In a newly signed Executive Order, President Trump has mandated that agencies must justify their use of custom-developed software instead of choosing Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) alternatives. This move marks a significant pivot in how government IT will be planned, procured, and deployed in the years ahead.

And for good reason.

Custom or home grown software projects in the federal space have long been plagued by delays, ballooning costs, and inconsistent results. Meanwhile, agile, proven, and security-tested COTS platforms are helping agencies modernize faster and with less risk. The new EO brings federal IT strategy in line with the goals of the Delivering Operational Government Effectiveness (DOGE) initiative—calling for modernization that is cost-effective, less burdensome, and results-focused.

In a newly signed Executive Order, President Trump has mandated that agencies must justify their use of custom-developed software instead of choosing Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) alternatives. This move marks a significant pivot in how government IT will be planned, procured, and deployed in the years ahead.

And for good reason.

Custom or home grown software projects in the federal space have long been plagued by delays, ballooning costs, and inconsistent results. Meanwhile, agile, proven, and security-tested COTS platforms are helping agencies modernize faster and with less risk. The new EO brings federal IT strategy in line with the goals of the Delivering Operational Government Effectiveness (DOGE) initiative—calling for modernization that is cost-effective, less burdensome, and results-focused.

COTS Is the Path to Modernization, Not a Compromise

At Senzing, we’ve always believed that government agencies don’t need to reinvent the wheel to solve mission-critical problems, especially when it comes to entity resolution. With our plug-and-play Smarter Entity Resolution® software, agencies can immediately gain the power to de-duplicate and combine records containing people and organizations—without years of custom development work.

COTS doesn’t mean cookie-cutter. It means battle-tested solutions that evolve with the market, integrate easily with existing systems, and eliminate the technical debt tied to aging, homegrown codebases.

This Executive Order Speaks the Language of DOGE

Let’s break down how the EO aligns with key DOGE priorities:

• Cost Efficiency: COTS platforms like Senzing reduce the need for bespoke builds and ongoing maintenance, saving federal agencies millions in development and operations costs.
• Streamlining: By standardizing on proven technology, agencies can skip the R&D phase and go straight to implementation—accelerating time-to-value.
• Reducing Legacy Burden: Many custom systems are relics of a different IT era. COTS offers a path to retire outdated infrastructure and simplify operations.

Proving Mission Fit Without the Custom Overhead

Federal missions are too important to be delayed by custom code that can’t scale or adapt. Senzing ® entity resolution helps agencies deliver faster results in:

• Fraud detection and prevention
• Real time threat detection
• Intelligence and investigations
• Sanctions enforcement and compliance
• Citizen services modernization

All with a COTS platform that’s built for government, deployable in hours, and optimized for real-time performance.

The Bottom Line

This Executive Order isn’t just a cost-cutting measure, it’s a call to focus on outcomes. Agencies should be able to justify not just their tools, but the time and taxpayer dollars behind them.

COTS solutions like Senzing are ready to meet the mission, deliver results, and align with both fiscal responsibility and modern security standards.

Let’s leave the custom builds to the software vendors—and bring federal IT into the future, faster.