The Department of the Navy has already taken steps to reduce information technology costs and cut its overall business IT budget by $2 billion over the next five years.
Data center consolidation and greater scrutiny of IT purchases like mobile devices and software are expected to cut costs, said Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen in an interview.
“That money has been taken out of those lines for accounting that would support buying those services,” Halvorsen said. “We’re beginning the execution in 2012,” but the savings run from 2013 to 2017.
Following Halvorsen’s orders, both services have appointed a so-called Information Technology Expenditure Approval Authority to approve any IT software, hardware or service with a projected lifecycle cost of $1 million or more.
The services, however, have clamped down even further. Any Navy IT purchase of at least $250,000 must be approved. Marine Corps purchases between $25,000 and $155,000 must be approved.
Read more about the Department of the Navy IT savings here.