Moving ERP to the Cloud Keeps Corpus Christi Focused on the Future How the city streamlined public services, boosted workforce efficiency and strengthened data protections

A GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY | INFOR

2

A cloud transformation helped Corpus Christi, Texas, meet rising expectations for easy-to-use services while building a foundation for future

growth. The city of 316,000 on the Gulf Coast recently migrated to a cloud-hosted suite of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, saying goodbye to the legacy systems that left constituents and city staff frustrated.

Now city leaders can quickly meet public needs and implement emerging technology.

Legacy Systems and a Lack of Flexibility

In 2013, Corpus Christi’s IT leaders implemented an on-premises ERP system from Infor, a leading provider of public sector-focused software. As Infor added new features to its cloud-hosted ERP platform, Corpus Christi leaders felt frozen in time. Their on-premises software kept falling behind amid increasing calls from constitu- ents and business owners for modern functions.

“Sticking with legacy technology wasn’t fair to who we do business with,” says Peter Collins, the city’s chief information officer.1 Developers grew frustrated with antiquated, manual approval systems. Constituents wanted online options for paying utility bills. New hires expected to work with modern applications.

The system’s inflexibility made it difficult to adapt to the changing requirements of local government — especially in reporting and finance.

Additionally, the threat of storms from the Gulf of Mexico required a robust business-continuity program to protect vital systems during natural disasters. “We knew we would not be able to improve our services to the public unless we took these steps to get to the latest software,” Collins says.

A Cloud-Based Solution

Through its partnership with Infor, Corpus Christi migrated to a cloud-based, multi-tenant ERP system hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

With this approach, the city established an enter- prisewide human capital management system for human resources and payroll. Now city staff can easily view their paychecks and benefits, with options for expense management.

Corpus Christi also created a portal for residents who want to make online or phone-based payments for utilities and other services. The city added online tools for managing building permit requests as well.

Additional components included:

⊲ Mobile software for field inspections and other remote operations

⊲ Processes to automate blueprint submissions and accelerate plan reviews

⊲ AWS infrastructure for security, agility and scalability

Limiting manual processes makes it easier for the public to complete their tasks while freeing up internal staff to work on more urgent needs.

Now Collins hears fewer complaints about outdated, inflexible city services. “There used to be a lot of noise around all the things the city couldn’t do,” he says. “We don’t have that noise now.”

“There used to be a lot of noise around all the things the city couldn’t do. We don’t have that noise now.”

— Peter Collins, CIO, Corpus Christi, Texas

https://webinars.govtech.com/Digital-Innovation-in-Action%3A-Corpus-Christis-Blueprint-for-Smart-Governance-142489.html

3

Positioned for the Future

The cloud allows the city to better prepare its opera- tions for future technology and security challenges.

Infor’s partnership with AWS for cloud hosting means Corpus Christi can ensure continuity of services when a hurricane strikes. In addition to data encryption in transit and at rest, AWS provides servers in three availability zones, which backs up data to regions outside the impact areas of massive storms.

Infor keeps all software versions up to date and synchronized across finance, supply management, human resources, utility billing and workforce management, and other essential services. New software patches have the code turned off by default, which means leaders can inspect new features in a testing environment to avoid unexpected glitches.

The flexibility of cloud-native applications from Infor means Corpus Christi can use advanced automation solutions like generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

With AWS scale and scope, the city can fold in geographic information systems capabilities as they emerge. The city also anticipates being able to use GenAI and other advanced tools to automate fore- casting and reports management. Robotic process automation could eliminate manual tasks even more.

“We can look at a year’s worth of data and find bottle- necks in our services processes that we may not even be aware of,” Collins says.

Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Corpus Christi leaders knew migrating their on-premise ERP to a modern multi-tenant cloud platform would require planning to manage risks and maximize uptime. Collins and his team focused on:

⊲ Leadership and partnerships. IT teams must establish leadership buy-in as early as possible to ensure managers and officials understand the project’s value to businesses, organizations and individuals.

⊲ Planning and priorities. Leaders should start by identifying solutions that can quickly drive value. Be sure new features and services meet the public’s needs. Take time to fully understand integrations with legacy and third-party applications.

⊲ Communications and collaboration. Keeping leaders and staff apprised of the project’s progress is crucial throughout planning and implementation.

⊲ Process analysis and change management. Many legacy processes are useless in cloud environments. In Corpus Christi, field workers and inspectors had to use new mobile applications for inputting data, taking pictures and otherwise documenting their work. Staff across the city had to receive training. Project leaders must analyze current workflows, eliminate unnecessary work and find the optimum cloud-based replacements.

⊲ Testing and risk reduction. IT teams must thoroughly test their new environment to reduce the risk of glitches that cause downtime and damage reputations.

By dedicating their time and resources to efficiency, Corpus Christi leaders have created a system that easily generates new benefits while simplifying maintenance.

ADOBESTOCK.COM

This piece was written and produced by the Government Technology Content Studio, with information and input from Infor.

©2024 e.Republic LLC. All rights reserved.

1. https://webinars.govtech.com/Digital-Innovation-in-Action%3A-Corpus-Christis-Blueprint-for-Smart-Governance-142489.html

Produced by Government Technology Government Technology is about solving problems in state and local government through the smart use of technology. Government Technology is a division of e.Republic, the nation’s only media and research company focused exclusively on state and local government and education.

www.govtech.com

Sponsored by Infor Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. Over 65,000 organizations in more than 175 countries rely on Infor’s 17,000 employees to help achieve their business goals.

Visit www.infor.com.

Sponsored by AWS Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking.

For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

www.aws.amazon.com

https://www.aboutamazon.com/ https://aws.amazon.com/