Commissioners press county staff on Oracle dependency after vendor layoffs; staff outline plan to in‑house some work

Commissioners at the Wayne County Government Operations Committee pressed staff about operational risk after staff said Oracle recently notified roughly 30,000 employees of layoffs.

Mike Jameson, Connect 43/Oracle program director, told the committee that a lead Oracle sales contact supporting the county was affected but that the vendor’s regional team absorbed the work. "Oracle sent an email to 30,000 of its employees," Jameson said, and staff reported that Oracle is refocusing investments on artificial‑intelligence capabilities.

Commissioner Peterson‑Mayberry asked whether the layoffs would alter the county’s support. Program staff replied that the county has contingency plans: the fiscal year 2027 budget includes funding for positions intended to assume some implementation and support work currently covered by staff‑augmentation contracts (such as Pierce Monroe), and staff intend to issue an RFP to test the managed‑services market rather than rely exclusively on Oracle.

Staff emphasized that managed‑service contracts are likely to remain for ongoing operational support (troubleshooting, releases and enhancements) even if some work is brought in‑house. "We plan to do an RFP for managed services," staff said, adding that managed services need not come from Oracle alone and may be supplied by other vendors who can handle the county’s scale.

Fiscal staff also warned commissioners that the migration from JD Edwards to Oracle created timing differences for invoicing and budgetary control; they are cross‑referencing JDE invoices to Oracle and preparing receipt‑accrual reversals so the commission can see an accurate budget effect prior to budget hearings.

What’s next: Staff said they will move forward with hiring plans in FY27 where budget permits, expect to wind down some staff‑augmentation roles, run a managed‑services RFP and report back to the committee with a reconciled accounting of Oracle‑related invoice timing differences.