Independence Day?

You may think that 238 years ago, your ancestors sent my ancestors packing. On the 4th, I like to remind folks I’m Irish.  All this independent spirit inspired MeriTalk to question the tyranny of yesterday’s IT in D.C.

Well, Yankee Doodle, stick a feather in your cap and check out our newest study – Consolidation Aggravation. Yes, if we’d considered the timing, we would have called it Data Center Independence Day. We’re doing the patriotic thing and rebelling against despicable data – and its damaging effect on FDCCI, the cloud transition, and the future of America. It’s like one of those box office action movies –“Men In Black 4: The Data War.”

Benedict Arnold?

Okay, back to the small screen. Net up front, is your data working against you? Fed IT managers tell us Uncle Sam can save $16.5 billion in the next decade by dumping duplicitous data. More than one in four agencies waste 50 to 88 percent of storage capacity stockpiling copy data. In 2013, 27 percent of agencies’ storage budgets funded duplicate data. That’s $2.7 billion in 2013 – and $3.1 billion in 2014. That’s more than a lot when you consider Jefferson only paid Napoleon a hair over $11 million for the Louisiana Territory…

Stars and Stripes Forever?

Fed IT managers tell us that 40 percent of Uncle Sam’s data assets exist four or more times.  Further, one in three agencies do not vary the number of data copies based on the significance of the original copy or the likelihood it will be used again. How many stars and stripes do we really need?

Manifest Density?

Is the number of data centers inevitable? Drilling down on FDCCI feedback, 72 percent of Fed IT managers tell us they have the same number or more data centers than they had when the FDCCI program launched in 2010. Only six percent gave their agency an “A” grade for FDCCI. What would Teddy Roosevelt make of this?

Tea Party?

So, the logical question is why isn’t FDCCI going better? What stops agencies from rising up – or at least taking out the trash? Fed IT managers flag overall resistance, data management challenges, and data growth.

Give Me FDCCI or Give Me Death?

Like the founding fathers, Fed IT pioneers are leading the charge to virtual and software-defined everything. Server virtualization has proven its mettle on the battlefield. Now it’s data virtualization, SDN, and even software-defined hardware on the ramparts.

Didn’t Benjamin Franklin tell us that the definition of insanity is to assume the same behavior and expect a different outcome? Check out the study for a manifesto on change.

And, before you throw me on the firework pile this 4th – English or Irish, I’m an American now.