Accomack to purchase new software for managing operation of the County

The Accomack County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to authorize the purchase of new software to help manage the operation of the County.  Univerus, Inc. for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software was selected by staff as a program that could help the county work much more efficiently tracking budgets for multiple departments and sharing information which prior to this had to be compiled manually.

A report by the County staff prepared for the Supervisors consideration contained the following points as to why this particular software package should be implemented.

The staff has done its “due diligence” to bring the County to this point.

Existing application and underlying technology is  outdated and no longer meets the  County’s needs.

The County has been using essentially the same application since 1989 –

The current system lacks the capabilities of modern software.

Real time access is  not available to all end users. There is no ability for managers to timely review budgets.

Many tasks still have to be performed manually and  special skillsets are needed to mine data that should be readily available.

The existing software lifespan is either questionable or limited .

The financial software vendor either sold or merged 3 times in last 5 years.

Our current employee time and attendance application reaches end of its life  12/31/2025.

We have utilized industry “experts” such as the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) technology consulting division to prepare us for implementation.

The project is already budgeted and appropriated.

After a discussion the Board voted to authorize County Administrator Mike Mason to move forward with purchasing the program if he determines he has adequate staff to begin the process of transferring data setting up the new system.

If all goes well, the County plans to start the process of switching systems in November with a target date of July 1 to be on the new system.