Federal CIO Vivek Kundra Plans to Shut Down 100 Data Centers by 2012, 800 by 2015

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra Plans to Shut Down 100 Data Centers by 2012, 800 by 2015

It’s no secret that US Federal Government Chief Information Officer (CIO) is big on cloud computing. He had already said that he wants to move 25% of the government’s annual technology spending of $80 billion to the cloud. In fact, I had referenced one of his quotes about savings on the cloud in an earlier article (See: Quotes About Cloud Computing (And Some Background Information on Them).

“Just like water from the tap in your kitchen, cloud computing services can be turned on or off quickly as needed. Like at the water company, there is a team of dedicated professionals making sure the service provided is safe, secure and available on a 24/7 basis. When the tap isn’t on, not only are you saving water, but you aren’t paying for resources you don’t currently need,” Kundra had been quoted as saying.

He had also introduced a cloud computing plan in December last year where government agencies were asked to consider a cloud computing option when they planned to launch a new IT project, and also asked to identify three systems they would like to move to the cloud.

Now, in a step in that direction, Kundra has indicated his intention to drastically reduce the number of data centers operated by the federal government. This may be a move to encourage the migration from traditional IT infrastructure to the cloud. “Since 1998 the Federal Government has increased the number of its data centers, from 432 to 2,094, a 385% increase. This growth is unsustainable. That is why we are actively shutting down 800 data centers by 2015,” he has been quoted as saying.

“We’ve already identified over 100 data centers that agencies can shutter this calendar year,” Kundra said at a hearing of the federal financial management and government information subcommittee. He also mentioned that government agencies had identified 75 computer systems that can be moved to the cloud and are in the process of hiring vendors for the work.

Even before the aforementioned cloud computing plan, various government agencies had already started the first steps to adopt cloud computing (See: Governments and Cloud Computing – Where Do They Stand?). Expect the transition to gather pace as the year goes by.

By Sourya Biswas

Tagged as: Chief Information Officer (CIO), Cloud, Cloud Computing, cloud computing option, cloud computing plan, cloud computing service, cloud computing services, Data center, data centers, government agencies, Infrastructure, IT Infrastructure, US Federal Government, Vivek Kundra