SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — Snohomish County Department of Information Technology presented an update Tuesday saying the county’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) project using Oracle Fusion is on schedule and within budget as it moves toward contracting a systems integrator and launching implementation this fall.

The project, intended to replace the county’s legacy financial and human resources systems, will focus initially on core finance, human resources, payroll and purchasing modules, Rico Ford of the Department of IT told the Public Infrastructure and Conservation Committee. “This is not an IT project. This is actually about business empowerment,” Ford said. “This project is on track, it’s on schedule and it’s on budget.”

County staff told the committee the vendor selection process for the systems integrator is advancing: Oracle was selected in a competitive RFP process last year and a contract with Oracle was signed in February. From a competitive procurement for integration services, staff ranked High Street IT highest; contract negotiations with High Street begin the week of the committee meeting and officials said they expect to finalize the contract over the summer and enter implementation conversations in the fall.

Staff said the county has engaged departments across government during the planning phase, completing about 150 stakeholder engagements and holding a countywide town hall in February attended by roughly 340 people. The project team emphasized change-management work and that the county will prioritize HR processes and workloads early in the rollout.

Nathan Kennedy, representing county finance, described the planned ERP as a long-term investment and noted the county’s replacement of an older system that dated to 1994. “Kayenta was implemented in ’94; we’re getting rid of it here in 2025, 2026, 2027, so it’s almost 30 years,” Kennedy said while noting Oracle issues quarterly updates that will keep the county’s cloud product current.

Officials said the county selected a cloud-based product and expects continued vendor updates and enhancements over time. Ford said the county may adjust the timeline if the systems integrator recommends an accelerated schedule; the project plan presented to the committee represents current county assumptions rather than final vendor sequencing. Staff also said they plan to preserve a budget buffer for likely change orders and to manage scope through disciplined oversight.

Committee members did not take formal action at the meeting; staff said a contract requiring council signatures is expected in the third quarter and that the county will return with any requests for additional project FTE or budget adjustments as needed.

Ford and staff asked department leaders to continue engagement over the summer in advance of implementation and to expect further contract and launch documents later this year.

The committee recessed to its next meeting at 11 a.m.