There's no justifying the cost for this project. However, UW has 27 institutions and a central office that this software is supposed to cover. Dealing with all

There's no justifying the cost for this project. However, UW has 27 institutions and a central office that this software is supposed to cover. Dealing with all of the campuses is an astonishingly difficult task. University systems in general are not simple hierarchical structures, and state university systems even less so. The challenges of working within that kind of environment are very different than the challenges of dealing with most businesses. Not that $12 million for planning is justified (especially not after a failed $28 million project), but this project isn't quite as cut-and-dry as you might expect.