How One Water Agency Flushed Legacy Systems With Oracle ERP

This nationally recognized leader in water resource management undertook a bold initiative to modernize its enterprise operations by implementing Oracle Cloud ERP. As a public agency responsible for the collection and treatment of wastewater for over 1.1 million residents, the organization faced unique challenges balancing operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and environmental sustainability — all while managing a complex portfolio of capital projects and funding sources.

Before the implementation, the client struggled with fragmented financial systems, manual procurement workflows, limited reporting capabilities, and inconsistent budget tracking. Key challenges included:

• Siloed financial data and lack of real-time visibility
• Excessive reliance on spreadsheets and offline processes
• Manual, error-prone procurement and invoice tracking
• Manual and labor-intensive preparation to meet audit and compliance requirements

These limitations hindered operational agility and made it difficult to support evolving business needs.

People make the difference

Working with our experienced implementation team, the client adopted a tailored approach over a nine-month timeline to implement Oracle Cloud ERP, with a focus on Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Human Capital Management. The strategic focus of the work emphasized change management, stakeholder engagement, and a rigorous data validation process.

The work included:

• Development of a cross-functional governance model to ensure business alignment
• Streamlined chart of accounts and data migration for enhanced financial clarity
• Implementation of automated procure-to-pay workflows
• Integration of project costing and grants tracking for federally funded initiatives
• Configuration of dashboards and reporting tools to support executive decision-making
• Development of a hybrid model of on and offshore resources that emphasized the importance of in-person collaboration
• Identification of the right level of support for testing, training and change management to support the client in the most cost-effective way possible
• Coordination with a third party to outsource payroll processing, reducing risk and workload on client resources, simplifying the overall implementation footprint

Change leadership was a critical success factor. Based on our recommendations, the client prioritized transparency and employee engagement through targeted communication campaigns, hands-on training, and a series of practical, user-led knowledge sessions. Tools like “Finance Fridays” and “ERP MythBusters” workshops helped demystify the system and foster user adoption across departments.

Go with the flow

Since go-live, the client has seen measurable improvements in efficiency, compliance, and user satisfaction, including:

• Reduction in monthly close time from 15 days to 5 days
• 80% improvement in procurement and budget visibility across departments and a faster procurement processing cycle
• Enhanced audit readiness with system-driven controls and documentation
• Reallocation of administrative effort toward strategic initiatives and analysis

Beyond operational metrics, the Oracle Cloud ERP platform has empowered this organization to operate with greater fiscal responsibility and agility, improving accountability to both the public and its environmental mission.