Preparing Your Federal ITAM Program for a Government Shutdown: Complete Guide
The essential steps to protect your ITAM operations, prevent compliance violations, and ensure rapid recovery
The agencies that weather government shutdowns most effectively share one common characteristic: they prepared in advance.
When you have 30 to 60 days before a potential shutdown, you have a valuable window to take actions that prevent costly problems, maintain critical operations, and dramatically reduce recovery time. This preparation period is when you can renew contracts that might lapse, document essential functions with leadership approval, and test the automated systems you'll rely on during reduced operations.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyses of previous shutdowns consistently show that agencies caught unprepared face higher costs, longer recovery periods, and more severe compliance violations than those that planned ahead.
Why preparation makes the critical difference
The 2018-2019 government shutdown demonstrated the stark contrast between prepared and unprepared agencies. Some organizations maintained essential ITAM operations smoothly and resumed normal activities within weeks. Others struggled with lapsed contracts, lost vendor support, and data reconciliation challenges that extended for months.
Agencies that prepare systematically gain critical advantages: contract continuity prevents compliance violations, clear operational guidance helps essential personnel understand their boundaries, tested automation continues providing visibility, and comprehensive documentation enables faster recovery.
GAO findings from previous shutdown analyses confirm that preparation time invested before a shutdown delivers substantial returns in operational effectiveness and cost avoidance.
Five critical preparation priorities
Focus your preparation efforts on these high-impact activities that address the most common shutdown challenges.
1. Audit and renew critical contracts
Create a complete inventory of all software licenses, hardware maintenance contracts, and IT service agreements. For each contract, document the expiration date, systems covered, mission criticality, and budget line items.
Pay special attention to contracts expiring within the next 120 days—these represent your highest risk for lapsing during a potential shutdown.
Prioritize renewals strategically:
Tier 1 (Highest priority)
Licenses and maintenance for systems that would remain operational during a shutdown—national security operations, public safety functions, emergency response systems.
Tier 2 (High priority)
Contracts expiring within 90 days that support critical but non-essential functions.
Tier 3 (Medium priority)
All other contracts expiring within 120 days.
Work with your procurement team to execute renewals for Tier 1 and Tier 2 contracts immediately. The Anti-Deficiency Act prohibits new obligations during a shutdown, so renewals must happen before appropriations lapse.
During the 2018-2019 shutdown, GAO documented cases where critical software maintenance contracts lapsed. When operations resumed, agencies faced substantially higher costs to reinstate support. Some agencies now maintain 90-120 day contract renewal buffers specifically to protect against shutdown risks.
Key lesson
Don't wait until you're certain a shutdown will occur. Adopt a policy of renewing any contract within a 90-120 day window when shutdown risk exists. The modest cost of slightly early renewal is far less than the premium rates vendors charge for reinstatement.
2. Document essential vs. non-essential functions
Create written guidance defining which ITAM activities qualify as essential under Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) standards. Essential activities must be necessary to protect life and property.
For ITAM programs, essential functions typically include:
- Asset management support for systems that remain operational during the shutdown
- Cybersecurity asset tracking and monitoring aligned with CISA essential functions
- Emergency response to hardware or software failures affecting essential systems
- Physical security and operational monitoring of data centers
Be specific in your documentation. Don't just write "cybersecurity asset management"—define exactly what that means: Which systems require monitoring? What types of incidents warrant response? What level of inventory maintenance is necessary?
Get formal leadership approval of these determinations. This provides clear authority for essential personnel and prevents confusion during the shutdown.
Create your High-Value Asset (HVA) register
Document all assets that require monitoring during a shutdown. Work with your cybersecurity team to categorize assets by mission impact, data sensitivity, compliance requirements, and dependencies. This HVA register becomes your focal point for essential asset management activities during reduced operations.
3. Designate and brief essential personnel
Determine which ITAM staff members will be designated essential if a shutdown occurs. For each essential position, create written guidance documenting:
- Specific shutdown responsibilities and authorized activities
- Decision-making authority and boundaries
- Required coordination with cybersecurity and other teams
- Escalation procedures for issues requiring leadership decisions
- Emergency communication protocols
Essential personnel need to understand not just what they should do, but also what they cannot do. Clear boundaries prevent well-intentioned mistakes that could create Anti-Deficiency Act violations.
Conduct formal briefings with designated essential personnel before a shutdown occurs. Cover their specific roles, authorized activities and boundaries, communication protocols, documentation requirements, and how to escalate issues. Provide written guidance they can reference during the shutdown.
4. Test your automated systems
Verify that your asset discovery, monitoring, and SAM tools will function without manual intervention.
Asset discovery tools
Confirm they continue scanning the network and updating inventory databases automatically. Verify that scans run on schedule without manual initiation.
Monitoring and alerting systems
Test alert routing to ensure notifications reach essential personnel only. You don't want critical alerts going to furloughed employees who can't access them. Configure alerts to route through distribution lists that can be updated as needed.
SAM tools
Verify automated license compliance monitoring continues. Test that usage alerts trigger appropriately when thresholds approach license limits.
Remote access
Confirm essential personnel can access monitoring systems, asset databases, and critical tools remotely if needed.
Backup systems
Test failover procedures for critical monitoring infrastructure.
Create dashboards and views that focus on essential systems only. During a shutdown, essential personnel need to monitor what matters most without wading through alerts about non-essential systems. Set up filtered views showing only High-Value Assets, critical vulnerabilities on operational systems, license compliance for essential applications, and infrastructure health for core services.
