A new watchdog report shows the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to meet the required savings and cost avoidance during its data center consolidation efforts in fiscal year 2018. The agency did not meet the $85.3M target set by the Office of Management and Budget, the VA Office of Inspector General said its audit report issued Wednesday.
The OIG found the lack of updated data center inventories and plans to meet consolidation requirements, cost savings and optimization targets contributed to VA’s failure to cut its spending. The report also shows that the Office of Information & Technology within VA did not coordinate standards and reporting requirements with the staff responsible for the agency’s information technology systems.
To help VA cut its consolidation spending, the OIG recommended sharing the data center requirements agencywide, they establish a data center inventory process and ensure the strategic plan is complete and aligned with the agency’s targets. VA should also determine the servers that are subject to the June 2017 Data Center Optimization Initiative guidance, the audit states.
