Government departments must make more use of special
software licensing agreements struck by Office of Government
Commerce and major suppliers such as Microsoft, according to the
National Audit Office.The government's spending watchdog has praised
the OGC for negotiating Memoranda of Understanding on licensing
costs, first with Microsoft and then Sun Microsystems, Lotus/IBM,
Corel and Oracle.
Some 31 government departments have used the
MOU with Microsoft and five with other suppliers, producing £31m
savings in 10 months, according to the OGC.
However, the NAO said many government
departments and agencies had been slower than expected in taking up
the new pricing deals.
Government organisations should also be
"alert" to the price and other advantages as well as the risks of
using a variety of software suppliers, the NAO added.
It also urged the OGC to step up its efforts
to promote and monitor the use of the new pricing by
departments.
The report said government bodies departments
should maintain reliable information on expenditure on software and
supporting licences and check at least twice a year to ensure no
unlicensed software was being used.
It also said care must be taken to include the
price of purchasing, licensing and upgrading software as well as of
installation, retesting, problem solving and staff training in the
initial estimate of the cost of a new IT system.
It warned: "If all these are not taken into
account in purchasing decisions, the cost of the investment is
likely to be understated."