OMB lays out plans for five new SmartBuy deals

By Jason Miller

By Jason Miller

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The Office of Management and Budget clarified goals for the SmartBuy governmentwide software licensing program and detailed plans to put five enterprise deals in place by October.

The Office of Management and Budget yesterday clarified goals for the SmartBuy governmentwide software licensing program and detailed plans to put five enterprise deals in place by October.

In a memorandum to senior procurement executives , OMB said the General Services Administration's SmartBuy program office by May 31 will release a request for information about licenses for human resources, financial, grant, office automation and analytical software. Then, over the following four months, GSA will work out agreements with vendors.

The guidance will "enhance the ability of agencies to manage and to maximize the federal government's buying power," noted the memo from Karen Evans, OMB's administrator for e-government and IT.

The memo also laid out nine other actions agencies will be expected to take over the next year. Some of the interesting requirements include:

  • By March 15, agencies' CIOs and procurement chiefs must review all planned IT acquisitions for potential duplication with the 25 e-government initiatives.


  • By April 15, agencies must compile a list of all software acquisitions conducted last year. The list must include the name and version of the software, the number of licenses purchased, the lowest and highest price paid for the software, the total cost of software purchases and the average price paid for the software. Agencies must also give an estimate for software purchases planned this year.


  • At least 30 days before GSA awards a SmartBuy contract for a specific type of software, each agency must freeze comparable buys unless it obtains a waiver. Once the SmartBuy deal is in place, OMB will require agencies to use the contract unless an agency can offer specific and quantifiable reasons not to use the deal.


  • With each year's budget submissions, agencies must include a list of all projected software requirements for the next two fiscal years.


    • Jason Miller writes for Government Computer News magazine.

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