Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Information Technology topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Opelika moves forward on ERP, adds PR hire and boosts cybersecurity and backup plans
Summary
IT staff told commissioners the new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is the top IT priority; staff also proposed a PR/media services position, ongoing camera installation citywide, a penetration test with follow‑up vulnerability remediation, and a multi‑site backup strategy.
Opelika’s IT staff briefed the commission on the FY26 IT objectives and budget at the July 15 workshop, emphasizing the implementation of a centralized financial/enterprise resource planning system (referred to in the meeting as the IRP/ERP) as the department’s top priority. Phil Walker, IT, said the ERP is the major ongoing project and the FY26 budget includes funding for infrastructure upgrades and continuity.
New position and operations: Finance/HR materials presented to the commission show an increase of one headcount for a combined media/marketing/public relations role to support Opelika TV and city communications; Walker said the ongoing cost for Opelika TV is relatively small and cited an estimated operating figure of about $470 per month for the TV channel.
Cybersecurity and backups: Walker told the commission “We did a pen test, and, we're working on all the vulnerabilities that we found.” Commissioners asked if cybersecurity resources in the FY26 budget were sufficient; Walker said staff is addressing identified vulnerabilities and proposed staged IT infrastructure replacement (switches, routers, servers) with a “1‑2‑3” backup strategy: on‑site, off‑site and cloud replication to ensure continuous backups. The manager and commissioners asked for regular updates on remediation progress and for the IT team to present estimated timelines and costs for completing the ERP and strengthening backups.
Ending: Staff did not request formal appropriation changes at the workshop; IT will continue implementation planning and present detailed cost and timeline updates for the ERP, cybersecurity remediation, and backup strategy.
