How DHS cut costs: Software recycling, contract consolidation -- FCW

Click here to receive FCW magazine for FREE!

How DHS cut costs: Software recycling, contract consolidation

Napolitano says department is saving money through IT recycling and other measures

By Alice Lipowicz
Jul 01, 2009

Secretary Janet Napolitano said the Homeland Security Department is saving money by recycling software, consolidating contracts and pursuing other cost-cutting measures.

For example, the Coast Guard saved $1.7 million by consolidating 10 support contracts into three, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials expect to save $130,000 by replacing on-site management training with teleconferences, according to a news release issued June 26.

Furthermore, the Transportation Security Administration is recycling underused software applications to save $433,000 by avoiding new software purchases.

In February, Napolitano directed the leaders of all 22 DHS agencies to identify past and current efforts to improve efficiency and launch new ones.

About the Author

Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week.

E-Mail this page

Printable Format

Advanced Search

New from FCW

Leaked budget document shows MGT funding in place

Forcing culture change at DOD

Data center optimization savings falls short

White House to target 'weakest links' in federal networks

Court strikes down FAA's drone registration rule

Microsoft says it's all patched up

Court strikes down FAA's drone registration rule

Forcing culture change at DOD

Do feds make too much money?

The Fed 100

Read the profiles of all this year's winners.

Click here for more

Featured

$500M IT modernization bill passes House

The Modernizing Government Technology Act passed the House of Representatives on a voice vote, but the Senate outlook is less certain.
MGT Act headed for House vote with slimmed-down CBO score

The revised IT modernization bill will cost $500 million to implement, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Rogers: 'cyber war' is here to stay

The head of U.S. Cyber Command told senators that the Trump administration is looking to speed up the tempo of cyber operations.
Census director resigns amid 2020 prep

As the Census Bureau stares down a critical and jam-packed 2017 schedule, Director John Thompson announced his retirement, effective June 30.
Note to the White House: Wall Street is watching

Concerns about the Trump administration's plans for the 2018 budget and slow pace of appointments are showing up in contractor earnings calls.
Can the Census Bureau really deliver $5 billion in savings?

Unexpected cost overruns to critical systems and decisions to cancel or suspend various programs risk eating into the $5 billion in savings proposed by Census Bureau for its 2020 count.

Reader comments

Thu, Jul 2, 2009 Peter G. Tuttle, CPCM

Unfortunately, many times agency contract consolidation initiatives, if not managed correctly, can result in further loss of opportunity and work for our nation's small businesses. Hopefully, DHS is sensitive to this and will be able to demonstrate to the public and congressional leaders that small business is not adversely impacted by these consolidation activities.

Please post your comments here. Comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately after submitting. We will not post comments that we consider abusive or off-topic.

Name: (Optional) Email: (Optional) Location: (Optional)

Your Comment:

Please type the letters/numbers you see above