Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings

Fast Facts

Federal agencies buy thousands of software licenses annually.

Across the 24 agencies we examined, 10 vendors accounted for the majority of the most widely used licenses.

But it's unclear which products under those licenses are most widely used because of agencies' inconsistent and incomplete data. For example, multiple software products may be bundled into a single license with a vendor, and agencies may not have usage data for each product individually.

Without better data, agencies also don't know whether they have the right number of licenses for their needs. We recommended ways to help agencies better track their licenses and usage.

Various images such as a bar chart and a magnifying glass imposed over a laptop and cellphone.

Highlights

What GAO Found

Twenty-four federal agencies collectively identified 36 software vendors as those with the highest quantity of licenses installed, as of July 2022. Similarly, agencies reported 34 software vendors that were paid the highest amounts for fiscal year 2021 (see figure).

Software Vendors with the Highest Amounts Paid Reported by Agencies for Fiscal Year 2021

^aThe 23 vendors shown as 0.87 percent are Broadcom, Computer Associates International, Entrust, ESCgov, FCN, Four, Intelligent Editing, LinkedIn, Mercom, MicroStrategy, NCS Technologies, Palantir Technologies, PKWARE, PTC, Quest Software, SAS Institute, Skillsoft, Splunk, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, Unison Software, Zoom Video Communications, and Zscaler.

^bThe two vendors shown as 1.74 percent are Environmental Systems Research Institute and Google.

The most widely used and highest amounts paid for software products cannot be identified across the 24 agencies because agencies' license data for products were inconsistent and incomplete. For example, multiple software products within license agreements were not separately priced.

Key activities for assessing the appropriate number of software licenses are (1) tracking licenses currently in use and (2) regularly comparing the inventory of software licenses currently in use to purchase records. Conducting such activities can help avoid purchasing too many licenses—referred to as over-purchasing—or purchasing too few licenses that may result in additional fees—referred to as under-purchasing. None of the nine agencies selected based on the size of their IT budgets—the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, State, Veterans Affairs; the Office of Personnel Management; Social Security Administration; and U.S. Agency for International Development—fully determined that their five most widely used software licenses were over- or under-purchased.

Why GAO Did This Study

Each year, the federal government spends more than $100 billion on IT and cyber-related investments, including the purchase of software licenses. Federal agencies annually purchase thousands of software licenses from vendors.

GAO was asked to review federal agency software licenses. Its objectives were to identify (1) the most widely used and the highest amounts paid for software licenses by vendor and product, and (2) the extent to which selected agencies determined whether they purchased too many or too few software licenses.

GAO reviewed the 24 Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 agencies' self-reported data on their five most widely used and highest amounts paid for software licenses. GAO then ranked these by the number of instances agencies cited specific vendors and products across the government. In addition, GAO selected nine of these agencies based on the size of their IT budgets for further review. GAO compared documentation for these agencies' five most widely used licenses to key activities identified in federal guidance. GAO also interviewed responsible officials at each of the 24 agencies.

Recommendations

GAO is making 18 recommendations to nine agencies to consistently track software license usage and compare the inventories with purchased licenses. Eight agencies agreed with the recommendations and one neither agreed nor disagreed.

Recommendations for Executive Action

See All 18 Recommendations

Full Report

Highlights Page (1 page)

Full Report (62 pages)

Accessible PDF (89 pages)

GAO Contacts

Carol C. Harris

Director

Information Technology and Cybersecurity

harriscc@gao.gov

Media Inquiries

Sarah Kaczmarek

Managing Director

Office of Public Affairs

media@gao.gov

Public Inquiries

Topics

Information Technology

Asset managementCost savingsDecision makingFederal agenciesInformation technologyInventoryPurchasingSoftwareSoftware applicationsSoftware licenses

