DOD, GSA working on enterprise software contract

The Defense Department is working with the General Services Administration to create a standard contract that all agencies could use to create enterprise software agreements, which drive down the cost of software by allowing agencies to buy in bulk.

Rex Bolton, chairman of the Software Enterprise Initiative at DOD, said this week that DOD and GSA are working together to develop a template that would simplify the process of awarding enterprise software agreements, many of which are based on the GSA Federal Supply Schedule.

"If we put our heads together, I think we can come up with a [solution] to reduce the complexity," said Bolton, who spoke at the Federation of Government Information Processing Council conference in Falls Church, Va. Agencies that want to award an enterprise agreement could use the template as a starting point, he said.

DOD also is working with GSA to open its enterprise software agreements to other agencies.

By the end of this year Bolton said he hopes to have a policy memo signed by the DOD chief information officer that will strongly encourage the use of the software agreements the department has in place.

DOD has signed eight enterprise software agreements covering database, office automation and electronic records management products. More agreements, such as one for information assurance products and a "bulk buy" for electronic records management products, are expected.