Tasked with accelerating federal IT modernization, the Department of Defense (DoD) faces a critical challenge: rapidly acquiring and deploying essential software applications to maintain a strategic edge, while ensuring compliance, oversight, and cybersecurity. Traditional acquisition models—encumbered by rigid regulations and fragmented oversight—often impede the agility required for modern defense operations, especially under the pressure of evolving software acquisition pathways.
On May 1, the Pentagon officially launched the Software Fast Track (SWIFT) program—an initiative designed to accelerate software acquisition by leveraging artificial intelligence to replace legacy Authority to Operate (ATO) and Risk Management Framework (RMF) processes. Authorized through a memo signed by Acting DoD CIO Katie Arrington, SWIFT represents a major shift in how the Department of Defense approaches software vetting and deployment.
Drags on Federal IT Modernization: Visibility and Control Gaps
Federal IT modernization demands faster, more agile software acquisition and deployment. Yet, federal agencies continue to face bureaucratic obstacles that hinder progress. Compounding the challenge is the widespread lack of real-time visibility into software usage across departments. Without comprehensive utilization data, program managers and IT stakeholders are often forced to make decisions based on assumptions—leading to:
- Overprovisioning or underutilization of licenses, resulting in wasted resources.
- Procurement delays, as teams struggle to justify expenditures without concrete usage data.
- Increased security vulnerabilities, due to unmanaged or obsolete software.
- Operational bottlenecks, when essential licenses are inaccessible to mission-critical teams.
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlighted that the federal government spends $100 billion on IT, with over half allocated to software. However, agencies often lack detailed insights into software usage, hindering cost optimization efforts.
With the DoD investing in the faster Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP), these inefficiencies are no longer tolerable. Leaders need actionable data fast.
Balancing Speed and Accountability
The DoD’s pivot toward SWIFT reinforces its commitment to speed—but this shift must be grounded in transparency, auditability, and control. Under the software acquisition pathway, every software license must be traceable, compliant, and financially accountable.
This reality demands a paradigm shift in software license management—from reactive practices to proactive strategies that generate actionable insights at every level of the acquisition lifecycle.
Where Open iT Makes a Strategic Difference
Open iT works with federal agencies and contractors, including NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory—to deliver deep, actionable insights into software license usage. This extends beyond server-level monitoring to include usage patterns by individual users, sessions, and even features. But this isn’t just about tracking usage—it’s about enabling mission-driven, data-backed decisions that align with federal IT modernization goals.
We help DoD stakeholders
- Understand what’s truly being used—and what isn’t—across engineering and mission systems
- Align license procurement with actual operational needs, reducing waste
- Support faster acquisition cycles with real-time data to back up funding requests
- Enable smarter shifts to cloud, subscription, or named-user models, with confidence in impact
- Maintain compliance with evolving license terms and federal regulations
Open iT’s tools aggregate data from various sources, capturing detailed usage metrics from servers, workstations, and cloud environments. Integration with systems like Active Directory and SAP enables the correlation between business and IT data, creating comprehensive reports on license usage by location, cost center, or project.
Data-Driven Acquisition: A Catalyst for Reform
When you can map license usage to mission outcomes, justify spend with precision, and model what-if scenarios for new entitlement strategies, you’re no longer guessing—you’re leading.
Open iT empowers acquisition leaders to:
- replace assumptions with audit-ready data,
- identify roadblocks before they stall progress,
- streamline renewals, reallocations, and transitions to new models, and
- support compliance without slowing delivery
This is not simply a tool—it is a strategic enabler. One that ensures speed and control work in tandem across the entire software acquisition pathway.
Looking Ahead
The DoD doesn’t have to choose between speed and security. With the right visibility and intelligence, it can have both. That’s the new frontier of software acquisition—and Open iT is helping defense leaders get there.
If you’re navigating the pressure to move fast, stay compliant, and deliver mission outcomes, now’s the time to get visibility that drives action.
Let’s talk about how Open iT can support your mission. Contact us today.
