County pauses Workday ERP rollout to address configuration and change-management concerns

Lake County's Workday ERP implementation is paused while county staff and the system integrator rework configurations and change-management plans, Chief Information Officer Chris Blanding said at the Oct. 31 Technology Committee meeting.

Blanding said end-to-end testing uncovered foundational gaps in the finance data model (chart of accounts) and areas where the implementation may have replicated the old system's customizations instead of taking advantage of Workday's standard workflows. The county paused the project in September and is now working with the system integrator to identify and correct those gaps, reduce unnecessary customizations and ensure the right mix of subject-matter experts and government-experienced staff are engaged.

Sponsor administrator Sutton (identified in the meeting as the project sponsor administrator) said the county used a rapid implementation methodology that may not have provided adequate organizational-change engagement early enough in the process. Staff said some work will continue behind the scenes during the pause (for example, chart-of-accounts redesign and change-management planning) but the full project team is not proceeding at the previous pace. Blanding and others indicated a quarter-based go-live window is likely; staff discussed possible mid-2026 or September 2026 targets to align with ARPA funding requirements but said specific timing will depend on corrective work and negotiations with the system integrator.