02-28-13 | Blog Post
According to the Associated Press, General Motors Co. may build a $258 million data center in Oakland County’s Milford Township, Michigan, with construction beginning as early as next month. GM is currently seeking tax abatements for the 100,000 square foot data center, according to DataCenterKnowledge.com. The building will include utility space, office, dock areas and an equipment yard.
DataCenterKnowledge.com also reports that the data center is one of the two in Michigan remaining from GM’s major IT consolidation that resulted in trimming 23 worldwide data centers. The trend in streamlining IT can be seen on a larger scale in the U.S. government’s operations as well. In August 2011, I wrote about the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy that aimed to revamp old IT infrastructure design with the goal of consolidating and reducing nearly 2,100 data centers by 40 percent by 2015. That goal was to realize the estimated $5 billion in yearly savings with the help of cloud computing.
Online Tech’s Mid-Michigan data center was originally built by EDS as General Motor’s disaster recovery data center, and we’ve invested significantly to upgrade and achieve the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR efficiency standards, putting us in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency. We’re also planning to invest another $1 million into the data center located in Flint, Michigan by the end of 2013.
The state of Michigan’s CIO, David Behan, recently delivered a speech on Reinventing Michigan Through IT, and gave the state glowing reviews for its ideal location for data centers. The state government is also seeking an overhaul of its current aging IT infrastructure, comprised of 400 legacy systems more than a decade old. They also have three 30-year-old Michigan data centers, and are seeking colocation and leasing space with other Michigan companies.
Why is Michigan a great place for disaster recovery, data centers and colocation? Located in a disaster-free zone, the Midwest offers a secure and naturally cool climate to house servers that need to be online and always available. Read more about the advantages of Michigan data centers.
References:
GM Plans $258 Million Data Center in Michigan
GM Considers Building $258 Million Data Center at Milford Proving Ground
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