Corel Corp’s claim that political maneuvering and not technical merit led to it losing a Canadian Defense Department contract with Microsoft Corp is being investigated in court. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal began the inquiry last week and Corel says it expects to receive a decision on the matter within 90 days. The real question is not so much that we lost, but how we lost and why we lost, Corel said yesterday. Corel’s allegations hint at a scenario in which Microsoft plays a virtual contract saboteur. The fuss began when the defense department canceled its $8m contract for the WordPerfect suite with Novell Corp, when Novell sold the software to Corel. The department then canceled its $1.75m purchase order without paying a penalty. A second round of bidding ensued. The timing left Ottawa, Canada-based Corel with only two weeks before the bid deadline and its request for an extension was denied. IBM/Lotus, an American company buying an American company, was granted an extension of one month and two weeks, but a Canadian company buying an American company isn’t. Is that fair?, Corel asked yesterday. Also, during the first bidding – which Corel won – Corel claims certain people within the Canadian Defense Department with a strong Microsoft bias were removed from the decision process. In the second round they were allowed back on the committee. The department says it chose Microsoft Office over WordPerfect on technical grounds; because Corel didn’t have or didn’t demonstrate its PowerPoint 4.0 filter. Corel says it demonstrated the filter, but it was missing from the box the department received later. Corel says it’s amazed that was grounds for rejection since it alleges only 12 department users have PowerPoint. Microsoft did not return phone calls yesterday.
