Federal government to close 800 data centers

Thursday, July 21, 2011

The U.S. federal government plans to shut down 40 percent of its computer centers over the next four years to reduce its budget and become more efficient. According to a recent New York Times report, analysts estimate the 800 data center that will be shut down will save the government billions of dollars a year.

In an interview with the news provider, chief information officer for the federal government, Vivek Kundra, said the move represents a strategy to adopt more efficient technology, including cloud computing. According to Kundra, the government could save an additional $5 billion a year by adopting the cloud.

"Redundant systems and applications sprouted like weeds," said Kundra. "We need to shift resources away from duplicative systems and use them to improve the citizen experience."

According to a recent Network World report, Cisco's chief technologist for its Internet Business Solutions Group, Dave Evans, said cloud computing is one of 10 technologies that will help shape the next decade. Also, Cisco predicts that one-third of all data will be stored in the cloud by 2020.