As part of the federal CIO’s Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)is pushing for ways to not only reduce the number of data centers, but also maximize the existing data centers.
As such, the federal CIO’s office has created PortfolioStat, which aims to root out waste and data center inefficiencies. The main vision of this effort is to focus on efficiency, storage and energy usage metrics.
Overall, the OMB expects to save more than $5 billion by closing or consolidating federal data centers, as well as making existing data centers more efficient. The initial goal of this effort is to shutter or consolidate 1,186 data centers, or 40 percent of all government data centers, by 2015.
As with any major government-led initiative these days, reduced budget resources could compromise these efforts. According to the GAO, the effort to complete data center inventories, as well as gauge energy use, is challenging in today’s austere climate.
However, things keep moving forward. Earlier this year, it was announced that federal agencies plan on closing nearly 400 data centers by October 2013. And, since 2010, 420 data centers were completely shuttered.
Clearly, this is a major effort that will ultimately provide tremendous savings during a challenging time for the federal government. The combination of this effort, along with the new efforts to leverage cloud-based IT solutions, will allow agencies to develop the right innovations in a cost-effective manner – all while still meeting mission goals and requirements.
Industry members will continue playing a big role in helping government be more effective and efficient. Although budget issues are always a concern – for both agencies and contractors – it is good to remember that meeting mission requirements is the ultimate priority. And, we can continue doing this with the right industry-government collaborative approach.