Sprint has filed suit against IBM for allegedly failing to meet “contractually promised productivity improvements for … 2005,” causing the telecommunications company to lose money instead of save it as a result of their outsourcing deal, The Kansas City Star reports.Sprint contends that PC giant IBM owes it compensation for roughly 119,000 hours of uncompleted work, or 57 years of employment for a single individual, and the telecom firm is asking for $6.4 million, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas, the Star reports.At the center of the suit is a 2004 five-year contract worth $400 million, in which Sprint hired IBM to provide IT services, according to the Star. That contract was later extended to include software application development and maintenance, and about 1,000 Sprint IT workers were shifted to IBM, the Star reports. IBM was to provide the support “through the use of IBM personnel or IBM subcontractors located both in the United States and abroad,” according to the Star.Sprint claims IBM missed the targeted 6.4 percent productivity increase in 2005 by “a wide margin,” but IBM says the formula used to derive the amount of uncompleted work, and in turn, the amount of damages owed, is not complete, the Star reports. Though Sprint has shifted some application development back within the company, IBM still does some IT work for the telecom firm as part of a contract that’s valid until 2011, a Sprint spokesperson told the Star. IBM also handles customer service support for Sprint under another five-year contract worth $2 billion, and that contract will likely be extended, the Star reports. The Sprint spokesperson told the Star that the company plans on sticking with IBM for outsourcing services in the future.Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content feature 4 remedies to avoid cloud app migration headaches The compelling benefits of using proprietary cloud-native services come at a price: vendor lock-in. Here are ways CIOs can effectively plan without getting stuck. By Robert Mitchell Nov 29, 2023 9 mins CIO CIO CIO case study Steps Gerresheimer takes to transform its IT CIO Zafer Nalbant explains what the medical packaging manufacturer does to modernize its IT through AI, automation, and hybrid cloud. By Jens Dose Nov 29, 2023 6 mins CIO SAP ServiceNow feature Per Scholas redefines IT hiring by diversifying the IT talent pipeline What started as a technology reclamation nonprofit has since transformed into a robust, tuition-free training program that seeks to redefine how companies fill tech skills gaps with rising talent. By Sarah K. White Nov 29, 2023 11 mins Diversity and Inclusion Hiring news Saudi Arabia will host the World Expo 2030 in Riyadh By Andrea Benito Nov 28, 2023 4 mins Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe