GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Feds Fess Up to Confusion, Disagreements over Data Center Consolidation

Dennis McCafferty | Date: 07-06-10 | Comments

Everyone in the federal government wants to save on energy costs. And everyone there apparently agrees that ditching a large chunk of currently operating data centers would be a great way to do it. And that�s about where the agreements end and the confusion begins, according to a revealing new survey.

Federal officials agree on this point: There are too many stinkin� data centers serving the government. In fact, there are now more than 1,100, which is more than twice the number of data centers needed in 1999. The amount of power used would reach 12 billion kilowatts per hour by 2012 if left unchecked�or twice the amount of power consumed in 2006.

In June, the White House made its intentions clear: It put out an official memo on the topic with the not-so-subtle title, �Disposing of Unneeded Federal Real Estate,� calling for large-scale data-center consolidations. This follows the release of a federal data center consolidation initiative from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), one that outlined a phased approach for a plan that would reduce costs, lower energy consumption, improve IT security, and allow easier shifts to cloud computing and other more efficient platforms.

If there�s a consensus agreement that consolidation would be a good thing, then why isn�t it moving along at a brisker pace? The OMB initiative was announced in February, after all. But according to a new survey report from MeriTalk, a government IT network site, there�s a logjam that�s been created by confusion and uncertainty at the agency level. Three out of four federal IT execs surveyed say the consolidation goals will not be met within the timeline outlined by the OMB. More than one-third are on the fence about whether consolidation will happen at all, and 12 percent think there won�t be any consolidation.

No one seems to agree on how many data centers need to be consolidated either. One in five say there should only be 300 data centers after the consolidation for the effort to be considered successful. But 13 percent say 900 would be an adequate number. What exactly does an agency do with its no-longer-needed data center? Well, that�s a fuzzy point too. In fact, more than one-third of federal IT managers say they�re unsure about what exactly they�re supposed to do with any excessive data centers.

Blame it on the government culture. At least that�s what 86 percent of survey participants did. Being that this is the fed, there�s always fear and a strong sense of territoriality: Little more than half of those surveyed say it would be realistic for their agency to give up its data centers and use another agency�s resources for those needs. Nearly that many say they�d be concerned about using a data center from a private company. While private companies are now shifting to cloud computing in droves, more than six out of 10 federal IT managers say it will take as long as five years to shift to the cloud as a primary processing environment.

So what�s the solution?

Getting the government mindset adjusted to be more open to the idea of private data centers would be a start, indicated a number of survey participants. This would require policies and standards to be established and monitored, they say. �[It] would help to have an objective, government-focused source of information in reliability and security of private company data centers,� one participant wrote.

Communications from the top down also need to be improved, according to the survey team.

�This new study sheds light on the gap between the vision outlined in the OMB guidance and the detailed execution required by the federal agency data center leads as they move toward meeting the deadlines and milestones outlined in the consolidation initiative,� says Mark Weber, president of U.S. Public Sector Operations for Vienna, Va.-based NetApp, which underwrote the survey. �Dovetailing off the White House�s memorandum, this report reveals a timely opportunity for OMB to improve guidance, set realistic timelines and clarify the goals to allow federal agencies to reap the initiative�s benefits.�

For more on the study, go to http://www.meritalk.com/datacenterdemolition.