Data Center Consolidation: Agencies Need to Complete Inventories and Plans to Achieve Expected Savings

Citation
Government Accountability Office, Data Center Consolidation: Agencies Need to Complete Inventories and Plans to Achieve Expected Savings (GAO-11-565) (July 19, 2011) (full-text).

Overview
Over time, the U.S. federal government's demand for information technology has led to a dramatic rise in the number of federal data centers and an increase in operational costs. Recognizing this increase, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has launched a government-wide initiative to consolidate data centers.

GAO was asked to (1) assess whether agency consolidation documents include adequate detail for agencies to consolidate their centers, (2) identify the key consolidation challenges reported by agencies, and (3) evaluate whether lessons learned during state government consolidation efforts could be leveraged at the federal level.