The report examines agency data center trends and drivers, federal data center inventories and consolidation status by department, and applicable technologies and best practices.
As a key component of the report, INPUT conducted interviews with data center managers and CIO office contacts in federal agencies, to identify and understand the emerging trends, key drivers and obstacles, and specific agency plans for consolidation efforts.
Key Findings
INPUT draws upon its extensive expertise on the government IT industry to analyze the current status and future trends for the federal data center environment. Key themes emerging from INPUT research include:
- Agencies will focus on consolidating small centers/server rooms and optimizing larger data centers
- Virtualization will be the key technology solution, with cloud computing being utilized where appropriate
- Lack of upfront funding presents a major consolidation obstacle for agencies
- The accelerated timeline stands to restrict solution development
- Technical environments create challenges and limit consolidation choices
- Cultural and political issues hamper progress
