The US Department of Defence (DoD) said it had shut down 55 data centers in fiscal year 2011, which ended at the end of October.

The figure exceeds the number of facilities initially targeted for closure for the year, which was 52, according to a data center consolidation progress report the DoD released in November.

“Since then, additional seven data centers were identified for closure in FY11,” the report read. “Of these, all but four are on schedule for closure in FY11 for a total of 55 data centers.”

A data center inventory former Federal CIO Vivek Kundra ordered as part of his government-wide data center consolidation initiative revealed that the DoD had more data centers than any other government agency.

Kundra has since left the White House for a fellowship at Harvard University, current CIO Steven VanRoekel stepping in to replace him.

The 55 data centers DoD has taken offline represent more than one-fourth of all 195 data centers the entire government planned to shut down by the end of the year.

By consolidating its data centers, the agency says it is looking to reduce cost and environmental impact, improve efficiency and service levels, enhance business agility and effectively manage change.

One way DoD plans to cut cost is by centralizing application hosting and management in data centers operated by its Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) – a single agency providing IT support to the US military on the global scale.

By its own estimates, if all goes as planned, the department stands to realize annual savings of US$58m in energy costs, $511m in aggregate data center building operational costs and $111m in construction and expansion costs by FY15, according to the report.

Within the DoD, the Army plans to close 185 data centers by the end of 2015. Other US military units’ plans outlined in the report are vaguer.

Both the Air Force and the Navy are planning to shut down about half of their data centers by the end of 2015. The Marine Corps’ plan is to reduce cost by using its own IT Services unit.

The Defence Logistics Agency is targeting closure of 90% of its data centers through server virtualization and outsourcing to DISA; and the Military Health System is shooting for a 75% reduction over the next five years.

Image: Inside the US Navy's data center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Image courtesy of the US Navy.