Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) compatible computer procurements, focusing on: (1) the extent to which USDA procurements of mainframe computers and mainframe peripheral equipment required compatibility with certain computer manufacturers' equipment; and (2) USDA procurement methods.
GAO found that: (1) from fiscal year (FY) 1987 through FY 1989, 97 percent of 208 USDA mainframe and mainframe peripherals procurements required some type of compatibility; (2) USDA required compatibility with one manufacturer's equipment 90 percent of the time and that manufacturer supplied the equipment for 85 percent of those procurements; (3) for the 208 procurements, USDA obligated $64.6 million, including $53.2 million to one manufacturer; (4) for the 201 procurements that required some type of compatibility, USDA obligated $62 million, including $50.9 million for procurements involving that manufacturer's equipment; and (5) from FY 1987 through FY 1989, 6 of the 201 compatible procurements involved small disadvantaged businesses, and USDA obligated $800,000 to those procurements.
