The US Central Intelligence Agency told software vendors at a conference that it intends to radically change the way it does business with them, saying it wants to keep up with the rapid strides being made in the field of technology.
CIA top technology officer Ira "Gus" Hunt stated that rather than continue with the traditional deals known as "enterprise licensing agreements," the agency wants to buy software services on a "metered," pay-as-you-go basis, according to the Reuters.
Speaking at a conference on emerging technologies organized by the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association’s Washington D.C. chapter, he praised Amazon’s model where the inventory is massive but the billing is per item and added that it was worthy of replication.
Hunt said the old way of contracting for proprietary software inhibits flexibility, postponing the CIA’s chance to take advantage of emerging capabilities early on.
He added that this made it harder to handle "big data" at a time that such challenges are growing while federal agencies are tightening their belts for deficit reduction.
CIA Spokesman Preston Golson said it does not comment on how much CIA spends on its software licenses nor other details of its budget because they are classified.
