City staff recommend IBM as system integrator for $71.9M COSA Connect upgrade

City staff on April 8 recommended the City Council consider a contract with IBM to implement SAP S/4HANA and SAP Ariba as part of phase 3 of the COSA Connect program, a $71,900,000, multi-year effort to replace the city's legacy SAP system and modernize finance and procurement functions.

The recommendation came during a presentation to the council by city staff and information-technology leaders. Craig Hopkins, the city's chief information officer, said the project is meant to be "not just a technology upgrade" but a business-led transformation to centralize data, strengthen compliance and improve transparency across budget, payroll, procurement and asset-management workflows. "This is not just a technology upgrade," Hopkins said.

Troy, the project presenter, told council staff had run a competitive solicitation and evaluation process that produced four responsive proposals; IBM scored highest after interviews and a written evaluation. Troy said staff negotiated a fixed base fee of $11,300,000 with IBM for the system-integration work, plus optional contract buckets (approximately $1,700,000) and a 10% contingency,…