OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

San Antonio City Council B Session – COSA Connect Update and Contract Recommendation – April 8, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, April 8, 2026
BodySan Antonio, Texas
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, April 8, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:16:53

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

Telling you we're the name is failed.

0:08

Believe in his source.

0:10

I see it with still.

0:11

I'm hearing his voice.

0:12

Telling me what still is the noise.

0:21

Only still you hear his voice.

0:23

Telling you it's going to be in space.

0:30

Believe in his source.

0:31

I sit with Stone.

0:33

I'm hearing his voice.

0:34

Telling me M and Good afternoon.

0:45

The time is now 2.02 PM on Wednesday, April 8th, 2026, and the City of San Antonio B session is now called to order.

0:53

Madam Clerk, please call roll.

0:56

Councilmember Corps.

0:58

Councilmember Mickey Rodriguez.

1:00

Present.

1:00

Councilmember Via Gran.

1:02

Councilmember Mungia.

1:04

Councilmember Castillo.

1:06

Councilmember Galvan.

1:07

Here.

1:08

Councilmember Alderete Gavito.

1:10

Here.

1:10

Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez.

1:12

Councilmember Spears.

1:14

Councilmember White.

1:16

Mayor Jones.

1:16

Here.

1:17

Mayor, we have quorum.

1:18

Great.

1:18

Thank you.

1:19

This meeting will have an update on the Costa Connect project to upgrade the city's financial and procurement systems.

1:24

Eric, over to you.

1:26

Thank you, Mayor.

1:30

Thank you, Mayor.

1:30

Good afternoon, uh Mayor and Council.

1:33

So an exciting one this afternoon.

1:35

Um, but uh a very important item.

1:38

Was that facetious?

1:43

So we want to give you all an update on the next phase of our COSA Connect program, which is kind of our long-term effort to modernize uh our financial and procurement systems.

1:55

We've already gone through two phases.

1:57

Um, and I know uh we were in this room a couple weeks ago, and and uh CPS was talking about uh a similar project.

2:05

Um we have relied on SAP as an organization uh since 2004.

2:11

Um, and that support ends in 2027.

2:14

So over the last couple of years we have been implementing adjustments and new systems and upgrades.

2:20

Um and the first two phases have gone um remarkably well.

2:24

Um the final phase that SAP Ariba will um will implement uh will improve um financial operations, uh streamline some of our internal processes to include uh some of the things that you all touch as council members.

2:43

Um this is a post-solicitation briefing, and um Troy and and Craig will walk us through the criticality of the financial systems, how we are taking this opportunity to align with best practices and take advantage of um some of the tools that we have not been able to utilize in the past based on the previous SAP implementation.

3:08

Our um our budget system is going through um uh um update right now as well, and that'll be utilized for the first time not this coming year but the following year.

3:19

Um, so it'll be in line for the 2027 budget, and we have already successfully implemented our human resource aspect of this system, um, which was um not very robust under our 2004 system, so it gives us a lot of ability to manage and communicate um uh through across across all departments um through our employees.

3:41

So Troy or Craig's gonna kick us off.

3:51

And I've got the first half of the presentation, and then Troy will get us through the second half.

3:56

I just want to take a few moments um to level set us on the program and what we're accomplishing here with the program.

4:02

Uh Eric has already kind of laid some of that out for you.

4:05

Um, but some of you may not have been here when we started this because uh it started a long, long time ago, actually.

4:12

Um but the first thing is uh Eric already said we've been using the SAP system since 2004.

4:18

Uh been it's been a uh a steady horse for us, a system of record for almost two decades, and at the basically we are at an end of life on the current system that goes in 2027.

4:29

So the team has been working um the last almost two years.

4:34

I'll show you three years.

4:35

I'll show you a slide here in a little bit about the overall timeline for this program.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████████████████53%
Procurement and Contracting█████████████████████████████████39%
Workforce Development███4%
Artificial Intelligence███3%
Procedural█1%
Summary of Proceedings

San Antonio City Council B Session – COSA Connect Update and Contract Recommendation – April 8, 2026

The San Antonio City Council convened in B session on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at 2:02 PM. The meeting focused on an update to the COSA Connect program, the city's multi-phase effort to modernize its financial and procurement systems (SAP S/4HANA and SAP Ariba). City staff presented the program's progress, a finalized solicitation for a system integrator, and a recommendation to award a contract to IBM. No votes were taken; council members provided feedback and asked questions. The meeting adjourned at 4:19 PM after an executive session.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Three individuals signed up for public comment, but no transcript of their remarks was provided. The council noted their presence but no content was recorded.

