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HP plans data center consolidation

The computer giant will merge 85 data centers into six facilities operating in pairs in three U.S. cities.

Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
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Candace Lombardi
A correction was made to this story. Read below for details.

Hewlett-Packard plans to consolidate 85 data centers into six large centers. The facilities will operate in pairs within 15 miles of each other in Atlanta, Houston and Austin, Texas. HP estimates that the consolation will save the company $1 billion in annual IT expenses over the next few years. Although HP would not release details on the effect on employees, spokesman Mike Moeller said layoffs will fall within the 15,300 estimate given by CFO Robert Wayman in HP's fourth-quarter 2005 earnings announcement. They are part of HP's original restructuring plan, Moeller said.

The new data centers will be manageable remotely and will include HP's Integrity servers, BladeSystem servers, StorageWorks and OpenView management software. The centers will have cooling systems intended to reduce energy costs by as much as 25 percent, HP said.

 

Correction: This report misstated the estimated number or layoffs. The correct number is 15,300.