The real savings in data center consolidation is in the applications

The Army will achieve much bigger savings in the future from IT operations when the service can eliminate application duplication and prepare apps for movement to other environments, Col. Chris Miller, the Army’s data center consolidation program director, said June 19 at MeriTalk’s Data Center Brainstorm Exchange, reports Government Computer News.

To date, the Army has identified 16,000 applications that are running on the service’s networks at post camps and stations. Miller’s team is working with other Army Commands and portfolio managers to devise application modernization or rationalization approaches.

So far the Army’s data center consolidation efforts have been a “forklift operation,” moving servers from one location to another, but the Army is not gaining major efficiencies with that approach, Miller said.

"Where we’re going to save in the future in the Army is the elimination of the duplication that we have out there with all of our applications. Getting those applications modernized and ready to go to another environment is where the Army is going to make its biggest savings," he said.