Agencies cut billions in IT spending

Agencywide reviews of information technology spending project government savings of $2.5 billion during the next three years, Office of Management and Budget acting Director Jeffrey Zients said in a blog post Wednesday.

The savings will come from 98 plans developed during PortfolioStat review sessions aimed at rooting out unnecessary, underperforming and duplicative programs and shifting to bulk-buying contracts with lower per unit costs, Zients said.

PortfolioStat, launched in March, was a successor to TechStat, a program of adapt-or-perish reviews for individual technology contracts that officials said has saved at least $4 billion since 2010.

“Today’s announcement is a critical next step on our aggressive path to deliver taxpayers the best bang for their buck, while putting an end to the kind of inefficiencies that plagued federal IT during past administrations,” he said. “Moving forward, we will be holding PortfolioStat sessions, not only to push agencies to execute on their plans in a timely manner, but also to identify additional areas of savings.”

Zients cited several specific savings plans that developed from PortfolioStat reviews:

• The Homeland Security Department will save $376 million over three years by buying IT infrastructure in bulk.
• The Social Security Administration will save $59 million by implementing an enterprisewide purchasing program. That includes saving more than $760 per computer.
• The Treasury Department will save $90.3 million by consolidating key financial management systems.