The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just revealed that as part of their efficiency review, they were able to save $89 million in software licensing fees by renegotiating contracts with Microsoft and Oracle. $89 million that can be used elsewhere. Their IT budget in 2009 was $6.2 billion.
How did they do it? According to InformationWeek “The agency consolidated 487,000 licenses into a blanket software-and-maintenance agreement with Microsoft at a savings (or “cost avoidance”) of $87.5 million over the next six years. Separately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement consolidated 200 Oracle licenses into one “unlimited” license at a savings of $1.5 million over the next year.”
All government agencies should take a page from DHS’s book and follow suit. It’s wasted money to lack efficiencies, especially when we are talking budgets in the billions!