U.S. Government to close 800 computer data centers

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/technology/us-to-close-800-computer-data-centers.html

The United States Government currently spends $80 billion a year on Information Technology, which is the worlds largest buyer of IT. The government plans to cut back drastically on their IT budget by cutting off 40% of its computer centers over the next four years. Due to 800 of the 2000 computer data centers being closed, the government will save billions of dollars a year. The government is transforming to the use of software that shares computing tasks across several machines in a data center. This allows for higher levels of efficiencies, which decreases the amount of computers and simultaneously data centers needed.

Purchasing up-to-date technology is extremely important; however, as discussed in the Carr article, organizations shouldn't purchase IT systems / products just to say you have them; management must effectively utilize the purchases to gain the most benefit from them. The government may have been spending $80 billion a year, but were all those purchases improving effectiveness and efficiency?

Another reason for the data center consolidation is due to the shift to cloud computing. Cloud computing will save the Government an additional $5 billion a year. Although it is unfortunate that thousands of jobs will be lost due to the closing of the data centers, I do believe the positives that come from the utilization of cloud computing will offset the negative aspects. Cloud computing allows for more security, optimization, and the ability to do more with less resources. As the article stated, the government should shift their focus from information technology spending to using technology more efficiently to deliver government services.