IG: DOE Still Spending Too Much on Software Licenses

The Department of Energy is still spending more than necessary on software maintenance licenses, according to a DOE Inspector General report released yesterday that follows up on a previous investigation finding issues with acquisition and management of desktop software. “Although the Department had made progress in addressing our prior recommendations, we found that it had not adequately managed the acquisition and maintenance of computer software licenses,” the report states. “We determined that programs and sites routinely paid more than necessary when acquiring software licenses and generally had not maintained an inventory of software to assist with management of licenses.”

 

The 2006 study noted that the Department spent $4.1 million more than necessary on the software over a five-year period, while the latest investigation found $600,000 in extra costs over three years covering just a “limited range” of software and sites. “We believe that actual unnecessary expenditures and related potential savings may be significantly higher than our calculations demonstrate due to the lack of information available at sites regarding software purchases,” the report states. The price per license paid “was often greater than established government-wide acquisition contract prices available to all Federal agencies.”