Jan-2026: Update on the Legacy Replacement Project (LRP) Fiasco - Has the Project Been Cancelled?

NYCERS just sent me a copy of the FY-2025 Schedule of Paymemts to Consultants which appears to be a missing page from the ACFR report for FY-2025.

Significantly, Accenture was not on the list for payment.

The ommission of Accenture, who has the LRP contract, means that NYCERS did not pay Accenture anything for the entire year (July 2024 to June 2025). Accenture was paid $17.0 million in FY-2024. This, then, raises the question whether Accenture is still working on the contract, is there a dispute about the work, or is the contract dead.

As of December 2025 there is no reported resolution to the problems with the LRP project and there is still no clear description of the problems with contract and project.

As reference, this is what NYCERS said in the FY-2024 financial report (see full quotes below):

In parallel to a Phase 2.0 delivery, the Systems Integrator and NYCERS are working on a re-baseline plan for the remaining phases, which will be discussed during the February 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting.

And this what NYCERS said in the FY-2025 financial report:

NYCERS and the systems integrator are actively collaborating on a comprehensive re-baseline plan to complete the project , with an updated schedule and projrct details to be presented to the NYCERS Board of Trustees by April 2026.

It is time for the trustees to publicly state what has happened to the LRP project. Is there a DOI investigation? The new executive director has been directly responsible for the LRP project since its inception in 2016. Is there any accountability?

Seemingly in reaction to the stop payment to Accenture, NYCERS increased payment to Gartner from $2.0 million to $3.9 million for technical advice. In addition, the cost for "software, licences, and support" increased from $10.8 million to $16.0 million.

The Accenture Contract

In the Febraury, 2021, NYCERS awarded the LRP contract to Accenture at a cost of $85 million for 5 years. That is roughly an annual charge of $17 million. Work started in June 2021 and was scheduled to finish in September 2026. Best guess now for a completion date is the end of 2030.

Based on the updated ACFR data NYCERS has paid Accenture fot the LRP contract:

FY-2025	$0
FY-2024	$17.9 million
FY-2023	$817,492
FY-2022	$9.8 million
FY-2021	$926,341

Quotes from NYCERS FY-2024 and FY-2025 Financial Statements

You can see from the official comments from NYCERS concerning the LRP project that there is no mention of the fact that payemnts have been stopped to Accenture.

2024

The Legacy Replacement Project (LRP) is a complex, multi-year initiative to modernize NYCERS’ business processes and related technologies. The principal objective of the LRP is to replace NYCERS’ legacy production application with a new pension administration system. This new pension administration system will transform the way NYCERS does business and interacts with its members, retirees, employers, and other City agencies. This will be accomplished using flexible up-to-date technologies that will provide ongoing value into the future.

LRP began in June 2021, with a plan to complete the transformation over five years/five phases, with a target completion of September 2026.

Phase 1 was launched in January 2023, introducing foundational functionality that future phases will build upon.

In the midst of Phase 2 delivery, a range of legacy system changes surfaced that impacted the overall timeline. The Systems Integrator proposed to deliver a subset of Phase 2, called Phase 2.0, as this functionality did not rely on those legacy system changes, and we are currently on track for a January 2025 launch.

In parallel to a Phase 2.0 delivery, the Systems Integrator and NYCERS are working on a re-baseline plan for the remaining phases, which will be discussed during the February 2025 Board of Trustees Meeting.

2025

The Legacy Replacement Project (LRP) is NYCERS' multi-year transformation initiative to modernize NYCERS’ core business processes and replace NYCERS' existing legacy pension administration system with a secure, adaptable, and future ready technology platform. This modernization will significantly enhance how NYCERS conducts business and delivers services to members, retirees, employers, and partner City agencies.

Initiated in June 2021 as a five-phase program targeted for completion in September 2026, the project continues to advance.

Phase 1 successfully was launched in January 2023, establishing critical foundational capabilities for future phases.

During Phase 2 development, legacy system dependencies were identified that required timeline adjustments.

In response, the systems integrator and NYCERS delivered a subset of functionality referred to as Phase 2.0 in January 2025, allowing progress to continue, while collaborating on a schedule for the remaining functionality continued.

NYCERS and the systems integrator are actively collaborating on a comprehensive re-baseline plan to complete the project , with an updated schedule and projrct details to be presented to the NYCERS Board of Trustees by April 2026.

Legacy Replacement Project - Still Adrift

As of the NYCERS Board of Trustees meeting on October 9, 2025, the acting executive director still has no update on the Legacy Replacement Project (LRP) that is four years behind schedule.

Update: As of the NYCERS Board of Trustees meeting on November 13, 2025, the acting executive director again has no update on the Legacy Replacement Project.

