Because agencies sometimes get bulk or specific government discounts, it can also be more affordable to buy software licenses on behalf of their private contractors. “This is a very clear way for agencies to manage costs,” the ex-official said.
Each government agency has its own unique structure, including many subagencies or units, each with its own software needs. That will help explain the other alleged licensing issues called the DOGE this week, including the GSA has “3 different ticket systems running similarly” and many tools for running unspecified exercises.
In a separate post This week, DOGE called the Department of Labor for the alleged licensing of five cybersecurity programs, each of more than 20,000 users, despite having only 15,000 employees. The post also noted the department holding 380 Microsoft 365 productive software licenses with zero users, who installed 30 of the 128 Microsoft Teams conference rooms licensed, and uses only 22 of 129 Photoshop licenses. The post also referred to unused licenses for “VSCode,” the name of Shorthand for a completely Microsoft's free tool for writing code; The company sells a paid alternative known as the Visual Studio.
Microsoft refused to comment. Adobe, which develops Photoshop, does not respond to a request to comment.
While the Doge may fail to show a full picture of happy spending, it is true that the federal government sometimes struggles to effectively manage the use of software licenses. Many Watchman groups Inside The government have found the chances of wasting software spending in the past.
Members of Congress have been trying for many years to get agencies to address the issue, said a former federal official. The Strengthening of Agency Management and Administration of the Software Assets Act, o Samosa actedThat passed the Chamber last year with Bipartisan support but stuck in the Senate, will need agencies to do what Do DOGE is doing now: checking existing software contracts, combine licenses where possible, and get better deals to maintain costs. The law aimed at giving agencies more bargaining power to Some big tech companies It manages the contracting of government software, according to the former official.
“If Elon [Musk] Want to do this the right way, they will work with Congress to pass the Samosa Act, “the officer said.” So people who are there even when the Doge leaves can enter the smarter, less expensive contracts. They should set a repeated process by which agencies will continue to assess their software needs and get better performance for lower costs. “
The triplette, of the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, is credited to the Doge for reviewing licensing issues. “I know there is a lot of concerns about what Do DOGE is doing, but it is a place with hope and possibility,” he said.
Other federal contracting experts and Congress offices said to wired That dog should not be lost in the eyes of the larger target while scrounging for thrift. There are 11 federal contracting programs for information technology that each costs more than $ 1 billion in spending the last year of the government's fiscal, which ran from October 2023 to September 2024, according to a review for Deltek's wired wired, whose Govwin IQ tool is tracking the acquisition. Contracts are often damaged in smaller pieces, and among the task orders, more than $ 1 billion has been spent on six individual task orders related to it in recent years. They led a deal in Dell at the Veterans Affairs Department and an agreement with Booz Allen Hamilton in Pentagon.
