The end of the federal fiscal year is fast approaching, and for many government agencies, that means there is IT money to spend, and to spend quickly. If budgeted funds are not spent by Sept. 30, the money will have to be sent back to the Treasury, and no government IT manager wants that to happen.

Govinfosecurity.com reports that 20 percent of IT purchases made by the federal government take place in September--the final month of the fiscal year. Market intelligence firm INPUT estimates that this one month spending spree by government agencies will total about $15 billion.

Retired Air Force General Charlie Coomer, the former director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, and now a vice president at Lockheed Martin, told the publication that many of the government's last-minute IT purchases are commercial, off-the-shelf products.

He also warned that some could prove wasteful because they're not well integrated into government IT systems and require costly "after-the-buy" operation and maintenance support costs.

For more on end of the fiscal year for IT:
- see this govinfosecurity.com blog