Discussion Items

  • COSA Connect Program Overview: Craig (deputy city manager) and Troy (project lead) presented the program's history, noting the city has used SAP since 2004, with support ending in 2027. The program includes three main phases: HR (SuccessFactors, live 2025), budget (SHERPA, partially live), and the final phase—finance and procurement (S/4HANA and Ariba). Total program cost is $71.9 million over approximately five years.
  • Solicitation and Scoring: A request for proposals (RFP) was released August 29, 2025, with four respondents: IBM, Ernst & Young (EY), Accenture, and Firecat Studios. An evaluation panel scored proposals on experience/qualifications (60 points), price (15), SBE subcontracting (10), local preference (10), and veteran-owned small business (5). IBM scored highest (66.96 points) after interviews, due to detailed proposed plans and deep team experience (25+ years).
  • Contract Recommendation: Staff recommended awarding IBM a contract worth $14.1 million (base fee $11.3 million, plus $1.7 million in optional fees and 10% contingency). Options include Fiori development, additional interfaces, extended hypercare, security role management, and a target operating model study. IBM will subcontract with local firm Systema Technologies (training/testing) and EPI-USE America (payroll).
  • Implementation Timeline: The project follows the SAP Activate methodology with phases: Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realize/Test, Deploy, and Hypercare. Go-live target is October 1, 2027. Expected lifespan of the new systems is 10–15 years.
  • AI Capabilities: Craig noted that built-in AI assistants (e.g., for sourcing, data queries) are included in the software. Additional AI (SAP Joule) is not being implemented initially due to uncertain pricing (usage-based credits); the city will experiment with one internal team first.
  • Council Questions and Concerns: Council members raised topics including: cybersecurity; local workforce development and opportunities for small businesses; employee experience during transition; integration with other city systems (e.g., XLA, Accela); data governance and audit capabilities (e.g., deactivating former employees); KPIs and performance measurement; and the need for resident-facing dashboards. Councilwoman Castillo requested evaluation of labor practices in RFP scoring. Councilman Mungia suggested exploring a data aggregation platform (Tolemi). Mayor noted parallel efforts on a unified digital experience and digital twin.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal vote was taken. The council indicated support for moving forward with the IBM contract; staff will bring the contract for consideration at the April 30, 2026, council meeting.
  • Staff committed to engaging with the Economic Workforce Development Committee (EWDC) to incorporate vendor feedback into system design and to explore local talent development.
  • An update on the city's AI policy and the digital twin project was requested for future sessions.
  • The meeting recessed into executive session at 3:17 PM to discuss economic development, real property, litigation, and collective bargaining, then reconvened at 4:19 PM with no action taken.

Meeting Transcript

Telling you we're the name is failed. Believe in his source. I see it with still. I'm hearing his voice. Telling me what still is the noise. Only still you hear his voice. Telling you it's going to be in space. Believe in his source. I sit with Stone. I'm hearing his voice. Telling me M and Good afternoon. The time is now 2.02 PM on Wednesday, April 8th, 2026, and the City of San Antonio B session is now called to order. Madam Clerk, please call roll. Councilmember Corps. Councilmember Mickey Rodriguez. Present. Councilmember Via Gran. Councilmember Mungia. Councilmember Castillo. Councilmember Galvan. Here. Councilmember Alderete Gavito. Here. Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez. Councilmember Spears. Councilmember White. Mayor Jones. Here. Mayor, we have quorum. Great. Thank you. This meeting will have an update on the Costa Connect project to upgrade the city's financial and procurement systems. Eric, over to you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, uh Mayor and Council. So an exciting one this afternoon. Um, but uh a very important item. Was that facetious? So we want to give you all an update on the next phase of our COSA Connect program, which is kind of our long-term effort to modernize uh our financial and procurement systems. We've already gone through two phases. Um, and I know uh we were in this room a couple weeks ago, and and uh CPS was talking about uh a similar project. Um we have relied on SAP as an organization uh since 2004. Um, and that support ends in 2027. So over the last couple of years we have been implementing adjustments and new systems and upgrades. Um and the first two phases have gone um remarkably well. Um the final phase that SAP Ariba will um will implement uh will improve um financial operations, uh streamline some of our internal processes to include uh some of the things that you all touch as council members. Um this is a post-solicitation briefing, and um Troy and and Craig will walk us through the criticality of the financial systems, how we are taking this opportunity to align with best practices and take advantage of um some of the tools that we have not been able to utilize in the past based on the previous SAP implementation. Our um our budget system is going through um uh um update right now as well, and that'll be utilized for the first time not this coming year but the following year. Um, so it'll be in line for the 2027 budget, and we have already successfully implemented our human resource aspect of this system, um, which was um not very robust under our 2004 system, so it gives us a lot of ability to manage and communicate um uh through across across all departments um through our employees.

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