The General Services Administration announced Oct. 29 it has shuttered 37 data centers this fiscal year as part of the national Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative.
The closures have allowed the agency to cut real estate costs and energy consumption, GSA said. The 37 closed data centers account for 32 percent of GSA’s noncore data centers.
In addition, IT operations have been consolidated, which the agency said will help eliminate redundancies and lead to better services to federal agencies and citizens. All GSA IT offices and staff are now consolidated under the leadership of GSA CIO Casey Coleman, and a centralized IT office will enhance access to technology services, the agency said.
GSA anticipates the consolidation results in service improvements and cost savings, as well as enables the agency to realize business improvements by providing technology that helps simplify the user experience.
“Closing data centers are an important part of GSA’s efforts to shrink the federal footprint,” Coleman said. “GSA is driving efficiency and effectiveness by using practical solutions. Coupled with the agency’s new coordinated and more streamlined IT operations, using technology to do more with less when it comes to data centers will make us a model of how to provide the kind of efficient, effective and transparent service that the American people expect from their government.”
