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URS outlines ARIAS modernization plan, targets March 30, 2026 go‑live and $47M all‑in cost
Summary
URS described progress on the ARIAS upgrade to automate recordkeeping, noted significant data‑conversion work to clean decades of records, and said the all‑in project cost is about $47 million contained in URS’s budget.
Utah Retirement Systems gave the committee an update on its multi‑year ARIAS modernization project, saying the new system aims to replace legacy recordkeeping, enable straight‑through processing for many transactions and improve member and employer service when it goes live March 30, 2026.
The project matters because URS manages retirement records and benefit payments for tens of thousands of public employees and retirees; a modern system is intended to reduce manual work, speed benefits processing and improve data security.
Dan Anderson, URS executive director, said the legacy system had supported the agency for about 40 years but used a programming language and data formats no longer supported. URS selected a vendor, Sagitec, to implement the new system and has focused substantial effort on data conditioning and conversion. Anderson said URS improved its data‑error rate (from about 0.04% to about 0.02% of records) but described the final fraction of problematic historic records as the “killer” portion of the project and one of the main reasons the effort took longer than initially planned.
Dee Larson and other URS staff described the workstreams: employer training, security vulnerability assessments, user training for staff, member outreach and extensive testing. Anderson said URS decided to target a spring 2026 go‑live rather than an end‑of‑year cutover to avoid layering implementation risk on top of end‑of‑year tax reporting and other year‑end activities.
When asked about cost, URS staff said the all‑in cost (vendor licensing, implementation, consulting and internal staff costs) is approximately $47,000,000, fully contained within URS’s budget and amortized under accounting rules. URS said it expects a period of post‑implementation updates and a punch list of items to address after go‑live, consistent with large IT projects.
Committee members asked whether the system ties into state systems; URS said ARIAS is URS’s system and that URS receives reports from the state but operates an independent system as an independent state agency. URS pledged to continue employer training and to brief the committee on progress as the project approaches the March 2026 go‑live date.
