Going to court

The FT today carries a good in-depth feature on the BSkyB court case against EDS. (EDS to address charges it deceived BSkyB) The article puts much of the blame on the debacle on BSkyB.

Over the many years that I have covered the UK IT services sector, and EDS in particular, I have seen many threatened (and a few real) court battles over IT projects. In my private conversations I have always advised companies to settle out of court if at all possible. The reputational damages - regardless of who wins or loses - are huge. In the current case, I am sure that many readers will say "EDS getting sued again..." even those the article in the FT is clearly on EDS' side. The costs are not just measured in £s but in the enormous amount of time and emotional energy expended by the executives involved.

There just must always, and at whatever late stage, be a better way than appearing in court.