Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | ddunfee.. |
Date: | Wed, 4 Jun 2003 15:01:16 -0400 |
Content-Type: | TEXT/PLAIN |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
If software purchasing is to be centralized now, it should be much easier
to press the access provisions of the various laws. Here is the perfect
issue for the various blindness advocacy groups to act in concert.
Microsoft and others cann't ignore this buying power.
Feds launch government-wide software purchasing pool
By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press
(Published June 2' 2003)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration began a government-wide
purchasing program for computer products Monday, in part to keep
agencies from overpaying for software.
More than $100 million could be saved each year through joint agency
use of the best-price software, the administration said.
The program will end the practice of agencies negotiating separate
licenses to buy software, department chiefs were told in a memo by
Mitch Daniels, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Different agencies paid between $200 and $500 for the same desktop
software, the government found. Another problem was created when
agencies bought different versions of computer products.
"The broad mosaic of different software versions ... increases the
difficulty and cost of securing federal computers," Daniels said.
"There can be no doubt, therefore, that the federal government can
become a smarter buyer of commercial software."
The "SmartBUY" initiative will have a team to negotiate new technology
licenses by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The goal is "to
assure that the federal government is leveraging its immense buying
power to achieve the maximum cost savings and best quality" of
software, Daniels said.
The purchases will include commercial off-the-shelf software that
currently is acquired through license agreements that vary in terms
and price, according to volume.
"Agencies should, to the maximum extent practicable, refrain from
entering into any new or renewal software licensing agreements pending
a review by OMB and the SmartBUY initiative team," Daniels' memo said.
"These steps are necessary to better manage information technology
resources and save taxpayer dollars."
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
|
|
|