On a connected topic, the Trustees still have not appointed a new executive director to replace the former director who retired in May. The agency has also suspended filling a large number of open management positions.

With the election of a new mayor and comptroller, let us hope that the trustees will clean house and appoint a competent person to straighten out the agency.

The Bleeding Has Started - Legacy Replacement Project - $85.0M - Accenture

Legacy Replacement Project - $85,076,693 – Accenture

On February 26, 2021 NYCERS finally awarded the Legacy Replacement Project (LRP) contract to Accenture. The cost of the contract is $85,076,693. The LRP is supposed to be a five-year project. It was first proposed in the spring of 2015.

I have been writing about the LRP for the last six years. My first post was in 2015. My most recent post was in 2020. This boondoggle started in the spring of 2015 and has been dragging along ever since. Thank god the legacy systems built by civil servants have lasted over 40 years.

On of April 8, 2021, in support of the LRP project , the trustees adopted a massive increase in the NYCERS FY-2022 admin budget. The amount approved was $136.0M. As contrast, the budget in FY-2015 was $55.0M. This is at the same time as the mayor is cutting the medicare benefits of NYC retirees.

I have no hope that this lunacy will stop. After a six year delay in the start of this project, the trustees at the board meeting were thanking Liz Reyes for her great work on the project. What can you expect from people who are brain dead.

Accenture LRP Contract

The initial work, Phase 0, is a ten-week effort by Accenture to analyze its contract plans and possibly propose changes but with no cost increases. This phase may be longer than ten weeks. At the end of this phase either side can opt out of the contract without penalty or cost.

The second part of the contract, Phase 1, is scheduled to start July 1, 2021 and end December 31, 2021. The five-year term of the contract gives us an end date of June 30, 2026. I wonder who will be in the White House then.

Other Contracts Linked to the LRP Project

1. NYCERS has paid Gartner, the consulting firm, $7.1M since FY-2015.
2. Risk advisor to the Board of Trustees. The contract was awarded to Linea Solutions, Inc. on 7/21/2020 at a cost = $4,598,496 with a period of five years.
   • Will need to be place until 6/30/2026.
3. Quality Assurance advisor (projected award date - April 30, 2021) to NYCERS staff for the project. Contract being negotiated. Cost unknown. Period five years.
   • Will need to be in place until 6/30/2026.
4. Mainframe maintenance for five years while the LRP is being implemented. Contract awarded on 2/11/2019 to Blue Hill Data Services. Cost = $3,894,000. Period of five years.
   • Will need to be place until 6/30/2026.
5. FileNet maintenance for five years while LRP is being implemented. Open RFP issued on 11/7/2019. Cost unknown.
   • Will need to be place until 6/30/2026.
   • NYCERS has allowed this system run out of support both from Microsoft and IBM.
6. Roughly 30 computer consultant contracts, each averaging $150,000 per year. Yearly cost of $4.5M
7. Office reconfiguration in FY-2020 that cost $3,448,080.
   • In FY-2000 NYCERS moved into 133,000 sq. feet of totally brand-new class A office space. It was the most modern office space in the NYC government. It rivaled anything in the private sector. God help us what they have done to that office.
8. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Contract was awarded to Accenture, the same firm with the LRP contract, on 8/8/2018
   • at a cost = $14,832,123, with two modifications:
   • $654,000 as of 6/1/2020, and
   • $138,780 as of 12/24/2020.
9. In FY-2019 and FY-2020 NYCERS paid Accenture $11,575,713, and $4,381,360 to a third-party firm for licenses & support as part of the CRM project.
   • Not sure what the value of the CRM is to the NYCERS membership.
10. A replacement IVR system contract was awarded on 12/29/2020 to Genesys Telecommunication Labs. Cost = $712,885.
    • The first phase of this system is promised to be in place by 4/30/2021. It will entail switching over from in-house Avaya interactive voice response (IVR) system to a cloud-based phone system integrated with the CRM system. At this point Genesys will not have an IVR in place.
    • Phase 2 does not yet have a timeline, scope of work, or I suspect a price tag. It is not clear whether Phase 2 is covered by the initial cost figure.
    • Phase 2 is the part where Genesys will create the new IVR system. Sounds like Avaya needs to stay in place until after Phase 2 is completed.
    • I do not see how this will solve the call center chaos that exists at NYCERS. In spite of the obvious, there is no word of increasing the call center staff.
11. At the Dec 10, 2020 board meeting the Trustees adopted a resolution approving the ten-year LRP project at a cost of $279.0M.
    • Not sure what value this has except to warn everyone that a tsunami is coming.