Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act
The Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act would require federal agencies to take a formal, data-driven approach to managing software assets. Within 18 months, each agency must complete a comprehensive assessment of all software paid for, in use, or deployed, including entitlements, contracts, costs, interoperability, and any deployment restrictions. Agencies then must develop and submit a detailed modernization plan aimed at consolidating licenses, pursuing cost-effective acquisition strategies (like enterprise licensing), and tightening control over internal software purchases. The plan would emphasize automation, better governance, training, and efforts to improve interoperability across agency software. The bill also creates a framework for coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services (GSA), requires periodic reporting to Congress and GAO, and imposes a prohibition on spending for the act beyond existing funds. Overall, the bill seeks greater visibility, control, and efficiency in how the government buys, manages, and uses software assets.
Key Points
- 1Comprehensive software asset assessment requirement
- 2- Within 18 months, CIOs (with CFO, Acquisition, Data, and General Counsel input) must produce a detailed assessment of all agency software, including: current inventory, software entitlements, major licenses, contracts, deployment, and related costs (including cloud fees and life‑cycle costs), plus interoperability status and efforts to improve it.
- 3Modernization plan and governance
- 4- Each agency must develop a plan to consolidate entitlements, pursue cost-effective procurement (e.g., enterprise licensing), and restrict internal software purchases without CIO approval. The plan must cover remediation of any asset management deficiencies, ongoing maintenance, automated license management, and staff training on policies and options for licensing and deployment.
- 5Plan content requirements
- 6- The plan must address: remediation steps, automation and discovery tools, staff training on licensing options and data ownership restrictions, evaluation of open-source or enterprise licenses, cost/benefit estimates, potential mitigations for license restrictions, and measures to improve interoperability and governance.
- 7Standardization and coordination
- 8- The Director (OMB) in coordination with the Administrator (GSA) and federal CIO councils will harmonize definitions and requirements to support agencies in executing the plans; a joint report within two years will offer recommendations to improve interoperability, license consolidation, cost reduction, and modernization.
- 9Submission and oversight
- 10- Agencies must submit the comprehensive assessment to the agency head; within 30 days, the head must forward it to the Director, GSA Administrator, Comptroller General, and congressional committees. The agency plan must be submitted within one year of the comprehensive assessment. A GAO report will cover government-wide trends, agency comparisons, and compliance with contract-support restrictions.
- 11No new funding
- 12- The act explicitly states that no additional funds are authorized for its implementation; agencies would need to perform these activities within existing resources.
- 13Contracts for support
- 14- If external contractors are used to support the assessment, they must be independent of the agency’s software inventory management efforts and cannot have conflicts of interest as defined by FAR.