Judge says Groundswell can add former SAP exec to legal team

Groundswell has won the fight to add an SAP consultant to its legal team in the battle for a $1 billion Army enterprise resource planning contract won by Accenture's U.S. federal subsidiary.

Both Army and Accenture Federal Services objected to Uli Werner, CEO of EDC Consulting and a former SAP executive, having access to the administrative record and other sealed filings that detail the Army Enterprise Business Systems – Convergence contract.

Groundswell filed its protest at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims after the Army awarded the contract to Accenture Federal in October. The Army is using EBS-C to consolidate several systems into a single SAP-based platform.

According to the filings, the Army and Accenture Federal wanted the judge to deny Werner access because he was part of an IBM-led team that pursued EBS-C early on. That team was eliminated from the competition, but the Army and Accenture Federal argued his participation would mean he would have access to proprietary information.

On Tuesday, Judge Richard Hertling ruled Werner could have access to the record because Groundswell was able to demonstrate the need for his technical assistance. Hertling based his decision on the fact that IBM cannot participate as a prime even if Groundswell wins and the court orders the Army to reconsider the award to Accenture Federal.

Hertling also said that Werner and EDC Consulting cannot participate as a consultant, advisor or expert on a team pursuing EBS-C. Werner can only consult with Groundswell and its legal team on the court case.

During his tenure at SAP, Werner helped build the software giant's U.S. federal business and particularly at the Defense Department. Accenture has also been the dominant SAP integrator with the Army for the last 20 years.

A dispute over the contents of the administrative record also was resolved after the Army agreed to add several more documents.

The next key deadline is Tuesday, when a first group of motions need to be filed.

Cross-motions and responses are due in January. The judge will schedule hearings and other deadlines at that time.