Department to update 20-year-old critical software after GovERP debacle

The request for information from the department is not a tender, but represents the first public step by a department to seek out its own enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, since the GovERP project was scuttled.

In November 2023, Ms Gallagher ditched the $400 million GovERP project after a series of delays and cost increases afflicted the SAP-based program.

In its place, individual departments were empowered to go to industry for their own solutions, with the Digital Transformation Agency providing support and implementing a Software Marketplace for providers to submit their digital services.

The new approach was expected to allow departments to access systems that better suited their needs, while enabling a broader range of suppliers to present options.

The tender documents also reveal government departments were running on legacy systems, some of which are reaching the end of their life, within the next two years, adding additional urgency to find a replacement.

GovERP was meant to resolve this issue and go live in 2023 after testing across a number of functions such as travel and expense management.

However, in announcing the government's decision to end the project, Ms Gallagher said the intention of the whole-of-government approach was "naive".

"It was based on naive ideas about the ability to standardise complex corporate systems across 100 or so organisations," she said.

"The program has cost Australian taxpayers almost $400 million over six years."

What was left of the project was put to use by Services Australia.

ERP platforms provide critical back office functions including finance, human resources, procurement and travel and expenses for a range of government departments.

The terms of the Department of Industry RFI set out that the department is currently operating on a legacy, on-premises platform which was released in the mid-2000s and is seeking industry feedback on a cloud-based alternative.

"The department is taking this opportunity to evaluate its options for alternative, contemporary cloud-based ERP products which will meet its existing and emerging requirements," it said.

The RFI documents note the department has a June 2026 deadline to replace its current system, as it is the "final release" of a legacy generation of the technology.

"The department needs to replace its Current ERP Platform with a contemporary, cloud-based ERP Product by June 2026," it said.

According to industry press, the SAP-based system the Industry Department is currently using will no longer be supported from 2027, necessitating the need to find an alternative.

To meet the needs of the department, a number of auxiliary systems have been developed, both in-house and by external providers for the current system in operation.

The Canberra Times understands announcements regarding the status of other departments' ERP solutions are imminent.