Data Center Consolidation: Strengthened Oversight Needed to Achieve Billions of Dollars in Savings

Over the last 15 years, the federal government's increasing demand for IT has led to a dramatic rise in the number of federal data centers and a corresponding increase in operational costs. According to OMB, the federal government had 432 data centers in 1998 and more than 1,100 in 2009. Operating such a large number of centers is a significant cost to the federal government, including costs for hardware, software, real estate, and cooling. For example, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the electricity cost to operate federal servers and data centers across the government is about $450 million annually. According to the Department of Energy, data center spaces can consume 100 to 200 times more electricity than a standard office space. According to OMB, reported server utilization rates as low as 5 percent and limited reuse of data centers within or across agencies lend further credence to the need to restructure federal data center operations to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Author: Government Accountability Office

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Dec 31, 2014

Number of Pages: 28 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 1503135608

ISBN-13: 9781503135604