Firms jump in to help government reduce data center use

The federal government has launched a review of its existing data centers in hopes of trimming power consumption and cutting costs by improving the efficiency of its operations.

The review comes as the amount of data maintained by the government continues to grow, prompting a number of companies to begin pitching alternatives to current practices.

The government, like many other organizations, relies on data centers to store computer information. In many cases, the centers are owned or operated by contractors.

The Office of Management and Budget is gathering information on all federal agencies' data center usage, according to David L. McClure, associate administrator for the General Services Administration's Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies.

The government wants to reduce the number of data centers, whose power consumption racks up high costs, McClure said.

"There are expectations in the next budget that agencies show cost reductions in their [information technology] budgets," he said. "A lot of that will be driven by reduction in infrastructure costs, which would be reflected in progress being made in some of these consolidation exercises."

Sensing opportunities within the market, Microsoft's federal group announced earlier this year it has launched a government cloud -- or Internet-based -- offering in which data would be stored on servers in a dedicated section of a data center, according to Susie Adams, chief technology officer for Microsoft's federal civilian business.

The suite of services, which includes messaging and Web conferencing, will only be maintained by U.S. citizens who have passed background checks and been fingerprinted, she said.

Additionally, in light of the OMB's ongoing analysis, Fairfax-based Lee Technologies' public sector group is seeking to help federal agencies assess their existing data centers and their future needs, said Anthony Rizzo. He oversees the company's public sector work, which makes up about 30 percent of the company's business.

Lee is also part of a team competing to build a new National Security Agency data center set for Camp Williams, Utah, said Mike Hagan, the firm's executive vice president for sales and marketing.

Falls Church-based CSC already is serving in an advisory role to some agencies as they optimize data center use and prepare to use additional cloud-based services. The firm, which also runs its own data centers dedicated to the public sector, plans to offer suggestions for consolidating existing government operations, said Yogesh Khanna, vice president and chief technology officer of the company's North America public sector.

Even as the government seeks consolidation, some data center providers are expanding in the area and expecting increased federal business. Denver-based Latisys recently purchased Pryme Technologies of Ashburn and is converting the business into a new data center campus comprising 123,000 square feet in two buildings.

Don Goodwin, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Latisys, said the company already serves some civilian agencies, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs.

In the two months the company has had a local presence, "we've seen a parade of federal contractors ... as well as direct [federal] agency visits," Goodwin said.