Agencies are planning to address recommendations GAO made in earlier this year to improve the management of software licenses. GAO said in a May report that agencies are inadequately managing their licenses because they generally don’t follow leading practices such as centralized management, tracking and maintaining inventory, analyzing software license data, and providing sufficient training.

It said potential savings for IT spending are substantial, with just one major agency reporting savings of about $181 million in fiscal 2012 by consolidating enterprise license agreements. According to GAO-14-835R, 21 agencies plan to fully address all its recommendations. For example, the Department of Education issued a department-wide directive that establishes guidelines for software acquisition and management and places central control for software license management within the office of the CIO.

Not all agencies fully agreed with GAO’s findings, such as the EPA. However the EPA said it plans to begin assessing its existing automated tools, governance structures, and other federal agencies processes and policies in its efforts to begin developing a comprehensive software license management program – but no additional training is planned, the report said.

SOURCE: fedweek.com