5. Establish communication protocols and conduct final preparations
Document how essential personnel will communicate during the shutdown. Standard communication channels may not work if most staff are furloughed.
Establish primary and backup contact methods, distribution lists that can be updated as personnel designations change, escalation procedures for reaching leadership during emergencies, and coordination protocols with cybersecurity and other teams. Test these communication protocols before the shutdown.
Create activity logging procedures
Develop templates for essential personnel to document their activities during the shutdown. Activity logs should capture date and time, specific actions taken, rationale for decisions, systems affected, and any risks identified. This documentation becomes critical for post-shutdown audits.
Conduct final data synchronization
In the days immediately before a potential shutdown, conduct a final comprehensive update of all asset management databases. This establishes a clean baseline that simplifies post-shutdown reconciliation. Document the date and time of this final sync as your reference point for measuring the data gap created during the shutdown.
Brief leadership on shutdown plans
Present your shutdown preparation plans to agency leadership. Cover essential ITAM functions that will continue, designated essential personnel, contracts renewed to ensure continuity, risks that remain, expected impacts and limitations, and recovery timeline. Leadership needs to understand both what you've prepared and what limitations will exist during reduced operations.
Your shutdown preparation checklist
Use this checklist to track your preparation progress and ensure comprehensive readiness across all critical areas. Each section addresses activities that protect your ITAM program from shutdown disruptions and accelerate post-shutdown recovery.
Print this checklist or bookmark this page to monitor your progress as you move through the 30-60 day preparation timeline.
30-60 Day Shutdown Preparation Checklist
- Complete audit of all software licenses and maintenance contracts
- Identify all contracts expiring within 120 days
- Prioritize contracts by mission criticality
- Execute renewals for Tier 1 and Tier 2 contracts
- Document any contracts that cannot be renewed before shutdown
- Document all essential ITAM functions based on OMB/OPM guidance
- Define specific activities, scope, and boundaries
- Get formal leadership approval of essential function determinations
- Create High-Value Asset (HVA) register
- Designate specific individuals for essential positions
- Create written guidance for each essential position
- Brief essential personnel on their shutdown roles
- Establish emergency communication protocols
- Create activity logging templates
- Test asset discovery tools for automatic operation
- Verify monitoring system alert routing to essential personnel
- Test SAM tools for automated license compliance monitoring
- Confirm remote access works for essential personnel
- Create focused dashboards for essential systems monitoring
- Conduct final comprehensive data synchronization
- Document baseline date for post-shutdown reconciliation
- Back up all critical ITAM databases and systems
- Brief leadership on shutdown plans and limitations
- Distribute final guidance to essential personnel
Tracking your preparation progress
As you complete each item on this checklist, you build a comprehensive shutdown preparedness posture that addresses the most common failure points documented in GAO analyses of previous government shutdowns. Agencies that systematically work through contract renewals, essential function documentation, personnel planning, automation testing, and final preparations typically recover significantly faster than those caught unprepared.
The key to success is starting early—ideally 60 days before a potential shutdown—to complete Tier 1 and Tier 2 contract renewals before the Anti-Deficiency Act prohibits new obligations. Each day of advance preparation reduces recovery time and prevents costly contract lapses that can take months to resolve.
Download the Complete Federal ITAM Shutdown Preparation Checklist
Download your free preparation checklist and start building shutdown readiness today.
Common preparation mistakes to avoid
GAO analyses of previous shutdowns reveal several common preparation failures:
Waiting too long to renew contracts
Agencies often wait until they're certain a shutdown will occur before executing renewals. By then, procurement processes can't be completed. Adopt a policy of renewing any contract within a 90-120 day window when shutdown risk exists.
Vague essential function definition
Documentation that says "cybersecurity activities continue" without defining specifics creates confusion. Be specific about exact systems, activities, and boundaries.
Untested automation
Assuming tools will work fine without manual intervention, only to discover critical gaps during the shutdown. Actually test your tools in a simulated reduced-staff scenario.
Inadequate communication planning
Assuming normal channels will work, then discovering essential personnel can't coordinate effectively. Establish and test specific shutdown communication protocols.
No leadership briefing
Preparing thoroughly but not informing leadership creates unrealistic expectations. Brief leadership proactively about your plans, limitations, and resource
Your preparation delivers lasting value
The effort you invest in shutdown preparation strengthens your ITAM program beyond just protecting against funding gaps:
Better contract management
The rolling calendar and advance renewal practices improve overall contract management and prevent last-minute scrambles.
Clearer roles and responsibilities
Documentation of essential functions provides clarity that benefits your program every day.
More reliable automation
Testing and configuring tools for autonomous operation improves their effectiveness during normal operations.
Stronger leadership relationships
Proactively briefing leadership demonstrates strategic thinking and builds confidence in your program.
Enhanced resilience
Shutdown preparation builds general program resilience that helps weather other disruptions—from weather emergencies to cybersecurity incidents to staff changes.
Treating shutdown preparedness as ongoing program development rather than a burden positions your organization for success regardless of funding certainty.
Ready to strengthen your shutdown preparedness?
Our team brings extensive experience helping federal agencies develop comprehensive shutdown preparedness plans that maintain ITAM operations, protect compliance, and ensure rapid recovery. We provide practical support on contract risk assessment, essential function documentation, automation configuration, and personnel planning—all aligned with OMB, OPM, CISA, and NIST frameworks.