Administration increases data center consolidation savings estimate to $5 billion

New CIO Steven VanRoekel expands the definition of a data center to include the government's full IT infrastructure.

The government now expects to save about $5 billion total by closing and consolidating federal data centers, federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said Thursday.

That's a significant increase over the Office of Management and Budget's previous estimate of $3 billion in savings from its data center consolidation program by 2015, he said, but because of the lengthened time horizon, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison. VanRoekel did not say how many years out the $5 billion estimate went.

The office estimates $630 million in savings will flow from consolidation initiatives that are currently in the works, he said. VanRoekel was speaking in a conference call with reporters a day before agencies are scheduled to release detailed data center consolidation plans.

"This takes time and capital expenditures," he said. "It will follow a hockey stick sort of path where the number of closures and the amount of savings will start somewhat low to begin with and increase a lot in the future . . . What our model shows is you can actually spend a penny and make a pound on this."

OMB also is expanding its definition of what constitutes a government data center, effectively changing all the goalposts in the governmentwide campaign, VanRoekel said.

The new definition significantly raises the government's estimates for how many data centers it will consolidate, but also raises the total number of data centers the government owns. The goal of the changed definition is to find more savings by taking on the government's total information technology storage infrastructure, not just what's kept in larger facilities, VanRoekel said.

"I basically told the team when I came on board that I wanted to scope it so that everything was in," he said. "We should be looking for efficiencies in everything from wiring closets to these very large data centers across the government."

OMB settled on a common definition of federal data centers in October 2010 as being at least 500 square feet. That was after officials found that varying definitions across agencies could make the number of total data centers increase or decrease by more than half.

Under the old definition, there were about 2,100 federal data centers. The government planned to close or consolidate about 800 of them by 2015 and 373 by 2015.

Under the expanded definition, there are nearly 2,800 federal data centers, VanRoekel said. He expects to close or consolidate 472 of those by 2012 and 962 by 2015. The 2015 goal is likely to increase as consolidation plans gather steam, he said.

VanRoekel did not update the number of data centers OMB has already closed, which stood at 81in July. A CIO spokeswoman said an updated number of closed data centers will be out before the end of the year.

The government's data center consolidation initiative is part of collection of IT reform initiatives developed by VanRoekel's predecessor, Vivek Kundra. Those reforms include rationalizing federal IT procurement; heightening review of IT building projects; and transferring large amounts of federal data to cheaper and more nimble cloud storage, which officials expect will save the government $5 billion annually.

Lower level IT managers have expressed skepticism that the government's data center consolidation plans are achievable. Kundra attributed that skepticism to an entrenched fear of change in government. He often spoke of a long-term plan to consolidate all federal data into "three digital Fort Knoxes."

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.