Because agencies sometimes receive mass or government discounts, buying a software license may also be more affordable. “This is a very clear way for cost management agencies,” says Ex-Offical.
Each government agency has its own unique structure, including many subgenations or units, each with its own software needs. This can aid explain other alleged license problems that Doge called this week, in the fact that GSA has “3 different ticket systems working in parallel” and many tools for conducting unspecified training.
IN separate post This week, Doge called on the Department of Work for the alleged licensing of five cyber security programs, each for over 20,000 users, despite the fact that he had only about 15,000 employees. The post also gave the section with 380 Microsoft 365 software licenses with zero users, installing only 30 of the 128 Microsoft Teams conference rooms, and also uses only 22 of 129 Photoshop licenses. Post also referred to unused licenses for “vscode”, wearing stenography for a completely free Microsoft tool for writing code; The company sells a paid alternative known as Visual Studio.
Microsoft refused to comment. Adobe, who develops Photoshop, did not answer the request for comment.
Although Doge could not present the full picture of the waste of expenses, it is true that the federal government sometimes tried to effectively manage software licenses. Numerous watchdog groups inside government In the past, I found cases of waste spending on software.
A former federal official says that Congress members have been trying to force agencies to resolve this issue for years. Agency management Act and supervision over software assets, or Samosa Actwhich passed the house last year with double -sided support, but got stuck in a deadly point of the Senate, would require an agency to do what the dog does now: assessment of existing software contracts, consolidate licenses where possible, and get better offers to reduce costs. According to the former official, the legislation was aimed at providing agencies with more tender power over a handful of huge technology companies that dominate the government software agreement.
“If Elon [Musk] I wanted to do it in the right way, they will cooperate with Congress to adopt the Samosa Act, “says the official. “So people who will be there, even when Doge left, can conclude smarter, cheaper contracts. They should establish a repetitive process in which agencies will constantly evaluate their software needs and get better performance for lower costs. “
Triplette, from the coalition for software licensing, assigned a dog to examine the license problems. “I know that there are many concerns about what Doge does, but it is one area in which there is hope and possibility,” he says.
Other federal experts for contracts and congress offices said that the dog should not lose sight of major goals during savings. There were 11 federal contract programs regarding information technologies, each of which constituted over $ 1 billion of expenses during the last tax year, which lasted from October 2023 to September 2024, in accordance with the subjective analysis by Deltek, whose govwin IQ tool tracks the order. Agreements are often divided into smaller works, and among these orders tasks have been spent over $ 1 billion on six individual orders related to this over the past few years. They run a Dell contract with the Veterans Department and Contract Boz Allen Hamilton with Pentagon.