OMB releases last-minute data center guidance
The new memo implements the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act included in the annual, must-pass defense bill in late 2023. The law required OMB to put out guidance with minimum requirements for cybersecurity, resiliency and availability for government data centers.
That provision builds on lapsed requirements under the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative meant to close agencies’ outdated or duplicative data centers. Agencies reported over $6 billion in cost savings and avoidances from fiscal 2012 to 2021 under various data center efforts, according to a Government Accountability Office report.
Now, the new OMB memo from Federal Chief Information Officer Clare Martorana gives agencies directions to leverage automated monitoring tools for all new data centers; use an internal control process to mitigate risks to data center availability; and implement information and physical security requirements.
The guidance also notes that decisions about data center acquisition and management should be centralized in an agency’s CIO shop, and it requires agencies to consider data centers’ energy and water usage in their decisions.
Data centers took up about 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023, and their load growth is expected to double or triple by 2028, according to the Department of Energy, in part due to the rise of artificial intelligence.
“Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and growing use of AI among agencies will further increase demand for high-performance computing provided by data centers,” the latest memo notes.
The incoming administration appears to support moving full-steam ahead in data center development. In a press conference with Trump last week, a real estate developer from Dubai pledged that his company would invest at least $20 billion in new data centers in the U.S., as E&E News has reported, and Trump has pledged to scrap or speed up environmental reviews for large investors and open up power for data centers.
For the U.S. government, “as agencies increasingly use digital services to make key processes more efficient, accessible, and scalable, maintaining reliable and secure data centers is even more critical,” the OMB memo states.
Agencies have a year to come in line with requirements for new and existing agency-run data centers. For those run by contractors, the deadline is either a year from now or whenever the contract is renewed, extended or replaced.
OMB notes within the memo that it doesn’t apply to private data centers that solely support commercial cloud products or services for a large number of customers, including a government agency.
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