US government planning to shut down 800 data centres

The US federal government has unveiled a plan to close more than 800 data centre facilities over the next five years.The White House on Wednesday unveiled a consolidation plan which will see 195 data centres shut down by the end of the year and 372 facilities closed by the end of 2012.
Much of the effort will focus on consolidation of data centres. The government said that it will look to make better use of storage facilities and adopt more efficient methods for computing and storage.Currently, the government estimates that its facilities use just 27 per cent of their computing capability on average. "By shrinking our data centre footprint we will save taxpayer dollars, cutting costs for infrastructure, real estate and energy," wrote federal chief performance officer Jeffery Zients in a blog posting.
"At the same time, moving to a more nimble 21st century model will strengthen our security and the ability to deliver services for less." The White House estimates that closing down the data centres could trim as much as $3bn from the federal budget. While no word was given on job losses, Pund-IT principal analyst Charles King said previous consolidation efforts in the private sector have shown that the increase in computing capabilities can often negate IT staff cuts from the closed data centres.
Those who do find themselves out of a job might be well-served to specialise in the administration of less common platforms such as Unix systems. King told V3.co.uk that while common platforms such as Windows Server may have a surplus of qualified administrators, companies that rely on specialised platforms often find a shortage of qualified applicants for administrator jobs.
"Having up-to-date top end skills in products like VMware and if you're a storage admin getting into data deduplication are pretty critical," King said. "If you are a system administrator in one of those highly populated markets it might be time to hone your skills in some of those areas where competition isn't as fierce but demand is still there."