten revealed he had met with senior CorpTech executives and staff in Brisbane on Wednesday to discuss the next phase.

"Premier Bligh has said that we need to overhaul CorpTech and abandon the one-size-fits-all approach to payroll across government departments," he said. "On Wednesday I met with CorpTech staff to begin that process of implementing this and I will work tirelessly to make that happen."

Following the review, the Queensland Government is now looking to cancel its contract with tech giant IBM over the payroll debacle. IBM yesterday launched a defence of its implementation of the system.