UCLA settles Oracle ERP dispute with $3.1M in credits and $1.31M wiped off the bill

UCLA and Oracle have settled a dispute over a troubled ERP project originally budgeted at $120 million, with the vendor waiving $1.31 million in outstanding fees and granting $3.1 million in credits against future charges.

In May, the University of California's Compliance and Audit Committee recommended a settlement [PDF] of UCLA's pre-litigation dispute with Oracle, which the Board of Regents approved.

According to documents released in response to a California Public Records Act request, UCLA stopped paying its Oracle subscription in September 2024 over what it described as shortcomings in grants management functionality.

UCLA and Oracle signed their first agreement relating to the project – called Ascend – in November 2017.

The project had a revised go-live date of January 2025, but was paused in mid-2024.

The settlement records UCLA's allegation that "the ERP Cloud Services did not perform as warranted in the Oracle Agreement." "The ERP Cloud Services lacked sufficient functionality to meet the University's requirements and could not be used by the University as expected," said the document, which was seen by The Register.

It continued that "the University incurred costs and delays due to the ERP Cloud Services inability to meet the University's requirements." It added: "As a result, Oracle breached the Oracle Agreement." Under the settlement, UCLA agreed to pay Oracle $350,000 of the $1.66 million in outstanding invoices.

Oracle then waived the remaining balance – $1.31 million – and credited $3.1 million against future Oracle fees.

These credits expire at the end of May 2028.

The agreement says the university should not make public statements about its terms, which are to remain confidential, although both parties acknowledged that UCLA is subject to the California Public Records Act.

The Register has asked Oracle to comment.

The settlement was obtained by California resident Eric Guyer, founder of independent Oracle cost consultancy Advizant.

In a social media post, he said that the credits suggested UCLA would continue with the project in some form, with Oracle as the main vendor.

Guyer suggested Oracle most likely discounted its software to win the "coveted" UCLA logo.