Three Key Takeaways from the President’s FY17 Budget Request
February 11, 2016 Leave a comment
Although it probably feels like FY16 just arrived (in part because, well, it did just arrive), industry received a timely reminder this week via the President’s FY17 budget request that now is the time to start thinking long-term.
While it’s tempting to overlook this request — since it’s the last one made under the current administration — those of us in the IT community should pay close attention to the IT-specific sections of this request. There’s a lot in the request that has bipartisan appeal, and one proposal in particular could up end most of what we currently know about selling IT to the government.
Here are three key points from the President’s FY17 budget request you should know:
- A $3.1 billion multi-year fund for IT modernization is in the works
This is the greatest departure from current practice, and if implemented, could dramatically affect the way government buys IT. This fund would be carried forward by reinvesting long-term savings on maintenance spend — so it would both free up and incentivize federal customers to invest in innovative technology and finally, combat the rise of steady state expenditure (which makes up more than 70% of the FY17 IT request).