Haringey Council's Cabinet has approved a £10 million IT upgrade to replace its outdated SAP system, a move that aims to enhance operational efficiency and data reliability.
The decision, made at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, will see the procurement of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. The current SAP ECC platform, implemented in 2001, is nearing the end of its mainstream support in December 2027. This transition is crucial as the existing system poses significant risks to security, payroll, compliance, and system resilience. Following the end of support, the Council would face heightened risks related to security, payroll operations, legislative compliance, system resilience, and audit assurance, becoming increasingly dependent on third-party support arrangements.
The new ERP system is intended to replace manual workarounds and fragmented workflows that currently impact core Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, and Payroll processes. The existing system limits operational efficiency, relying on manual workarounds, offline spreadsheets, duplicate data entry, and fragmented workflows, which increases the risk of errors and reduces access to timely and reliable management information. The integrated solution provided by the new ERP system aims to address these issues, leading to projected improvements in operational efficiency and the delivery of more reliable management information.
The procurement process is targeted to launch in Summer 2026, with contract award anticipated in early 2027. The implementation phase will follow supplier appointment, with a go-live date set for mid-2028. Cabinet approved the commencement of two linked procurement activities: one for the ERP solution itself, including software, implementation, and support services, and another for Business Integration services if deemed necessary to support organisational change. Authority has been delegated to the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources to decide on the procurement of Business Integration services.
A waiver was approved for Contract Standing Order 6.03, allowing for a Social Value weighting of 5% in the procurement process. This reduction from the usual 10-25% weighting is to allow a greater proportion of the evaluation to focus on factors critical to the ERP programme's success, such as solution capability, implementation approach, supplier accountability, support arrangements, and long-term value for money. The evaluation will focus on assessing the credibility, governance, and deliverability of the supplier's proposed approach to achieving mandatory Social Value commitments, along with any additional benefits offered.
The transformation element of the budget, including implementation and associated costs, will be funded through the Flexible Use of Capital Receipts programme, subject to Full Council approval. Cabinet noted that an increase in the revenue budget will be required when the new system becomes operational in July 2028, which will be considered during the 2028/29 budget-setting process.
Source for decisions and risks Source for procurement timeline and social value