DATA CENTER CONSOLIDATION Reporting Can Be Improved to Reflect Substantial Planned Savings

The federal government's increasing demand for IT led to a dramatic rise in the number of federal data centers and a corresponding increase in operational costs. According to OMB, the federal government had 432 data centers in 1998 and more than 1,100 in 2009. Operating such a large number of centers has been and continues to be a significant cost to the federal government, including costs for hardware, software, real estate, and cooling.