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 the recommendation. In December 2024, Agriculture developed a Standard Operating Procedure document to track license usage, but it states that the document will be updated or replaced when a Software Asset Management tool is implemented by the end of fiscal year 2025. As of January 2025, the department has not provided evidence demonstrating how it implemented the current procedures to consistently track software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
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 the recommendation. In December 2024, Agriculture developed a Standard Operating Procedure document on reconciling inventories of software licenses in use with purchased software licenses for its most widely licenses, but it states that the document will be updated or replaced when a Software Asset Management tool is implemented by the end of fiscal year 2025. As of January 2025, the department has not provided evidence demonstrating how the agency implemented its current procedures to compare the number of licenses in use with the number of licenses purchased to determine cost savings for the five widely used software licenses. 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. As of January 2025, Energy has begun a process to capture software licenses currently in use. Specifically, Energy officials stated that the department's recent efforts to capture software products for Departmental Elements in Energy's Enterprise Architecture repository have been completed for half of the elements supported by the Office of the Chief Information Officer and the remainder to be completed by the second quarter of fiscal year 2025. Therefore, the department has not demonstrated that it is consistently tracking software incense usage for its five widely used software licenses. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Energy	Priority Rec. 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. As of January 2025, Energy has begun a process to capture software products for Departmental Elements beginning with Headquarters elements. It will also use the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation monitoring tool and software manufacturers' sales reports to serve as a second and third validation point for the software inventory. However, Energy has not demonstrated that it is using this approach to compare the number of licenses in use with the number of licenses purchased for the most widely used software licenses. 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. As of February 2025, according to HUD officials, the department plans to finalize its Software License Management policy by March 31, 2025 and will detail the process for tracking software licenses that are currently in use. 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 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 Development (HUD) neither agreed nor disagreed with this recommendation. As of February 2025, according to HUD officials, the department has begun a process to leverage ServiceNow and Software Asset Management to compare software license inventory and purchases. It plans to fully implement the process by August 31, 2025. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Justice	The Attorney General should ensure that the Department of Justice consistently 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 7)	Open The Department of Justice agreed with this recommendation. In August 2024, Justice developed a Standards and Procedures document to track license usage. However, as of February 2025, it did not provide evidence demonstrating how it implemented the procedures to consistently track software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Justice	Priority Rec. The Attorney General should ensure that the Department of Justice 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 develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 8)	Open The Department of Justice agreed with this recommendation. In August 2024, Justice developed departmental standards and procedures for tracking license usage and reconciling licenses in use against financial records. To fully implement this recommendation, DOJ needs to demonstrate that it has implemented these procedures to compare its inventory of software licenses with known purchases for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. Until doing so, the department is likely to miss opportunities to reduce costs on duplicative or unnecessary licenses.
Department of State	The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency consistently 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 9)	Open The Department of State concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2025, State has begun to develop a Standard Operating Procedure document to outline its process for tracking software licenses usage for several vendors, but the department has not approved the document, and the document does not include procedures for tracking two of the widely used licenses. Additionally, while the department provided examples that the department is tracking the use of software licenses, it has not demonstrated that it is using its procedures to consistently track software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of State	The Secretary of State 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 develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 10)	Open The Department of State concurred with this recommendation. As of February 2025, State has begun to develop a Standard Operating Procedure document to outline its process for reconciling inventories of software licenses in use with purchased software licenses, but it has not been approved. Additionally, it has not provided evidence showing how the agency uses the procedures to compare the number of licenses in use with the number of licenses purchased for its widely used licenses to determine cost savings. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Veterans Affairs	The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 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 11)	Open The Department of Veterans Affairs agreed with this recommendation. In February 2025, the department reported that it is developing a system of record to track software license usage. The department plans to reach initial product state by June 30, 2025. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation
Department of Veterans Affairs	Priority Rec. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 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 12)	Open The Department of Veterans Affairs agreed with this recommendation. As of February 2025, VA said the agency implemented new procedures for 12 of the top 15 widely used software titles but it has yet to demonstrate that it has developed and implemented procedures to compare the number of licenses in use with the number of licenses purchased for the five widely used software licenses. Further, VA said that it plans to refine the system of record to match purchased licenses with licenses utilized, and to implement a centralized software approach to ensure software is tracked throughout its entire lifecycle. It anticipates implementing governance procedures to track software in accordance with new processes by June 30, 2025, in line with this recommendation. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Office of Personnel Management	The Director of OPM 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 13)	Open The Office of Personnel Management concurred with this recommendation. In August 2024, OPM officials stated that the agency has begun to gather requirements to develop an agency-wide repository of software licenses that will allow it to track software license usage. As of February 2025, OPM stated that it does not have any additional updates. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Office of Personnel Management	Priority Rec. The Director of OPM 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 14)	Open The Office of Personnel Management agreed with the recommendation. In August 2024, OPM officials stated that the agency has begun to gather requirements to develop an agency-wide repository of software licenses that will allow it to compare license usage to licenses purchased. As of February 2025, OPM stated that it does not have any additional updates. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Social Security Administration	The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration should ensure that the agency consistently 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 15)	Open The Social Security Administration agreed with this recommendation. In February 2025, the agency reported that it is developing an application that will track software license usage and include a function to compare software licenses against purchases records. The agency anticipates the application to be available in fiscal year 2026. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
Social Security Administration	Priority Rec. The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration 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 develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 16)	Open The Social Security Administration agreed with this recommendation. In February 2025, the agency reported that it is developing an application that will track software license usage and include a function to compare software licenses against purchases records. The agency anticipates the application to be available in fiscal year 2026. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
U.S. Agency for International Development	The Administrator of USAID should ensure that the agency consistently 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 17)	Open The U.S. Agency for International Development concurred with this recommendation. In November 2024, USAID developed a standard operating procedure document that includes a process for tracking software license usage. However, as of January 2025, the agency has not provided evidence demonstrating how it implemented the procedures to consistently track software licenses that are currently in use for its widely used licenses. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.
U.S. Agency for International Development	The Administrator of USAID 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 develop and implement procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 18)	Open The U.S. Agency for International Development concurred with this recommendation. In November 2024, USAID developed a standard operating procedure document that includes a process for comparing the inventories of software licenses currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs. However, as of January 2025, it did not provide evidence showing how the agency implemented its procedures to compare the number of licenses in use with the number of licenses purchased to determine cost savings for the five widely used software licenses. We will continue to monitor the agency's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.