Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act | The Contracting Education Academy

December 8, 2016 By AMK

Defense bill includes numerous provisions to prod DoD toward commercial buying

Last week’s House-Senate agreement on the 2017 Defense Authorization Bill contained about 100 provisions dealing with acquisition — not all of which we’ll even attempt to summarize in this space.

commercial-buying-2017-ndaa But several were built around a common reform theme Congress began in last year’s bill, attempting to reform the acquisition system to suit a world in which leaders of the Defense committees believe that most innovation is happening in the commercial sector.

Besides restructuring and bifurcating the large front office that’s currently responsible for both acquisition and R&D, the bill adds several new authorities that build on last year’s trend of letting DoD sidestep the traditional acquisition system.

“The national security problem starts from the fact that we no longer drive research and development,” Bill Greenwalt, a senior Senate Armed Services Committee staffer, said at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security last week. “We reformed the system 20 years ago to try to access commercial items, but it’s not as agile as we would like it to be. It’s risk-averse, it’s compliance-oriented, and it’s optimized to win the Cold War against an adversary that thought in five-year plans.”

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/dod-reporters-notebook-jared-serbu/2016/12/defense-bill-includes-numerous-provisions-prod-dod-toward-commercial-buying/

April 21, 2016 By AMK

Getting FITARA right

Although it’s been nearly 16 months since President Barack Obama signed the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), we still have a lot of work to do to strengthen the management of government’s IT.

Considered one of the most significant IT reforms since the Clinger-Cohen Act, FITARA expands oversight of the almost $90 billion in federal IT spending. The law’s main objectives are:

Provide better visibility into IT expenditures.
Improve risk management in IT investments.
Engage other senior officials in the oversight of IT investments.
Give more authority to the federal government’s more than 250 CIOs to plan, approve and execute IT acquisitions.

Keep reading this article at: https://fcw.com/articles/2016/04/13/comment-delprete-fitara.aspx

See June 10, 2015 memorandum entitled “Management and Oversight of Federal Information Technology” from the Office of Management & Budget at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2015/m-15-14.pdf

May 15, 2015 By AMK

Does FITARA guidance go far enough in optimizing software licenses?

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently held a hearing titled Government Accountability Office’s “Duplication Report at Five Years: Recommendations Remain Unaddressed.”

At the hearing, Beth Cobert, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget, testified. She was questioned by committee member, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, from Illinois’ 8^th District, who honed in very quickly on the subject of software license optimization:

“I noted that better management of software licenses is an area where savings can be achieved. Can you please help me understand in OMB’s view how agencies can better manage their software licenses? Specifically, I’d like to hear how OMB believes agencies should inventory that software to see how much of it is actually deployed to end users, and how much of what’s deployed is actually being put to use.”

Ms. Cobert’s response illustrates the depths of the federal government’s lack of progress in controlling waste due to poor software license management practices. In her testimony, Ms. Colbert noted that the government is developing a system for managing and inventorying its software licenses, which are procured on a highly decentralized basis.

She noted that the recently passed Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act legislation will give the federal CIO more authority in getting agencies to better coordinate and consolidate their buying.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/technology-news/tech-insider/2015/05/why-fitara-guidance-needs-address-software-license-optimization/111814/

Last week’s House-Senate agreement on the 2017 Defense Authorization Bill contained about 100 provisions dealing with acquisition — not all of which we’ll even attempt to summarize in this space.

Although it’s been nearly 16 months since President Barack Obama signed the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), we still have a lot of work to do to strengthen the management of government’s IT.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently held a hearing titled Government Accountability Office’s “Duplication Report at Five Years: Recommendations Remain Unaddressed.”

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