Bridgestone vs. IBM: Parties Agree to Reach Agreement

Just one week before jury selection was slated to begin, Bridgestone and IBM filed a motion to drop  their lawsuits against each other with prejudice, meaning that the suit can never be raised again.    Court documents indicate that each firm agreed to pay their own attorney fees.  It was not clear from the filing if any specific monetary concessions were  made by either firm.

This has been a long and acrimonious journey for both firms.

A Quick Summary for Those Not Familiar with the Suit

Bridgestone went live with the solution in January of 2012, $30M over budget and five months later than planned.  In the lawsuit that was filed, Bridgestone alleged that the implementation created a major disruption to its ability to serve customers and threw its logistics and supply chain operations into chaos.

Bridgestone estimated that profits of $75M were lost in the first six months of 2012 and that it incurred an additional $38M in additional expenses to bring the situation under control.  At the foundation of Bridgestone’s complaint is the assertion that IBM did not apply talent that was consistent with contractual obligations and that IBM was fraudulent in its reports regarding the ongoing status of the program.  Bridgestone claims that with sufficient information regarding the situation, different decisions would have been taken regarding the readiness for a go-live.

For a complete history on these suits, click the following links:

• Bridgestone vs. IBM — Judge Says Let’s Get It On
• Bridgestone vs. IBM — Bridgestone Wins Round One and Increases the Pressure on IBM
• Considerations for Selecting an SAP System Integrator