The federal government technology news site Nextgovhas reported on how it is possible that "the current tally of data centers managed by the federal government is north of 6,000 -- up from about 3,000 a few months ago," as explained by an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) spokeswoman.
OMB representative Ari Isaacman Astles told Nextgov that "the apparent doubling of the government’s data center portfolio is due to a 2011 policy shift that drastically expanded what the government counts as a data center and to more rigorous agency inventories, as opposed to an increase in the actual number of data centers."
Related: How did Uncle Sam misplace a thousand data centers?
More: Reporting failures could sink federal data center consolidation
The reporting goes on to explain how "prior to October 2011, OMB defined a government data center as a dedicated space for computer servers and other equipment that was over 500 square feet. [Subsequently] Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel expanded that definition to include much smaller server rooms and closets."
At the time, the government estimated that the new definition might raise the government’s data center count from 2,100 to about 2,800. Nextgov reported that that figure had climbed to 3,100 total data centers by December 2011.
Full story: The Government's Data Center Count Has Doubled Since 2011 (nextgov.com)
More news: U.S. House to evaluate progress of federal data center consolidation
See also: Federal data center closures listed by agency