NSA Methods of Acquiring Automatic Data Processing Equipment

A review was undertaken by GAO of the methods of acquiring automatic data processing (ADP) equipment at the National Security Agency. The review included several major ADP configurations, of which some were owned and some were leased, with a value in the tens of millions of dollars.

Two areas were noted that have potential for substantial dollar savings in the leasing of certain ADP equipment. The first savings could be realized by acquiring the necessary equipment under a full payout lease from a commercial leasing firm or from the manufacturer. Due to the advanced technological state of these computers, a very high probability exists that there will be a secondary user available within the Government when the agency determines that the use of these computers is no longer required. Another potential area for savings is the leasing of peripheral ADP equipment components from other than the computer manufacturer. Certain independent companies have marketed equipment that is compatible with the computers produced by the large manufacturers. These parts can immediately replace the manufacturer's components at a much lower cost. It is estimated that a 30 percent annual savings could result if this plan were adopted.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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