Skip to main content

Information Technology

Jump To:

Recent Reports

View More Reports

Open Recommendations

Information Technology: IRS Needs to Complete Planning and Improve Reporting for Its Modernization Programs
GAO-24-106566
Mar 19, 2024
Show
3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should complete the enterprise roadmap and ensure it addresses the strategic operating plan's technology objective. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should complete plans for its modernization programs that include (1) milestones to complete the modernization, (2) a description of the work necessary to complete the modernization, and (3) details regarding the disposition of the legacy system, if applicable. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should include information including a history of programs' cost and schedule goals and showing how the quarterly cost and schedule performance aligns with fiscal year and overall goals for the programs in its quarterly reports to Congress. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings
GAO-24-105717
Jan 29, 2024
Show
18 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the agency tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, consistently implementing its procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Agriculture generally concurred with this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should consistently implement its procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of Agriculture generally concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department statement that it is in the process of developing a new enterprise-wide process to consistently reconcile purchased licenses with active usage. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the agency consistently tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, consistently implementing its procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 3)
Open
The Department of Energy concurred with this recommendation and stated that it plans to address our recommendations by, among other things, pursuing a new proactive strategy where software entitlements are captured in advance during the acquisition process combined with tracking through the deployment lifecycle. The department also states that the inventory of product suites procured will be periodically compared to the Master Device Records gathered by sites to identify variances between the installed software suites and the software entitlements. The department estimates completion by September 30, 2025. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Energy The Secretary of Energy should ensure that the agency consistently compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should consistently implement its procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 4)
Open
The Department of Energy concurred with this recommendation and stated that it plans to address our recommendations by, among other things, pursuing a new proactive strategy where software entitlements are captured in advance during the acquisition process combined with tracking through the deployment lifecycle. The department also states that the inventory of product suites procured will be periodically compared to the Master Device Records gathered by sites to identify variances between the installed software suites and the software entitlements. The department estimates completion by September 30, 2025. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the agency tracks software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses by, at a minimum, developing and implementing procedures for tracking license usage. (Recommendation 5)
Open
The Department of Housing and Urban Development neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. In comments to the draft report, an Audit Liaison Officer from the Office of the Chief Information Officer stated that it is in process of remediating the issue to develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 6)
Open
The Department of Housing and Urban Development neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. In comments to the draft report, an Audit Liaison Officer from the Office of the Chief Information Officer stated that it is in process of remediating the issue to develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

DOD Software Licenses: Better Guidance and Plans Needed to Ensure Restrictive Practices Are Mitigated
GAO-23-106290
Sep 12, 2023
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the DOD CIO, in coordination with ESI, to update and implement guidance and plans to fully address identifying, analyzing, and mitigating the impacts of restrictive software licensing practices on cloud computing efforts. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Defense (DOD) concurred with this recommendation. As of November 2023, DOD has not yet implemented guidance and plans to fully address identifying, analyzing, and mitigating the impacts of restrictive software licensing practices on cloud computing efforts. DOD officials stated that the Office of the Chief Information Officer plans to issue guidance, including a clear restrictive software licenses definition and addressing remaining gaps identified in this report, by the end of fiscal year 2024. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

Cloud Computing: DOD Needs to Improve Tracking of Data User Fees
GAO-23-106247
Sep 12, 2023
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should direct the DOD Chief Information Officer to develop a plan and time frame for adopting a tool to track and report cloud data egress fees across the department. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Department of Defense concurred with our recommendation. In its response, DOD stated that by the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, it will develop a plan to expand the department's cloud financial operations efforts to include the management of data egress fees. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts in this area.
View More Recommendations

Related Pages