Federal Agencies Experience Mixed Data Center Optimization Results

While some federal agencies were on track late last year to meet Office of Management and Budget data center cost reduction and consolidation goals, a number had only made limited progress toward reaching other data center optimization objectives, according to a Government Accountability Office report published in April.The OMB’s Data Center Optimization Initiative encouraged agencies to increase data center efficiency in several areas, potentially decreasing operating costs and agencies’ environmental footprint. The OMB had previously directed agencies to reduce the number of outdated or duplicative data centers in its 2010 Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative. The DCOI also tasked federal agencies with measuring their progress toward specific server utilization, energy metering, power usage, facility utilization and virtualization-based data center optimization goals.