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IT leaders point to Workday, software cuts and device policy as areas to trim county expenses
Summary
The county's IT director described staff reclassifications, retirements, software eliminations and a one-device policy as measures to reduce costs; departments were asked to identify redundant licenses and shared services.
Kevin Morris, director of IT, told department leaders July 21 that his office has already identified staffing and contract changes intended to lower operating costs and support the county's budget targets.
"The first thing that came up was knowing that we had an accounting tech that deals with, accounts receivable. And with Workday, that position was no longer necessary," Morris said, describing a staff reassignment and a rapid internal placement with human resources.
Why it matters: IT contracts and annual software licenses are recurring costs countywide. Morris said the county maintains 80 to 100 software agreements and some are multiyear contracts that do not decline in price.
Actions and opportunities described by IT: - Staff changes and classifications: retirements and promotions created opportunities to reclassify and hold positions vacant to save payroll costs. Morris noted multiple anticipated retirements in 2025 and early 2026 and said some management-level roles could be adjusted. - Software consolidation: Morris described eliminating applications as Workday converts functions such as HR and finance, citing plans to retire Questica and other redundant systems and to renegotiate large vendor support agreements. "We won't need Quest again. We don't we're not using it now. You don't gotta stand in no way," he said. - Device policy: County staff reported a countywide "one device" policy and estimated savings (county staff estimated the hardware cost per device at roughly $1,200 and suggested consolidated device counts save significant dollars).
Morris urged departments to identify licenses and services they no longer need and to evaluate whether support for an application could be centralized or replaced with an off-the-shelf product, which IT typically finds cheaper to maintain than bespoke in-house systems.
Ending: IT leaders said software and licensing reviews, combined with careful succession planning for retirements, can produce measurable savings but require department cooperation and procurement follow-through.
