IT management shortcomings led the IRS to waste millions of dollars on licenses and subscriptions for software agency officials never used, according to an internal watchdog.

Because it failed to follow federal acquisition requirements, the agency also deployed a software product that fell far short of its promised functionality, auditors said.

In a recent report, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found the IRS didn’t actively manage its IT assets or monitor the cost of the myriad software subscription and support packages used across the enterprise. As a result, the agency spent roughly $3.4 million between 2015 and 2017 on tools it didn’t need, auditors said.

They also found insufficient management caused the agency to lean too heavily on a separate package of software tools, which put it at risk of penalties and fines from the vendor, IBM.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2019/03/irs-wasted-34-million-software-it-never-used-watchdog-says/155247/