How did Uncle Sam misplace a thousand data centers?
According to reporting by Rutrell Yasin on Government Computer News, after a rigorous peer-review process of agency data center assets, the federal government has found that it is operating nearly 1,000 more data centers than figures indicated in previous estimates.
The report states that, in the past eight months, agencies have collected and refined their data-center inventories to comply with guidance set forth in the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) -- which seeks to reduce energy use, decrease IT costs and improve security -- citing a need to stem the growth of the 1,100 federal data centers that were then thought to exist. However, agency submissions regarding data center assets indicated that, as of July 30, there are 2,094 federal data centers, according to an October 1 memo issued to agency CIOs.
The discovery of nearly 1,000 more data centers underscores the challenges that federal agencies face in their data center consolidation efforts.