The Office of Management and Budget has implemented a policy that directs federal agencies to use a coordinated approach when they procure and manage commercial or commercial-off-the-shelf software.
U.S. Chief Acquisition Officer Anne Rung and Chief Information Officer Tony Scott wrote in a joint blog entry posted Thursday the policy is based on category management principles used in the private sector and seeks to help agencies centralize management of software licenses.
According to OMB’s memo on the new rule, the interagency Enterprise Software Category Team will oversee the creation of governmentwide software license agreements.
OMB manages the team with the General Services Administration and the Defense Department.
Under the policy, agencies must seek approval from ESCT to pursue software licensing agreements that will conflict or overlap with agreements mandated by the group.
OMB also requires that agencies develop plans on how they will implement ESCT’s upcoming mandated agreements.