My home office was starting to get out of control. I found myself buying too many printer cartridges because I couldn’t find the ones I had purchased months ago. I struggled to find a stapler, only to discover three of them – each one, with broken staples, hidden away in separate drawers. To make matters worse, there were far too many pieces of paper stuck in files needlessly scattered in the room, when electronic versions of the information could have all been available from one place. I found a lot of old pieces of equipment that I hadn’t used in years, simply taking up space in a cluttered closet. I didn’t realize what I had, and I couldn’t always find what I needed. No doubt about it, the time had finally come to consolidate.

Whether you consolidate your home office, or data center, the steps you take have some similarities. The objectives in both cases are around cost reduction (why should you buy, support, and maintain things you don’t need?) and efficiency (gain better control over what you have). A big challenge is getting the process started.

Check out this BMC article, Five Steps to Successful Data Center Consolidation, for more information. These steps include building a business case for consolidation, understanding what you have, identifying the best candidates for consolidation, repurposing and reconfiguring IT resources, and evaluating whether you are meeting your goals. These steps will help you to maintain what you have achieved.