From 2887e240b9b0c39d5791e933bfdbf2fceef7db52 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Chris Goranson Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2015 18:41:40 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Can we simplify language and purpose here? The goal of the guidance is commendable, but it tends to be a hard read, and I'm not sure it has to be. First suggested edited pp here may not meet full intent, but since were really talking about saving money, reducing inefficiencies and waste while increasing transparency I'm wondering if something like this might work instead. Finally, the multiple in-line references to other GAO documents seems to overly complicate the text, and since you can embed hyperlinks, perhaps they don't need to be spelled out quite as much. If the document is intended at all for broad consumption I'm wondering if a few edits in this light might go a long way towards improving the document and the clarity of the message. For what it's worth - --- pages/introduction.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/pages/introduction.md b/pages/introduction.md index 1c4cd4b..5a4b4c6 100755 --- a/pages/introduction.md +++ b/pages/introduction.md @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ description: "Introduction" **Category Management Policy 16-1: Improving the Acquisition and Management of Common Information Technology: Software Licensing** -Each year, the Federal Government spends more than $9 billion on software1 through more than 50,000 transactions, which results in a fragmented and inefficient marketplace. A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO)2 indicates that agencies buy and manage software licenses in a decentralized manner, struggle to create accurate inventories, often purchase unneeded capabilities, and generally do not share pricing, terms, and conditions across Government to facilitate better purchasing. Furthermore, most agencies do not have a designated central oversight authority to manage software agreements, and agency personnel often lack sufficient experience and expertise to effectively negotiate and manage large software agreements. This memorandum addresses these and other challenges in information technology (IT) commodity management, specifically software licensing, in order to help agencies improve the acquisition and management of common IT goods and services. This memorandum follows recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance regarding new requirements for purchasing desktops and laptops3. +Each year the Federal Government spends more than $9 Billion on software1. This software is purchased through 50,000 transactions. Agencies that purchase and manage this software this way struggle to create and maintain accurate inventories, often purchase software they don't need, and do not share pricing, terms and conditions with others in government well 2. Furthermore most agencies don't have centralized oversight to manage the software agreements, and personnel often don't have the necessary experience to negotiate large agreements with vendors. To address these and other challenges, this document provides guidance on how to purchase and manage software more effectively, and manage software licenses more responsibly. The Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA)4 and the Office of Management and Budget's category management initiative5 address a number of IT management challenges by directing agencies to buy and manage common commodities – like commercial software – in a more coordinated way. To fully leverage the Government's vast buying power, improvements must be made at both the agency and the governmentwide level. Agencies need to move to a more centralized management structure so they can reduce underutilization and maximize the use of best-in-class solutions6. In parallel, governmentwide strategies, such as increasing the number and use of enterprise software agreements and developing better inventory tools, are needed to reduce duplication of efforts. The success of these governmentwide steps depends on the improvements that agencies make in their own license management programs.