ReliaSource
Delivering Federal Data Center Optimization

The clock is ticking across the Federal government for CIOs and IT executives to meet the strict data center optimization goals mandated by the Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI). DCOI established in OMB Memorandum M-16-19 supersedes the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) and fulfills the data center requirements of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA). This process began in 2010 when then Federal CIO, Vivek Kundra, established the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) and was continued by his successor, Tony Scott, with both FITARA and DCOI.

By September 30th, 2018 DCOI requires agencies to: Develop and report on their data center strategies; transition to more efficient infrastructure, such as cloud services and inter-agency shared services; leverage technology advancements to optimize infrastructure; and provide quality services for the public good.

“The DCOI deadline is right around the corner and most agencies have not implemented the proper tools to enable reporting of the mandated metrics, let alone achieved the specified performance,” Mike Wintrode, CTO, ReliaSource. Wintrode articulates the mandate’s agenda when he says: “We help make data centers more efficient by reducing the amount of energy that goes into the surrounding systems.” He adds, “ReliaSource has been focusing the power usage on the actual computing and infrastructure that delivers services to agencies and citizens.”

ReliaSource helps agencies rationalize the IT sprawl and understand how to implement solutions to collect and monitor all of the required DCOI metrics as well as articulating strategies to streamline and consolidate their infrastructure. The ReliaSource approach is to assess the efficiency of the existing facilities and IT monitoring systems and their ability to provide the requisite data needed to drive the DCOI metric calculations into a cohesive Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solution. The ultimate result is delivering cost savings and avoidance, improving the enterprise service delivery and giving agencies the data to meet the mandate and to drive future consolidation and efficiency gains.

The DCOI deadline is right around the corner and most agencies have not implemented the proper tools to enable reporting

Social Security Administration is one of the first Federal Agencies to deploy an enterprise wide Data Center Infrastructure Management solution to meet DCOI/ FITARA mandate requirements. SSA conducted an extensive evaluation, mapping all of the applicable platforms features and capabilities. SSA determined that ReliaSource provided the only solution that met their strict criteria and was capable of meeting the DCOI requirements.

The SSA DCIM program continuously monitors over 2,000 Racks and 33,000 Facility Management Endpoints across multiple enterprise data centers. The implemented solution integrates seamlessly with SSA’s virtualization platforms, as well as their Service Desk and Asset Management systems to deliver real-time reporting, dashboards, and monitoring for their combined Data Center IT and Facility Management Envelope. “SSA is a leader in Data Center Optimization Management and is well-positioned to reduce the cost of delivering Enterprise IT services and aligned perfectly to support GSA’s Government Shared Services vision,” explained Wintrode.

In 2010, the Federal Government started with 10,584 data centers; by 2019 that number is mandated to decrease by nearly 50 percent to 5,381. DCOI, with FITARA and FDCCI before it, have laid the groundwork for Federal Agencies to measure their IT efficiency and will provide the foundation for continued consolidation towards that goal. “With DCOI, we are in the seventh inning of the game. We see the ninth inning on the horizon, when agencies must meet the mandate. The game will likely go into extra innings, but the end result will be achieved,” stated Wintrode.