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Panoptic Enterprises' FEDERAL CONTRACTS DISPATCH

DATE: January 29, 2002

SUBJECT: Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS); Enterprise Software Agreements

SOURCE: Federal Register, January 29, 2002, Vol. 67, No. 19, page 4231

AGENCIES: Department of Defense (DOD)

ACTION: Proposed Rule

SYNOPSIS: DOD is proposing to add DFARS Subpart 208.74, Enterprise Software Agreements, to address the use of "enterprise software agreements" for the acquisition of commercial software and software maintenance in accordance with the DOD Enterprise Software Initiative.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be submitted by April 1, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Respondents may submit comments directly on the web site at http://emissary.acq.osd.mil/dar/dfars.nsf/pubcomm. As an alternative, respondents may e-mail comments to: dfars@acq.osd.mil. Also, respondents who cannot submit comments through the web site or by e-mail may submit comments to Defense Acquisition Regulations Council, Attn: Susan Schneider, OUSD(AT&L)DP(DAR), IMD 3C132, 3062 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-3062, or by fax to 703-602-0350. Cite DFARS Case 2000-D023 when making comments on this proposed rule.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Schneider, 703-602-0326.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: The DOD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) promotes the use of enterprise software agreements (ESAs) with contractors that allow DOD to obtain favorable terms and pricing for commercial software and related services. This proposed rule would add a new DFARS Subpart 208.74 to address the use of ESAs for the acquisition of commercial software and software maintenance in accordance with the initiative.

DFARS Subpart 208.74 would consist of the following four sections:

• DFARS 208.7400, Scope of Subpart, which would state that the subpart prescribes "policy and procedures for acquisition of commercial software and software maintenance, including software and software maintenance that is acquired (a) as part of a system or system upgrade; (b) under a service contract; (c) under a contract administered by another agency; (d) under an interagency agreement; or (e) by a contractor that is authorized to order from a government supply source pursuant to FAR 51.101 [Policy]".
  
  
• DFARS 208.7401, Definitions, would include definitions for an ESA ("a blanket purchase agreement or a contract that is used to acquire designated commercial software or related services such as software maintenance"); the ESI ("an initiative led by the DOD Chief Information Officer to develop processes for DOD-wide software asset management"); "Golden Disk" ("a purchased license or entitlement to distribute an unlimited or bulk number of copies of software throughout DOD"); and "software product manager" (" the person who manages an enterprise software agreement").
  
  
• DFARS 208.7402, General, would require departments and agencies to "fulfill requirements for commercial software and related services, such as software maintenance, in accordance with the DOD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI). ESI promotes the use of enterprise software agreements (ESA) with contractors that allow DOD to obtain favorable terms and pricing for commercial software and related services."
  
  
• DFARS 208.7403, Acquisition Procedures, would require that commercial software rights or maintenance be obtained "from available existing DOD inventories (e.g., Golden Disks and DOD-wide software maintenance agreements) before proceeding with an acquisition. DOD inventories and other ESI information are listed on the ESI website at http://www.don-imit.navy.mil/esi." It would state, "If the required commercial software or related service is not in the DOD inventory, or not on an ESA, the contracting officer or requiring official may fulfill the requirement by other means...If the commercial software or related service is on an ESA, the contracting officer or requiring official must review the terms and conditions and prices. If an ESA's terms and conditions and prices represent the best value to the government, the contracting officer or the requiring official must fulfill the requirement for supplies or services through the ESA. If existing ESAs do not represent the best value to the government, the software product manager (SPM) must be given an opportunity to provide the same or a better value to the government under the ESAs before the contracting officer or requiring official may continue with alternate acquisition methods."

In addition, Table 51-1, Authorization To Purchase From Government Supply Sources, in DFARS 251.102, Authorization to Use Government Supply Sources, as well as DFARS 252.251-7000, Ordering From Government Supply Sources, would be revised to address ESAs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Panoptic Enterprises at 703-451-5953 or by e-mail to Panoptic@FedGovContracts.com.

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