HARRISBURG — A state audit of hundreds of millions of dollars in government technology contracts released Wednesday found poor record keeping, insufficient central oversight and an increased potential for a conflict of interest when it came time to pick the winning bids.

The 179-page report on the Pennsylvania government's dealing with Deloitte Consulting concluded that a single state agency should coordinate all contract awards and the Legislature ought to consider new laws to "tighten up and centralize" the bidding process, Auditor General Jack Wagner said Wednesday.

"This is a textbook case of what happens when accountability, competition and transparency are not present in the daily operation of state government," Wagner said.

Gov. Ed Rendell defended his administration's procurement practices, and a Deloitte executive issued a statement that said its work has saved the state hundreds of millions of dollars.

Wagner said the state paid the firm $592 million for computer services over four years ending in 2007, and at the same time gave it $2.25 million in economic development grants. The administration changed contracts on the fly, adding costs, and issued emergency contracts to swell the amount of business with Deloitte from the initial amount, $382 million.

Wagner called the administration's contracting practices "an end-run around accountability" but said he could not determine how much money was wasted.

"You will never know how much you can save, if you don't have competition," he said. Wagner is running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination next year.

He said too many contracts had been awarded without an alternative bid, suggesting there are problems with how the state advertises and awards its work.

Wagner also urged officials to more aggressively enforce provisions that require outside vendors to teach state employees how to operate — and eventually take over — the computer systems.

The audit did not find evidence of criminal wrongdoing, he said, but he is asking the State Ethics Commission to examine the relationship between Deloitte and a few of its former employees who took state government jobs.

Timothy Wiest, who helps run Deloitte's Pennsylvania state government business, said the state has reaped millions of dollars in savings through its Deloitte contracts, citing work on child support compliance and the food stamps program as examples.

The governor's spokesman said Rendell's campaigns collected $15,000 from Deloitte's political-action committee and $19,000 from people who work for the company since 2001.

House Republicans have introduced bills designed to improve the state's procurement process, and Rep. Doug Reichley said Wednesday the audit highlighted the need for change.