Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings
Fast Facts
Federal agencies buy thousands of software licenses annually.
Across the 24 agencies we examined, 10 vendors accounted for the majority of the most widely used licenses.
But it's unclear which products under those licenses are most widely used because of agencies' inconsistent and incomplete data. For example, multiple software products may be bundled into a single license with a vendor, and agencies may not have usage data for each product individually.
Without better data, agencies also don't know whether they have the right number of licenses for their needs. We recommended ways to help agencies better track their licenses and usage.
Highlights
What GAO Found
Twenty-four federal agencies collectively identified 36 software vendors as those with the highest quantity of licenses installed, as of July 2022. Similarly, agencies reported 34 software vendors that were paid the highest amounts for fiscal year 2021 (see figure).
Software Vendors with the Highest Amounts Paid Reported by Agencies for Fiscal Year 2021
aThe 23 vendors shown as 0.87 percent are Broadcom, Computer Associates International, Entrust, ESCgov, FCN, Four, Intelligent Editing, LinkedIn, Mercom, MicroStrategy, NCS Technologies, Palantir Technologies, PKWARE, PTC, Quest Software, SAS Institute, Skillsoft, Splunk, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Unison Software, Zoom Video Communications, and Zscaler.
bThe two vendors shown as 1.74 percent are Environmental Systems Research Institute and Google.
The most widely used and highest amounts paid for software products cannot be identified across the 24 agencies because agencies' license data for products were inconsistent and incomplete. For example, multiple software products within license agreements were not separately priced.
Key activities for assessing the appropriate number of software licenses are (1) tracking licenses currently in use and (2) regularly comparing the inventory of software licenses currently in use to purchase records. Conducting such activities can help avoid purchasing too many licenses—referred to as over-purchasing—or purchasing too few licenses that may result in additional fees—referred to as under-purchasing. None of the nine agencies selected based on the size of their IT budgets—the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, State, Veterans Affairs; the Office of Personnel Management; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development—fully determined that their five most widely used software licenses were over- or under-purchased.
Why GAO Did This Study
Each year, the federal government spends more than $100 billion on IT and cyber-related investments, including the purchase of software licenses. Federal agencies annually purchase thousands of software licenses from vendors.
GAO was asked to review federal agency software licenses. Its objectives were to identify (1) the most widely used and the highest amounts paid for software licenses by vendor and product, and (2) the extent to which selected agencies determined whether they purchased too many or too few software licenses.
GAO reviewed the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 agencies' self-reported data on their five most widely used and highest amounts paid for software licenses. GAO then ranked these by the number of instances agencies cited specific vendors and products across the government. In addition, GAO selected nine of these agencies based on the size of their IT budgets for further review. GAO compared documentation for these agencies' five most widely used licenses to key activities identified in federal guidance. GAO also interviewed responsible officials at each of the 24 agencies.
Recommendations
GAO is making 18 recommendations to nine agencies to consistently track software license usage and compare the inventories with purchased licenses. Eight agencies agreed with the recommendations and one neither agreed nor disagreed.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the agency tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, consistently implementing its procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 1) |
The Department of Agriculture generally concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Agriculture | The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should consistently implement its procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 2) |
The Department of Agriculture generally concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department statement that it is in the process of developing a new enterprise-wide process to consistently reconcile purchased licenses with active usage. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the agency consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, consistently implementing its procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 3) |
The Department of Energy concurred with this recommendation and stated that it plans to address our recommendations by, among other things, pursuing a new proactive strategy where software entitlements are captured in advance during the acquisition process combined with tracking through the deployment lifecycle. The department also states that the inventory of product suites procured will be periodically compared to the Master Device Records gathered by sites to identify variances between the installed software suites and the software entitlements. The department estimates completion by September 30, 2025. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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| Department of Energy |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the agency consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should consistently implement its procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 4) |
The Department of Energy concurred with this recommendation and stated that it plans to address our recommendations by, among other things, pursuing a new proactive strategy where software entitlements are captured in advance during the acquisition process combined with tracking through the deployment lifecycle. The department also states that the inventory of product suites procured will be periodically compared to the Master Device Records gathered by sites to identify variances between the installed software suites and the software entitlements. The department estimates completion by September 30, 2025. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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| Department of Housing and Urban Development | The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the agency tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 5) |
The Department of Housing and Urban Development neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. In comments to the draft report, an Audit Liaison Officer from the Office of the Chief Information Officer stated that it is in process of remediating the issue to develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Housing and Urban Development | The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 6) |
The Department of Housing and Urban Development neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. In comments to the draft report, an Audit Liaison Officer from the Office of the Chief Information Officer stated that it is in process of remediating the issue to develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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| Department of Justice | The Attorney General should ensure that the Department of Justice consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 7) |
The Department of Justice agreed with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Justice |
Priority Rec.
The Attorney General should ensure that the Department of Justice consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 8) |
The Department of Justice agreed with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department had no comments on the implementation status of this recommendation. Until the department consistently compares their inventories of software licenses in use to known purchases for each of their five most widely used software licenses, it is likely to miss opportunities to reduce costs on duplicative or unnecessary software licenses. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 9) |
The Department of State concurred with this recommendation and stated that it is in process of implementing a software solution that will consistently track software licenses currently in use. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 10) |
The Department of State concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department stated that it has implemented a software solution to consistently compare the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses. When we confirm the actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 11) |
The Department of Veterans Affairs agreed with this recommendation and stated that it will provide the detailed actions planned to address this recommendation by July 2024. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs |
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 12) |
The Department of Veterans Affairs agreed with this recommendation and stated that it will provide the detailed actions planned to address this recommendation by July 2024. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Office of Personnel Management | The Director of OPM should ensure that the agency consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, consistently implementing its procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 13) |
The Office of Personnel Management concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Office of Personnel Management |
Priority Rec.
The Director of OPM should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should consistently implement its procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 14) |
The Office of Personnel Management concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the agency stated that OPM's efforts to compare the inventory of current software licenses with information on purchased licenses are in progress. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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| Social Security Administration | The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the agency consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 15) |
The Social Security Administration agreed with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| Social Security Administration |
Priority Rec.
The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the agency consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 16) |
The Social Security Administration agreed with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the agency did not have an update on the implementation status of this recommendation. Until the agency consistently compares their inventories of software licenses in use to known purchases for each of their five most widely used software licenses, it is likely to miss opportunities to reduce costs on duplicative or unnecessary software licenses. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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| U.S. Agency for International Development | The Administrator of USAID should ensure that the agency consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 17) |
U.S. Agency for International Development concurred with this recommendation and stated that the agency recently implemented a software asset management solution to track software licenses purchased and is actively working on a process and an automated solution to consistently compare the inventories of software licenses in use to purchase records. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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| U.S. Agency for International Development | The Administrator of USAID should ensure that the agency consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 18) |
U.S. Agency for International Development concurred with this recommendation and stated that the agency recently implemented a software asset management solution to track software licenses purchased and is actively working on a process and an automated solution to consistently compare the inventories of software licenses in use to purchase records. As of March 2024, the agency stated that it plans to provide a statement of actions on this recommendation on July 27, 2024. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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