The federal government will close 40% of their data centers, about 800 in total over the next few years according to this report from the NY Times. The closings are not because of the impending default either. It is part of the planned move to the cloud that the government has been talking about for a while.
The move will save perhaps 5 billion dollars, but will cause the loss of thousands of federal government jobs. There will still remain over 1,000 data centers owned and operated by the government though.
Besides the cloud, virtualization is also playing a major role empowering the move. This closely mimics what is happening in the private sector of course.
The government has already taken several significant steps in moving to the cloud and closing centers. What is refreshing is that we have not seen the “cloud security monster” raise its head to stop this cost-cutting move by our government. In this day and age where we are looking to save government funds wherever possible, the cloud seems to be a great option.
Related articles
- US federal government to close 800 data centers, walk into the cloud (engadget.com)
- GAO: Federal Data Center Consolidation Plans Lack Details (informationweek.com)
- Feds Must Detail Data Center Consolidations By October (informationweek.com)
- Feds Target 292 More Data Centers for Closure (datacenterknowledge.com)
- U.S. to Close 800 Computer Data Centers (nytimes.com)
- U.S. to Close 800 Computer Data Centers – NYTimes.com (mbcalyn.wordpress.com)
- U.S. government shuttering 800 computer data centers (zdnet.com)
- Feds To Close 178 Data Centers Next Year (informationweek.com)
