TxDOT reviewing big tech firms’ proposals

State transportation officials are missing the on ramp to privatizing their technology department, contractors say.

The Texas Department of Transportation conducted two pre-bid conferences in February for a contract that could be worth up to $700 million, but vendors said the department was woefully unprepared.

Such conferences typically provide potential bidders with answers so they can set their prices. But TxDOT officials didn’t provide an adequate number of chairs during the first conference and detailed questions were left unanswered, some said. Instead of a conventional informational meeting, representatives from more than 40 technology companies were cycled into the room in smaller groups and presented an eight-minute video.

State technology fund underfunded

State officials recommend replenishing the Emerging Technology Fund with $7.2 million during the next two years, far below the requested amount.

The Legislative Budget Board is proposing a 92 percent decrease “due to the estimated obligation of grant funding within the 2012–13 biennium,” according to the proposed budget released this week.

The ETF was established in 2005 to promote the development and commercialization of technology with grants awards. The Legislature initially replenished the ETF with more than $100 million every two years.

Former Dell exec now at HP sued over stock options

Dell Inc. is suing a former high-level sales executive to recover more than $780,000 in company stock options he received before going to work for arch rival Hewlett-Packard Co.

The lawsuit involving Round Rock-based Dell and James Merritt highlights the competitive nature of the technology industry while underscoring the intricacies of noncompete agreements required by a growing number of employers.

The suit, which was filed in the Superior Court of the state of Delaware in January, alleges that Merritt, senior vice president and general manager of HP’s enterprise servers and storage and networking sales in Asia Pacific and Japan, engaged in conduct detrimental to Dell.

 

VC lobbying group membership decreases

Organizers of the Texas Venture Capital Association said the lobbying group remains an effective watchdog for the state’s VC industry even though its budget is less than half of what it was before the recession.

State auditor proposes technology project reforms

The State Auditor’s Office is recommending that all major technology projects receive approval by a designated group of tech experts following a spate of cost overruns and blown timelines.

6 years + $100M = 1 Star Wars game

After six years of development, video game maker BioWare is about to release a “Star Wars” game that parent company Electronic Arts Inc. is betting will steer it away from the financial dark side.

Canada-based BioWare’s entire Austin office has been devoted to the game. BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2007 and has reportedly spent $100 million in making “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” a so-called massively multiplayer online game, or MMO, scheduled to be released this month.

For California-based Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS), the timing is crucial.

 

Dell denies shareholder dividends

Linda Bush made her pitch to Dell Inc. executives for the fifth consecutive year in July.

It was a proposal for quarterly dividends just 12 minutes into Dell’s (Nasdaq: DELL) annual shareholder meeting at the company’s Round Rock campus. Bush stood at the audience microphone as CEO Michael Dell and Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden stared blankly down from the stage.

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HomeAway execs take home millions after IPO

HomeAway Inc. executives and investors quickly capitalized on the company’s initial public offering earlier this month.

The Austin-based company’s top four executives cashed in, selling thousands of shares of HomeAway (Nasdaq: AWAY) stock for nearly $9 million less than a week after the $216 million IPO.

The company’s major shareholders — like others in these cases — are bound by 180-day lock up agreements, meaning they’re prohibited from selling their common stock for the first six months after the IPO. But several investors and executives were mandated by the IPO to redeem preferred stock, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing on July 5.

Austin Ventures — which owned 22 percent of the company, or about 18 million shares — generated more than $32 million selling Series A and Series B preferred stock.

Technology often troublesome for Texas

When state agencies buy or upgrade technology they — and consequently taxpayers — usually spend a lot more time and money than originally expected, and the trend is getting worse.

According to a new report, which shows that on-time and on-budget performance for state information technology projects declined last year compared with 2009, 32 of 48 projects are on average 19 months late, and 24 of them average $2.7 million over budget.

 

Texas Tribunes early performance mixed

A little more than a year after launching, the news on the online political news outlet Texas Tribune is mixed. Memberships have fallen short of expectations, but the organization attracted more donor money and website traffic than it had initially projected.

Despite the head-turning start led by former Texas Monthly editor and president Evan Smith, Tribune executives said the nonprofit website that covers state politics like a newspaper needs to attract more subscribers while it weans itself off contributions — but that’s still a long way off.

“We’re not ready to declare victory,” Tribune investor and Chairman John Thornton said, “but we’re encouraged.”