Legislative IT committee opens study of state and higher-education ERP systems

Legislators and state IT officials said at an Information Technology Committee meeting that a study this interim will examine options for the state’s enterprise resource planning system and related costs, timelines and governance. The committee heard that the current Oracle/PeopleSoft system (often called ConnectND on the higher-education side) remains in use but faces choices about migration, hosting and long-term support. "Probably one of the biggest decisions that will be made next interim is what we decide to do as far as our ERP system," said Chairman Dale Bosch. The committee’s background materials note Senate Bill 2021 directed reporting to the panel on the enterprise resource planning study. Why it matters: the ERP supports payroll, accounting, human resources and—on the university side—student records; replacing or rehosting it would be a major, multi-year, multi‑million dollar effort that affects agency operations, tuition and student fees, payroll, and budget planning. The committee’s work will influence whether the system remains on-premises, moves to an Oracle-hosted cloud version of PeopleSoft, or is replaced with a different cloud-based ERP. Committee analysts and agency witnesses said the study should compare functionality, expected life cycle, support costs, and the advantages and disadvantages of one shared ERP versus separate systems for state agencies and higher education. "The definition of a major project was increased from $500,000 or more to $5,000,000 or more," said Levi Kinshitsky, fiscal analyst, noting statutory changes the panel must consider when projects exceed the new threshold. OMB testified that the state currently uses PeopleSoft for finance and HR, and the University System uses the same application in separate instances; both sides have customized integrations and third‑party add-ons that complicate migration. Joe Morissette of the Office of Management and Budget told the committee the PeopleSoft environment supports financial supply‑chain management, human capital management, enterprise learning and interactive portals for employees and suppliers. He described a multi‑year implementation history and continued development since 2004, and said vendors still support PeopleSoft but the state must plan for future platform action. The committee budget packet shows prior capital and operating allocations that underpin the discussion: the 2025 legislative assembly provided roughly $57 million for IT projects (about $2 million general fund and $55 million other funds), and the Information Technology Department’s biennial appropriation is reported around $200 million on paper with a complex mix of continuing authority and special‑fund accounting. What the committee will do next: staff told members the study would gather technical and cost information from NDIT, OMB and the University System, compare cloud and on‑premises options, and return periodic reports. Members asked for a timeline and suggested bringing campus leaders and vendors when the committee turns to implementation planning. Ending: Committee members did not reach policy decisions at this session but set the study’s scope and asked staff to return with comparative information on costs, life cycle, and governance so the committee can weigh whether to pursue a shared ERP, a university‑separate solution, a cloud‑hosted PeopleSoft, or a full replacement.