Strengthening Agency Management and Oversight of Software Assets Act

Key Points

• Within 18 months of enactment, each federal agency must do a detailed review of all software it pays for or uses, including unused licenses and extra cloud fees.
• Agencies must report their findings to federal oversight offices and to Congress, aiming to spot duplicate tools, waste, and hidden costs in software contracts.
• Agencies must create a modernization plan to consolidate software licenses, set buying rules that reduce extra licenses, and improve how well different software works together.
• The plan can limit smaller parts of an agency from buying or building software without approval from the agency’s top technology official, to avoid one-off and duplicate purchases.
• The Government Accountability Office must later review government-wide trends and how well agencies follow these requirements; the bill provides no new funding to do the work.