DCOI: The Advantages of Early Adoption

Everett Rogers created a theory in 1962 to explain how, why and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. If the “diffusion of innovations” doesn’t sound familiar to you, here’s what might. Within the theory there are five categories of adoption: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. For agencies dealing with the Data Center Optimization Initiative (DCOI), there’s not much room for innovation, but being an early adopter definitely has advantages.

Have you begun to work on your DCOI requirements yet? Have your peers? We recently surveyed of a sample of government data center professionals and found out that when it comes to starting to comply to DCOI, nearly 40 percent of respondents plan to wait one year or more.

I know; you just got finished satisfying the requirements of the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) and now you’ve got another mandate to meet. Well, that alone is reason to get started now. If we look back on the frequency of directives, it’s easy to conclude there will be another one coming down soon.

FDCCI was enacted in 2010. Building on it, the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) was passed in 2014. In March 2015, Executive Order 13693 decreed agencies reduce greenhouse emissions. Then, of course, came DCOI. Further change is likely to be compounded by the change in administration, no matter which party takes office, and the inevitable annual changes to budget.

Consider also that the initiatives I mentioned build upon each other. So, having the right management tools in place will provide the knowledge you need to understand where you are in your compliance roadmap — no matter what the next mandate is.

Best practices in productivity typically say tackle the most challenging tasks first. Plus, getting DCOI compliance off your plate frees you up to focus on the core business.

DCOI and Consolidation

If these advantages are not enough to compel early adoption, keep consolidation in mind. Though 26 percent of respondents to our survey think consolidation is part of DCOI, it’s actually not a standalone component.

However, DCOI does state that existing data centers must operate at a power usage effectiveness (PUE) rate below 1.5 or be shut down by FY18. In addition, and apart from DCOI, the OMB has publically acknowledged its intent to further consolidate 52% of tiered and non-tiered data centers.

So since DCOI states if a data center can’t meet requirements, that data center must be closed. Let’s apply the same logic to the contrary. If your data center is compliant, then you are not as likely to be a candidate for further consolidation. It stands to reason that helping to ensure your data center’s survival is the biggest advantage of all to becoming an early adopter of DCOI.

We’re here to help you get ahead. Aside from our expertise in the specific challenges of government facilities, we have tons of experience helping private sector enterprises leverage DCIM to attain target PUEs and save money.

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