Software Licenses | The Contracting Education Academy

May 15, 2019 By AMK

How GSA is making software contracts more like commercial sales

The General Services Administration has adjusted some components of its IT Schedule 70 contract, the federal government’s largest IT purchasing vehicle, to give agencies a more efficient way to buy software services, the agency announced April 16.

Three special item numbers on the contract, which more narrowly define IT services the government wants to purchase, were updated to help agencies better comply with policy and purchase new technology.

“Now our offerings align better with the way software is sold commercially,” Bill Zielinski, acting assistant commissioner of GSA’s Office of Information Technology Category, wrote in a blog post. “Now it’s easier for our customers to get what they need, including transferring software licenses among federal entities.”

The three changes adjusted language related to term software, perpetual software license and software maintenance service contracts.

The updates better define term software as distinguished from software-as-a-service, include identification tags and transferability rights for perpetual software licenses, add utilization limitations across all three special item numbers and define commercial supplier agreements to include enterprise user license agreements and terms of service agreements.

Keep reading article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2019/04/17/how-gsa-is-making-software-contracts-more-like-commercial-sales/

June 24, 2016 By AMK

GSA doubles-down on commercial supplier and end-user license agreements

Recently, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) issued a proposed rule to codify a class deviation regarding GSA’s approach to common Commercial Supplier Agreement (“CSA”) and End User License Agreement (“EULA”) terms.

The class deviation has been previously addressed here and in an article for the Coalition for Government Procurement available here. While the Proposed Rule apparently is intended to assuage contractor concerns about the class deviation, it falls short of this goal, so contractors must remain vigilant if and when the Proposed Rule is finalized and GSA begins to attempt to implement it through contract modifications. Comments on the Proposed Rule are due by August 1, 2016.

Like the class deviation, the Proposed Rule would declare “unenforceable” 15 typical CSA/EULA terms and conditions that GSA believes are inconsistent with federal law. This change would thus allow GSA to ignore these clauses during negotiations, with the stated goal of reducing time and expense in negotiating CSAs/EULAs.

But the Proposed Rule does not stop there.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2016/06/gsa-proposed-rule-doubles-down-on-csaeula-deviation

June 23, 2016 By AMK

OMB issues guidance applying ‘category management’ strategy to software purchasing

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued another in a series of information technology (IT) policies to make the acquisition and management of common IT goods and services more efficient and save taxpayer dollars.

omb OMB’s new policy is another step toward leveraging better pricing from the $8 billion government agencies spend annually on PCs, software licenses, and mobile devices. In the past eight months, OMB issued policies on federal contracting for on workstations and mobile services.

Through more efficient “category management” buying practices, OMB reports that nearly $2 billion in savings have been realized since 2009 and the prices for laptop computers have dropped by as much as 50 percent. In addition, 700 duplicative professional services contracts have been eliminated.

The latest policy policy calls for agencies to move to a more centralized and collaborative software management approach. Agencies are required to appoint a software manager to: 1) centrally manage software buys and reduce underutilization, 2) maintain a continual inventory of software licenses and better track usage, 3) consolidate redundant applications, and 4) maximize the use of best-in-class solutions.

Moreover, OMB’s latest policy directive charges the Enterprise Software Category Team (ESCT) — a cross-governmental, cross-functional team of senior IT and acquisition professionals — to lead an effort and help break down silos in government IT acquisition actions to foster centralization and greater transparency. Specifically, the ESCT is to drive and monitor the development of government-wide software strategies, such as increasing the number and use of government-wide software agreements and improving software license management practices.

Access the new OMB policy here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2016/m-16-12_1.pdf.

The General Services Administration has adjusted some components of its IT Schedule 70 contract, the federal government’s largest IT purchasing vehicle, to give agencies a more efficient way to buy software services, the agency announced April 16.

Recently, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) issued a proposed rule to codify a class deviation regarding GSA’s approach to common Commercial Supplier Agreement (“CSA”) and End User License Agreement (“EULA”) terms.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued another in a series of information technology (IT) policies to make the acquisition and management of common IT goods and services more efficient and save taxpayer dollars.

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