FEDERAL SOFTWARE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85B01152R000700910073-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 27, 2008
• Sequence Number: 73
• Publication Date: January 7, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

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5041-102 OPTIONAL FORM 41 (Rev. 7-76)
Prescribed by GSA
FPMR (41 CFR) 101-11.206
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ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
SUBJECT: (Optional)
Federal Software Exchange Program i-~
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EXTENSION
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Acting Director of Data Processin
DATE
10 January 1983
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AJONISTRATIVE-INTERNAL USE C4PY
0 7 JAN 1983
MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Administration
Acting Director Ot Data Processing
STAT
SUBJECT: Federal Software Exchange Program
REFERENCE: Letter to DDA frm Acting Director, Office of
Software Development, GSA, dtd 15 Dec 82
1. You asked us about our familiarity with and partici-
pation in the Federal Software Exchange Program (FSEP). This
program, managed by the Office of Software Development in GSA,
collects and disseminates software developed by Federal
agencies. ODP has been aware of this program since it was
instituted and we regularly receive the catalog of available
software (the Federal Software Exchange Catalog). Frankly, to
date, we have not found this program particularly useful.
2. CIA already has a series of programs relating to car-
tography on the list of available software (see Attachment I).
In the past, CIA personnel have also submitted other software.
As the correspondence in Attachment II indicates, for one reason
or the other, this software has been withdrawn. To our
knowledge, the Agency has never been able to find any software
which adequately meets any of our requirements from this source.
3. In addition, ADP Control officers have been notified
when updated catalogs have been received so they are aware of the
availability of this service. Notification was last performed in
October of 1981 (see Attachment III). We will again remind ADP
Control Officers of the FSEP when we receive the next catalog.
FSEP personnel indicate that this will be in February 1983. We
have considered making the catalog available to ADP Control
Officers but we are hampered by the purchase price ($75 per
copy). We will continue to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of
reproducing copies for distribution.
4. In our opinion, this program is of limited value. The
program looks for common-use software that may be of interest to
users in other agencies. Due to ODP's emphasis on large-scale
specialized software development projects, common-use
applications software suitable for the FSEP is more typically
available from customer offices than ODP. The mapping software,
for example, was submitted at the request of the then OGCR
customer office because of outside interest in this unclassified
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ASNISTRATIVE-INTERNAL USE O'
SUBJECT: Federal Software Exchange Program
application. We will continue to keep customer officers aware of
the program but we can do no more than encourage them to
participate. Any CIA participation will, of course, also be
limited by security and proprietary considerations.
5. ODP uses other mechanisms for making software available
to Government and private entities. Because the resource
implications of this type of support can be large, we have to be
quite careful as to whom we support and why. We obviously expect
some tangible benefits. Examples of specialized exchanges are
TADS support and GIMS support. Our support requirements in these
instances are larger than with FSEP, but the benefits to the
recipient and the return to the Agency are significant. We
assist five Government entities with GIMS support and share TADS
software with two others. Another example of ODP software
sharing is our participation in the IBM user group known as
SHARE. Unclassified VM software enhancements are routinely made
available to other VM users through the exchange program run by
SHARE. Participants in this program are generally sophisticated
installations and software is exchanged through very
knowledgeable systems programming personnel. In this
environment, support requirements are minimal and the return in
good-will and access to other installation VM enhancements judged
to be worth the cost.
6. In our judgment, there are several good reasons why the
program is not routinely used for the acquisition of software.
First, the available software is limited. Second, since there
are only limited incentives for the supplying Agency to maintain
the software and documentation, the software, in general, cannot
be considered truly supported. (In fact, there are no guarantees
that the software and documentation were ever adequate.) Use of
unsupported software is fraught with difficulties and any so-
called cost savings can rapidly disappear. Finally, the software
is not free. Prices range from $110 to $1200. This cost and the
associated procurement effort discourages experimentation.
7. ODP will continue to routinely monitor developments in
this area by subscribing to the catalog. This office will also
keep ADP Control Officers informed of the FSEP and the
requirements both to make internally developed unclassified
software available and to search the catalog (on file in the ODP
Management Staff) for applicable software prior to initiating in-
house development or a procurement action.
Att: a/s
STAT
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