Bundesrechnungshof BRH

Cost-intensive data centres stood idle for years Read full summary in English

2016 report 2016/11
1 Project risks not assessed adequately
Cost-intensive data centres stood idle for years

Between 2011 and 2016, the Federal Ministry of the Interior paid €26 million for renting two data centres for the “Networks of the Federal Government”IT project. The data centres stood largely idle. The Ministry failed to adequately assess the project risks. The Ministry needs to avoid similar shortcomings in the proposed federal IT consolidation project.

The "Networks of the Federal Government" project has repeatedly been delayed, inter alia, because two departments concerned failed to reach agreement on any action to be taken. Nevertheless, the Ministry signed long-term rental agreements for two data centres that were largely not in use. Until 2016, the Federal Government has paid some €26 million for the idle data centres.

Background

The “Networks of the Federal Government”project was launched in 2007. Its purpose is to provide a secure voice and data network for federal authorities. As part of its federal IT consolidation project adopted in 2015, the Federal Government is planning to pool 80 per cent of IT operations at a federally owned service provider. The Ministry is in charge of the two projects.

Objectives

See the 2016 - BRH Annual Report

The items above were selected and named by the e-Government Subgroup of the EUROSAI IT Working Group on the basis of publicly available report of the author Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI). In the same way, the Subgroup prepared the analytical assumptions and headings. All readers are encouraged to consult the original texts by the author SAIs (linked).