Going to the Grocery Store with a Chef: How Fairview Found Expert Guidance for its ERP Transition

After nearly two decades on the same legacy ERP system, the Town of Fairview, Texas faced a high-stakes challenge: replacing a deeply embedded system that touches multiple departments without disrupting operations or overwhelming their lean team.

Fairview turned to Civic Marketplace to identify cooperative contracts that aligned with the Town's ERP modernization needs. Through the platform, staff were able to evaluate available contract options, compare qualified suppliers, and identify the right fit for the project. The Town ultimately selected Sciens Consulting, a TXShare-awarded supplier with experience supporting similarly sized communities and a competitively priced solution. The agreement was approved by the Town Council this spring.

Beginning this summer, several hundred hours will be spent by Sciens interviewing town staff, reviewing existing processes, and informing a thorough needs assessment. Town staff estimate that this partnership with Sciens Consulting will save more than 1,000 hours of internal time from needs assessment through implementation, while ensuring that the municipality ultimately invests in a system that meets their requirements, without unnecessary modules or inflated costs.

Results and Impact:

Existing processes inform product selection

• Sciens engages end-users across all departments to map real workflows, staff capacity, and pain points
• Current systems rely heavily on spreadsheets; engineering, building inspection, and accounts payable don't integrate effectively
• With staff on the same legacy system for nearly two decades, Sciens' broad vendor knowledge fills a critical gap

Independent expertise saves significant time

• Sciens handles 1,000+ hours of needs matching, vendor demos, and pricing negotiations
• Fairview manages procurement by department — this partnership saves staff time across the organization, not just in finance
• Phased, module-by-module implementation protects a lean staff from being overwhelmed

Confidence in a multimillion-dollar investment

• ERP systems are long-term, high-stakes commitments — vendor-neutral guidance cuts through sales pitches
• Sciens delivers honest trade-off analysis and realistic expectations, not just product endorsements
• Many communities chase a "unicorn" system; Sciens helps Fairview find the best fit, not the best pitch

The Challenge:

The Town of Fairview, a community of 11,000 in the northeast Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, has relied on their legacy ERP system for nearly two decades. As adjacent systems have evolved, the Town found that several key functions – including engineering, building inspection, and accounts payable – no longer communicate effectively with the legacy platform. Staff also rely heavily on spreadsheets to bridge gaps in functionality.  

Portions of their legacy system were never fully implemented, and system interface challenges require manual maintenance of two systems, resulting in an inability to process online payments through their ERP system. 

The vast majority of municipalities procure and implement ERP transitions independently. With fewer than 100 employees across its ten departments, Fairview knew that managing a full ERP procurement process in-house would strain their capacity. This capacity was on their mind as they considered implementation, as well. The town relies on a small, contracted IT provider, and had concerns that implementation would be too large of a lift without the help of an advisory consultant. 

Fairview needed a partner who could:

• Offer independent guidance without ties to any ERP vendors
• Conduct a needs assessment
• Develop a realistic budget and implementation plan
• Lead the RFP and vendor selection process
• Support a multi-year implementation process

The Solution:

Rather than starting from scratch, Fairview leveraged its TxShare interlocal agreement to access cooperative contracts already on  Civic Marketplace —already legally vetted and procurement-ready – eliminating the  need to start a new RFP from scratch. 

Civic Marketplace offers municipalities a neutral process for evaluating respondents. "Civic Marketplace got us to a great place with finalists. [We were] well-prepared in evaluating the proposals." - Steven Ventura, Chief Finance Officer, Town of Fairview. 

Five firms submitted proposals for Fairview’s consideration. Fairview selected Sciens Consulting based on their breadth of experience, price point, and approach. Sciens Consulting will serve as an independent advisor in this process, as they are not affiliated with any ERP vendor. 

Fairview staff are confident that this process will help them to create efficiencies in their financial processes, unlock the potential of product modules in the market to reduce error, and offer enriched analytics. One tangible outcome of implementing an ERP system is anticipated to be closing out the prior month financially more quickly, and providing higher-level forecasting insights to Council members. Staff are confident that they will negotiate the best price on their future software solution with Sciens’ insights. 

“[This process] has changed my perspective - it’s very intimidating how involved this is. Interviews last week opened our eyes to possibilities out there, but we need to realistically work within our means… When we get to the demos, there will be a lot of promises. [After this process], we’ll ask better questions.” - Steven Ventura

Implementation and Investment:

Sciens Consulting’s work with Fairview commenced this spring – an eight-phase contract that incorporates a needs assessment, system selection, and eventual implementation. 

• 1,000+ contracted hours to be completed by Sciens, freeing up substantial Fairview employee time
• $47,440 investment for initial phases 1-5 (discovery, process review, needs assessment, budget estimation) to take place this year
• $202,840 total investment across several years through procurement and implementation.

Find out more about Sciens Consulting and its TXShare Enterprise Resource Planning Consultancy Services cooperative contract here.