The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that federal agencies “varied in their efforts” to execute category management procedures to prevent duplication in information technology contracts.
GAO said in a recently published report that most of the seven agencies it reviewed had fully or partially implemented activities recommended by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prevent, identify and reduce IT contract duplications. Three agencies had not implemented spend analysis procedures in line with the OMB-recommended practices, the watchdog noted.
According to GAO, contract duplication occurs when agencies award two or more contracts to the same vendor or different vendors offering similar products or services. Duplication also occurs when agencies issue new contracts for projects that could be categorized under contract vehicles.
Agencies reported a significant amount of savings resulting from category management practices, while others cited challenges such as ongoing efforts to establish strategies for integrating such activities into agency operations, GAO noted.
“Until agencies ensure that their efforts to prevent, identify, and reduce duplicative IT contracts are fully aligned with category management principles and practices, and are informed by spend analyses, they will be at increased risk of wasteful spending,” the report states.
