(UPDATED) I have received information that Devlin eBusiness Architects, the winner of the TTC Web-redevelopment contract, may not be in a position to live up to its contractual obligations. This information, from a confidential source, is not verified, and indeed Devlin refused to confirm or deny it. And the claims might or might not be true and might or might not represent a violation of the terms of the TTC contract, especially deliverables.
Because the new TTC site is a high-profile public project from a public body using public funds, clear accountability and transparency are required, while maintaining confidentiality of contract terms. The issue has to be able to withstand public comment.
Of course I endeavoured to verify or disprove these claims. I E-mailed Devlin these questions:
- Were there any firings, terminations, or dismissals at Devlin since the awarding of the TTC contract? In particular, did a creative director fire, terminate, or dismiss staff?
- Did relatively large numbers of other staff, or any staff, leave the company voluntarily? If so, did that happen after other employees were fired, terminated, or dismissed?
- At present, does Devlin have positive cashflow? Does income exceed expenses month-to-month? [I didn’t ask about actual dollar figures.]
- How many full-time front-end coders do you have on staff? Has that number changed since the awarding of the contract? If so, by what percentage or number?
- How many freelancers or contractors are being used on the TTC job, and in what capacities?
- The Web RFP, at §5.2(i), required proponents to submit résumés “for each team member.” Proponents were also required to provide an organization chart naming, at minimum, one each of project manager, senior Web/application architect, Web developer, Web-accessibility expert, tester, and copywriter. Have the identities of persons named in those lists changed since awarding the contract? If so, how many identities have changed?
- At present, is the project under budget, over budget, or exactly at budget to the penny?
A read receipt was issued from a Devlin E-mail account, indicating that the message was opened. But there has been no response. (I gave them a reasonable deadline for response.) Devlin can issue answers to these questions in any reasonable form and I’ll link to them.
I cannot attest to the veracity of my source’s claims. However, the last thing anyone needs is a high-profile contract like this going wrong for any reason.
Update
(2008.03.28) Gee, guess who’s looking for a technical lead/architect (sic) and a bog-standard Web developer.