It’s frustrating, but the door has not yet slammed shut on the state’s effort to recover millions spent on a major tech consulting contract that went sour.

The state had asserted in its Circuit Court complaint that Ciber Inc. defrauded the Department of Transportation by failing to deliver on a new computer system. Judge Rhonda Nishimura rejected the suit this week, saying the state should have first pursued a complaint with the department’s chief procurement officer first.

The attorney general’s office said it would correct the procedural problem and try again. The state has squandered too much money on the whole tech-upgrade campaign as it is. It’s worth taking the long path if the goal to recoup some of that can be reached.