Sec. 4. Software modernization planning at agencies
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/bill/118/hr/1695/eh/section-4A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Chief Information Officer of each agency, in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Acquisition Officer, the Chief Data Officer, and the General Counsel of the agency, or the equivalent officials of the agency, shall use the information developed pursuant to the comprehensive assessment of the agency to develop a plan for the agency— to consolidate software entitlements of the agency; to ensure that, in order to improve the performance of, and reduce unnecessary costs to, the agency, the Chief Information Officer, Chief Data Officer, and Chief Acquisition Officer of the agency, or the equivalent officers, develop criteria and procedures for how the agency will adopt cost-effective acquisition strategies, including enterprise licensing, across the agency that reduce costs, eliminate excess licenses, and improve performance; and to restrict the ability of a bureau, program, component, or operational entity within the agency to acquire, use, develop, or otherwise leverage any software entitlement (or portion thereof) without the approval of the Chief Information Officer of the agency, in consultation with the Chief Acquisition Officer of the agency, or the equivalent officers of the agency.
The plan of an agency shall— include a detailed strategy for— the remediation of any software asset management deficiencies found during the comprehensive assessment of the agency; the ongoing maintenance of software asset management upon the completion of the remediation; automation of software license management processes and incorporation of discovery tools across the agency; ensuring that officers and employees of the agency are adequately trained in the policies, procedures, rules, regulations, and guidance relating to the software acquisition and development of the agency before entering into any agreement relating to any software entitlement (or portion thereof) for the agency, including training on— negotiating options within contracts to address and minimize provisions that restrict how the agency may deploy, access, or use the software, including restrictions on deployment, access, or use on desktop or server hardware and restrictions on data ownership or access; the differences between acquiring commercial software products and services and acquiring or building custom software; and determining the costs of different types of licenses and options for adjusting licenses to meet increasing or decreasing demand; and maximizing the effectiveness of software deployed by the agency, including, to the extent practicable, leveraging technologies that— measure actual software usage via analytics that can identify inefficiencies to assist in rationalizing software spending; allow for segmentation of the user base; support effective governance and compliance in the use of software; and support interoperable capabilities between software; identify categories of software the agency could prioritize for conversion to more cost-effective software licenses, including enterprise licenses, as the software entitlements, contracts, and other agreements or arrangements come up for renewal or renegotiation; provide an estimate of the costs to move toward more enterprise, open-source, or other licenses that do not restrict the use of software by the agency, and the projected cost savings, efficiency measures, and improvements to agency performance throughout the total software lifecycle; identify potential mitigations to minimize software license restrictions on how such software can be deployed, accessed, or used, including any mitigations that would minimize any such restrictions on desktop or server hardware, through a cloud service provider, or on data ownership or access; ensure that the purchase by the agency of any software is based on publicly available criteria that are not unduly structured to favor any specific vendor, unless prohibited by law (including regulation); include any estimates for additional resources, services, or support the agency may need to implement the plan; provide information on the prevalence of software products in use across multiple software categories; and include any additional information, data, or analysis determined necessary by the Chief Information Officer, or other equivalent official, of the agency.
The Chief Information Officer, or other equivalent official, of an agency may request support from the Director and the Administrator for any analysis or developmental needs to create the plan of the agency. Not later than 1 year after the date on which the head of an agency submits the comprehensive assessment pursuant to section 3(d), the head of the agency shall submit to the Director, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives the plan of the agency.
Not later than 1 year after the date on which the head of an element of the intelligence community submits the summary assessment pursuant to section 3(f)(4), the head of the element shall separately submit the plan of the element to the Director, the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives. The Director— in coordination with the Administrator, the Chief Information Officers Council, the Chief Acquisition Officers Council, the Chief Data Officers Council, the Chief Financial Officers Council, and other government and industry representatives identified by the Director, shall establish processes, using existing reporting functions, as appropriate, to identify, define, and harmonize common definitions, terms and conditions, standardized requirements, and other information and criteria to support agency heads in developing and implementing the plans required by this section; and in coordination with the Administrator, and not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives a report detailing recommendations to leverage Government procurement policies and practices with respect to software acquired by, developed by, deployed within, or in use at 1 or more agencies to— increase the interoperability of software licenses, including software entitlements and software built by Government agencies; consolidate licenses, as appropriate; reduce costs; improve performance; and modernize the management and oversight of software entitlements and software built by Government agencies, as identified through an analysis of agency plans.