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Douglas County board directs RFP for new cloud ERP after debate over timing and hidden costs
Summary
After debate about timing and migration costs, Douglas County commissioners voted 5–0 to direct staff to prepare an RFP for a cloud‑based ERP system and to coordinate with the City of Omaha if it chooses to join; county treasurer and department heads cautioned about timing, customizations, and data‑migration costs.
The Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted 5–0 on June 30 to direct the purchasing department to prepare a request for proposals for a cloud‑based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, potentially replacing the county’s current AWS‑hosted Oracle EBS implementation, and to coordinate with the City of Omaha if the city chooses to participate.
Treasurer Tim Kavanaaugh, appearing remotely, urged caution on the timing: "We would not recommend that you... try to change horses in the middle of the stream because of our major project we have going on with the Harris project," he said, asking the board not to proceed immediately with an RFP.
Commissioner Friend said the board has a fiduciary duty to seek competitive bids before committing large sums. "We're going to spend anywhere from seven to $9 million without going to RFP. I don't think so," Friend said, arguing an RFP would not necessarily delay the process and that the board should not unilaterally pick a vendor.
Karen Butch, Douglas County human resources director, told the board many Oracle customizations (payroll, inventory/order management, integration with other systems) exist and that migrating to Oracle Cloud would preserve some of those customizations, while switching to a different provider would require rebuilding them from the ground up. She warned of hidden costs and lengthy conversion timelines: transitioning from Oracle EBS to Oracle Cloud after an RFP decision could take on the order of 18 months, she said; moving to a non‑Oracle provider could take substantially longer.
"Those customizations would not cost a lot of money if we were just moving from Oracle EBS to Oracle Cloud. However, going to a totally different provider, those customizations would have to be rebuilt from the ground up," Butch said. She also noted data‑migration obligations and statutory record‑keeping: employee records and other histories would need to remain accessible under state statutes.
Public commenter Cara Kersh, CEO of the Kersh Group, urged the board to include known customizations in the RFP so that bidders present complete costs and the county can hold existing vendors accountable.
After discussion, the resolution directing the purchasing department to prepare an RFP passed by a 5–0 roll‑call vote. The motion was moved and seconded on the floor and the chair directed staff to proceed with the procurement steps consistent with the resolution.
Next steps: staff will draft an RFP; the board discussed allowing adequate time to list customizations and migration requirements in the solicitation and indicated a desire for an expeditious but thorough procurement process.
