The Navy has cut $100 million from its information technology budget, the first steps in reducing its IT spend by $2 billion, department Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen said.
“We have to put in place a business IT operating system that’s going to cost the money we have left [after the $2 billion already taken from the budget] or it will end up coming out of mission money and we certainly don’t want that to happen,” Halvorsen said.
The savings look to come from a variety of areas:
- The department established the DON Enterprise Wireless Contracts in January 2011 with the intent of streamlining the department’s cellular purchasing habits. These contracts enable the DON to pool its cellular purchasing requirements to drive down costs and gain greater transparency into purchasing spending. Savings to date, Halvorsen said, amount to $30 million.
- Enterprise Licensing Agreement, which provides better spending visibility and keeps costs down by using software licenses that apply to the entire department rather than purchasing multiple licenses for various commands. The department has seen about $35 million saved from those efforts.
- The Navy is also saving money on printing costs, either by eliminating the need for printing or by employing multi-function devices that combine print, fax, copy and scan functions, rather than stand-alone printers. Halvorsen estimated the department would realize $200 million to $250 million in savings over the next five years.
