TDLR’s information‑technology leaders told the board that modernizing legacy licensing systems is a top priority and that the agency has funding and outside advisers in place to begin a procurement.

John Feller, chief information officer, said the agency requested and secured $32,900,000 as an exceptional item for a modern licensing system and is preparing an RFP with assistance from Gartner. Feller said TDLR currently maintains multiple legacy licensing systems with different technologies and that consolidating those systems is necessary both to improve service and reduce long‑term operational risk.

Feller said TDLR is hiring a dedicated solutions architect to oversee the licensing‑system procurement and implementation, and he described a “quiet‑mode” approach to procurement to avoid premature vendor engagement that could compromise a competitive RFP.

TDLR’s chief information security officer, Josh Koons, said cybersecurity and domain integration are being addressed in parallel; Koons said the department expects to enroll board staff in the agency’s cybersecurity awareness program once domain integration is completed so board members receive routine phishing simulations and training modules.

TDLR emphasized that the procurement will be staged and that the department intends to adopt a licensing solution incrementally to meet the most urgent needs first while preserving options for future expansion.