DOD to add more enterprise licensing

DOD Enterprise Software Initiative page

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Defense Department's Enterprise Software Initiative already includes dozens of agreements for products that have saved DOD billions of dollars over the past few years, and more help is on the way.

Dee Wardle, product leader for the Army Small Computer Program (ASCP) software licensing agreements, said the enterprise licenses that the Army manages have saved the service and DOD about $1.3 billion during the past three years, and that doesn't include the savings being generated by licenses managed by the other military services.

DOD's Enterprise Software Initiative is a joint project designed to identify, acquire, distribute and manage software that is common across an organization.

Wardle said the Army recently awarded an enterprise license to Popkin Software for its architecture tools, and four more enterprise deals are slated to be awarded in the near future:

* Information assurance, which is being led by the Air Force.

* Collaboration tools, being led by the Army.

* A deal involving IBM Corp.'s Lotus Notes, being led by the Navy.

* A deal with PeopleSoft Inc., a provider of enterprise resource planning solutions, also being led by the Navy.

"The hardest thing is pulling in requirements to know what you guys need and want," Wardle told the crowd during a June 3 panel at the ASCP Information Technology conference. She added that if DOD customers explain their requirements to the ASCP and its enterprise licensing counterparts in the other military services, then they can work to get them the best deal.