GAO Says Cloud Buying Still Faces Cost and Data Problems at 24 Agencies

GAO says federal cloud buying is still being held back by outdated procurement rules, uneven cost data, and conflicting software guidance. The watchdog released report GAO-26-107530 on June 23, 2026.

In interviews with 24 selected federal agencies, 22 said they still rely mainly on historical procurement data when making cloud decisions. GAO says that is a problem because cloud services are billed by use, so agencies need better ways to track spending and value.

What is slowing agencies down

GAO says the Federal Acquisition Regulation still does not define cloud computing, the IT definition is still based on language last updated in 2004, and commercial-product language does not fit cloud buying well. The report also says OMB and NIST guidance on software bills of materials is not aligned enough, which can create extra work for agencies and vendors.

Multi-vendor cloud setups are another pressure point. GAO says 11 of the 24 selected agencies reported challenges with multi-vendor cloud solutions, including interoperability, staffing, management, and tooling demands.

What GAO wants changed

GAO wants Congress to consider updating statutory and regulatory definitions, and it wants GSA, DHS, and the Federal CIO Council to act on FinOps, SBOM guidance, and shared multi-cloud best practices. GAO says DHS concurred with its recommendation, while GSA disagreed and the CIO Council did not comment.

For taxpayers, the bottom line is that cloud contracts are a major recurring expense, but the government still lacks a clean, consistent framework for comparing costs, measuring savings, and managing risk.

Sources

• GAO report page: Cloud procurement report (GAO-26-107530)
• GAO full report: GAO-26-107530