Stories Related to Gazette Investigates: State Of Iowa Signs $50 Million Computing Contract Without Typical Competitive Bidding

In signing a $50 million contract for a new cloud-based computer system, the state of Iowa sidestepped traditional competitive bidding procedures and chose a company with little state government experience whose lobbyist is Gov. Kim Reynolds’ former chief of staff. As one of the first state governments to hire California-based Workday to provide software to execute all its major functions — including payroll, expenses, inventory, financials, recruiting and grants management — Iowa is something of a guinea pig. And the jury’s still out on whether previous Workday projects at Iowa State University and the Iowa Department of Transportation will be successful.