Charlie Riley

Recently, Bob Harvey, candidate for Precinct 2 County Commissioner put forward a risky proposal on the campaign trail: that he would like Montgomery County to use the same ERP system as they do “at the state level”.

“I want to make sure that we, in Montgomery County, are absolutely aligned with what he’s [the Comptroller] doing at the state level. Because if you go from one ERP system, and I’ll use JD Edwards as an example, and you got to SAP, you cannot take the data from here and put it over there. What you have to do is have somebody, a human being, transcribe that over, and then you have problems with that. The bottom line on all of that stuff is I want the exact same system that he’s [the Comptroller] using, so that our information goes into the same system that he [the Comptroller] has.” [Harvey, 2026, The Eagle Forum]

The justification, on the surface, sounds like common sense. However, beneath this tidy talking point lies a fundamental misunderstanding of how modern enterprise technology works, and a proposal that would waste millions of taxpayer dollars solving a problem that doesn’t exist.

What Is an ERP System, and Why Does It Matter?

ERP systems are the digital backbone of any large organization. They handle everything from payroll and procurement to budgeting, human resources, and asset management. Texas municipalities and state agencies each rely on ERP platforms tailored to their specific needs. Well known systems include SAP, Oracle, and Workday, among many others. Each was selected, often after rigorous evaluation, to meet the unique requirements of the entity deploying it.

The suggestion that Montgomery County (and ostensibly others) should replace their ERP system to align with the state indicates a lack of understanding about these systems. A small rural county with a handful of employees has radically different needs than the City of Houston or the Texas Department of Transportation. The ERP system that works for one may be entirely wrong for another.

The Real Solution Already Exists
The candidate’s premise, that systems must be identical to communicate, is simply wrong. Moreover, the notion of manual transcription died out long ago. The IT world solved this problem decades ago through a process known as ETL. ETL is the standard method by which data is pulled from one system, converted into a compatible format, and loaded into another. This is done programmatically (not manually), and with the advent of AI and machine learning, it’s more comprehensive than ever. In fact, most people experience the benefits of ETL without knowing it every single day.

Consider banking for example. When you use a banking app that pulls data from multiple financial institutions, you are witnessing this technology in action. The systems behind those banks are not the same; they simply know how to talk to each other through well-established standards. The idea that government systems must run the same software to share data is not only outdated, but would lead to disastrous financial outcomes.

The Staggering Cost of ERP Migration
Even if standardizing on a single ERP platform were a good idea (and it is not), the cost of doing so is not trivial. ERP migrations are among the most expensive, complex, and risky projects any organization can undertake. Large-scale ERP implementations routinely run over-budget and behind schedule.

Depending on scope, a mid-sized county migrating from one ERP system to another can easily spend up to $50 million. In fact, Montgomery County purchased a new ERP system in the Fall of 2019 at a cost of $12 million paid over 10 years. Larger entities can see costs soar into the hundreds of millions. That figure doesn’t even account for the years of disruption, lost productivity, and inevitable project failures that would accompany such a massive undertaking. Lest it be understated, the stakes for migrating to a new ERP system are so high that in the business world getting it wrong is largely considered a “career ending decision” or a “resume generating event” by IT professionals.

Hidden Costs and Operational Risks
The sticker price of an ERP migration tells only part of the story. Organizations that undergo these transitions face years of operational disruption. Staff must be retrained on entirely new systems.

Historical data must be painstakingly migrated, cleaned, and validated. Customizations that took years to develop must be rebuilt from scratch. During the transition period, services can be severely impacted—payroll errors, procurement delays, and reporting failures are common during ERP migrations.

There is also the question of vendor lock-in. Mandating platform alignment with other municipalities would hand one software vendor an unprecedented advantage over public-sector technology in the State. This eliminates free-market competition, drives up licensing costs, and puts taxpayers at the mercy of a single corporation’s pricing decisions for decades to come.

What Voters Should Demand Instead
Rather than pursuing the fantasy of a “state-aligned” ERP system, elected officials should remain focused on what actually works: data standards, interoperability frameworks, and modern infrastructure. This approach delivers the benefits of cross-system communication at a responsible cost, without forcing entities to “rip and replace” systems that are already working.

The Bottom Line
When a candidate for public office proposes that government systems should be the same, it’s extremely misguided. In fact, it reveals an outdated understanding of enterprise technology, data integration, and fiscal stewardship. The tools to make different systems communicate already exist and are used every day across every industry on the planet. Montgomery County does not need a multi-million-dollar boondoggle to replace a well selected and working system.

Taxpayers deserve better than campaign-trail sound bites dressed up as technology policy. They deserve leaders who will ask the right questions, consult with the right experts, make tough decisions, and hold vendors accountable. This is exactly what Charlie Riley has done.