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Durham IT outlines SAP replacement plan; county to issue ERP RFP with 2029 end-of-support deadline in view
Summary
IT reported the county has issued an ERP RFP to replace its legacy SAP system; staff said the effort will be multi-year and requires additional program staff to manage risk and integrate finance, HR and procurement functions.
Durham County's information-technology leadership told the Board on May 13 that the county has launched a request-for-proposals for a modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform to replace its aging SAP instance and that the RFP closes June 3.
Chief information officer Greg Marrow described the ERP replacement as a multi-departmental transformation that will touch finance, human resources, procurement, payroll and budgeting. Marrow said the county's current SAP edition dates to the mid-2000s and that SAP is moving customers to newer platforms; vendors and the industry broadly view ERP migrations as complex, long-duration projects that require a dedicated program team.
Staff provided a high-level timeline and said they expect the selection and implementation work to span multiple years: the RFP closes in early June, vendor demonstrations and partner evaluation will follow, and Marrow's slide showed a conservative estimate for phased rollouts beginning in late 2028, with the county's existing SAP support ending in 2027 (with paid extension options through 2029).
Why it matters: the ERP system is the county's core business platform for payroll, accounts payable, budgeting and position control. Marrow said project success requires business analysts, project managers, systems architects and other dedicated staff; the manager's recommended budget includes a request for new positions in IT and finance to support the initiative.
Implementation risk and mitigation: Marrow and manager Hager said the project will require coordinated participation across departments and external implementation partners. The county is simultaneously improving disaster recovery and cybersecurity (a secondary data center was opened after a prior malware incident). Staff emphasized the need for experienced implementation resources and an operational assessment (IT and finance are executing an assessment) to refine staffing and governance before full implementation.
Next steps: staff will review vendor proposals after June 3, hold demonstrations for shortlisted vendors, and return with a firm vendor and implementation partner recommendation for board consideration. Commissioners asked about timeline strain and staffing needs; staff answered they will return with refined cost and resource requests once a finalist is selected.
Ending: IT described the ERP replacement as a foundational investment intended to modernize county operations, improve reporting and reduce future technical debt, but cautioned it is a major organizational change requiring sustained board and executive support.
