Under pressure to consolidate data centers, many government IT managers are focusing on hardware utilization. From state and local governments to the Defense Department and civilian agencies, IT managers are feeling the pressure to squeeze more capacity out of their servers, storage devices and other expensive pieces of hardware. Several techniques can help agencies maximize their IT investments, including data center optimization and server virtualization. Read More Here

Although new funding for agency IT systems might barely qualify as a trickle, the flood of data surging into agency storage systems shows no signs of abating. In just the past few years, agencies at the federal, state and local levels are dealing with 40 percent increases in storage demand. How are agencies supposed to handle storage for so much data while facing pressure to consolidate data centers? Storage virtualization is a critical piece to that puzzle, and most agencies are already adopting or exploring their options. Read More Here

Server virtualization has the power to make life much easier for IT administrators and managers. Among government managers, the most recognized benefit of virtual servers is smarter, more efficient utilization of resources. But besides greater hardware utilization efficiency, agencies also can meet increasingly important green initiatives while also saving money. Server virtualization helps agencies reduce costs from hardware purchases and the power and cooling costs that come with making all that hardware run reliably in a data center. Read More Here

Although many agency managers understand the value of data center optimization, they often find it more difficult to clearly express the return on investment that agencies will receive. It’s not cheap to consolidate data centers, which could require new investments in technology and training for IT staff members to install and maintain the new equipment. In the midst of budget austerity, that presents a problem for agency IT managers who must focus on the expenses of right now even if they could lead to savings down the line. Read More Here

In a world full of sparsely used servers, storage devices and other hardware, IT administrators have plenty to do to keep all the systems humming along without incident. That job has become increasingly difficult, and federal, state and local agencies are aware of the demands that data center management places on their staff. However, your IT staff is not predetermined to chase server problems for eternity. Data center optimization can help ease server and storage management by consolidating systems on fewer devices, which demands less time from your IT administrators so they can handle other tasks that work toward an agency’s mission. Read More Here