LANSING, MI -- Michigan has awarded a $90 million contract to the Canadian tech company that built HealthCare.gov despite rollout problems with the federal website and a lower bid from another company.

CGI Technologies and Solutions of Montreal will earn up to $89.5 million over seven years to build an Enterprise Resource Planning system for the state, replacing an antiquated internal management system used for payroll, contract payments and more.

Accenture of New York provided the lowest bid at $86.8 million, but "as we looked at the overall best value and best fit for the state, we felt CGI was the best option," said Kurt Weiss, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget.

"With CGI, the solution they are providing is specifically designed for state governments and is really going to work well with what we're trying to accomplish here in Michigan," said Weiss. "We felt we'd have problems adapting the Accenture software down the line."

CGI initially bid $91.6 million for the contract but later agreed to $2.1 million in price concessions. The contract was approved Tuesday by the State Administrative Board.

Two other firms, Deloitte and IBM, also bid on the work. All four companies have a presence of some kind in Michigan, but CGI -- which has an office in East Lansing -- is the only one based in another country.

The Snyder administration is facing criticism for the contract, which was first reported Monday by the Detroit Free Press.

"It's extremely concerning that this administration is awarding a $90 million contract to a Canadian company whose recent track record is, at best, very questionable," said Bob McCann, a spokesperson for Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer. "This could possibly be justified if CGI had submitted the lowest bid for the contract, but we know that wasn't even the case.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer called the contract "outrageous."

"We have Buy American provisions in the state budget for a reason," Schauer said in a statement. "The idea that Snyder would outsource such large contracts to other countries when there was an American firm that submitted a lower bid is an insult to taxpayers."

The Obama administration reportedly cut ties with CGI earlier this year after determining the firm had not been effective enough at fixing the federal health care website it helped build. Accenture, which has also faced criticism at the University of Michigan, was tapped to take over work on HealthCare.gov.

Asked if the state considered problems with the federal health care website before awarding the contract to CGI, Weiss said that the company has "a stellar record and outstanding reputation when it comes to this solution for state government. That's what we were looking at, and there was no doubt they could get the job done."

The State Administrative Board, which approved the contract last week, includes representatives of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, superintendent of public instruction and director of the Department of Transportation.

Linda Odorisio, Vice President for Global Communications at CGI, said the company outscored its competitors on criteria set by the state and won the contract through a process that was "open, fair and competitive."

"CGI has more than 35 years of experience supporting projects for federal, state and local governments across the U.S., where CGI tracks stimulus funding, processes passports, recovers tax payments, serves Medicare beneficiaries and defends military and intelligence agencies against cyber-attacks," Odorisio said in a statement.

"We are proud of our partnerships with innovative governments like those in Michigan and we look forward to a successful ERP implementation."

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.