Because agencies sometimes receive bulk or government-specific discounts, it can also be more affordable to buy software licenses on behalf of their private contractors. “It is a very clear way for agencies to manage costs,” says the ex-official.
Each government agency has its own unique structure, including many subagencies or units, each with their own software needs. That could help explain other alleged license issues that Doge has called this week, including that GSA “has 3 different ticket systems parallel” and several tools for non -specific training courses.
In a separate position this week, DOGE called on the Ministry of Labor for alleged licenses with five cyber security programs, each for more than 20,000 users, even though they only had around 15,000 employees. The post also quoted the department with 380 Microsoft 365 Productivity Software Licenses with zero users, with only 30 of the 128 Microsoft Teams Conference Rooms that are licensed, and only 22 of the 129 Photoshop Licenses. The message also referred to unused licenses for 'VSCODE', the Steno name for a completely free Microsoft tool for writing code; The company sells a paid alternative that is known as a visual studio.
Microsoft refused to comment. Adobe, who develops Photoshop, did not respond to a request to comment.
Although DOGE may not have been presented in a complete picture of wasting editions, it is true that the federal government has sometimes had difficulty manage the use of software licenses effectively. In the past, countless watchdog groups within the government have found cases of waste spending for software.
Members of the congress have been trying agencies to tackle the issue for years, says the former federal officer. The reinforcement agency management and supervision of software assets act, or Samosa Act, which last year accepted the house with two -part support, but stuck in the Senate, should need agencies to do what doge is doing now: assessing existing software contracts, where possible, consolidate Licenses to the Licenses of the Licens. The legislation was intended to give agencies more negotiation for the handful of large technology companies that dominate the government software contracting, according to the former officer.
“As Elon [Musk] I wanted to do this in the right way, they would collaborate with the congress to adopt the Samosa Act, “says the civil servant. “So people who will be there, even when Doge -leaves can enter into a smarter, cheaper contracts. They should set a repeatable process in which agencies will constantly re -evaluate their software needs and get better performance for lower costs. “
Triplette, from the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, has credited Doge for investigating license problems. “I know that there is a lot of concern about what Doge does, but this is an area that is hope and possibility,” she says.
Other federal contracting experts and conference offices have told Wired that Doge should not lose sight of larger goals while writing for savings. There were 11 federal contracting programs for information technology, each of which was good for more than $ 1 billion in expenditure during the last tax year of the government, which ran from October 2023 to September 2024, according to an analysis for Wired by Deltek, whose Govwin IQ Tool Tracks Purchasing. Contracts are often split into smaller pieces, and under those task assignments in recent years more than $ 1 billion has been spent on six individual task orders related to them. They are led by a Dell deal with the Department of Veterans Affairs and a Booz Allen Hamilton agreement with the Pentagon.
