This was one of the conclusions of a new report conducted by a private consultancy. The report also suggested that the excess space may be leased out to a third-party service provider on the condition that the provider commits to investing tens of millions of dollars to install supporting infrastructure in the facility.

Joanne Todd, spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Information Services, said the data center’s size was decided in 2009, following completion of a report on the state’s data center needs by another consultancy.

“Original pre-design called … for four data centers … saying that two of them will be built out and that it was a good investment to go ahead and do the shell [only] for the other two,” she said.

The first report came out in 2007. Consultants evaluated size of the main state data center and other agency data centers in the surrounding area.

Looking at the rate of IT infrastructure growth at the time, the report concluded that the state would grow into the new space within about 10 years, Todd recalled.

Construction crews are currently building out four data halls at the site (in addition to office space). Two of the 12,500-sq-ft halls will be fully fitted out as data center space and the other two will remain as shells until it is decided how exactly they will be used.

The latest report, released in December 2010 by Excipio, found that considering current opportunities for hardware consolidation through virtualization, the state’s existing infrastructure will only actually need about 6,400 sq ft of data center space if the target virtualization rates are achieved.

“With current space requirements at approximately 50% utilization of Data Hall 1, it is assumed that the state could comfortably operate for years utilizing only Data Hall 1,” the report reads. “Based on the data center capacity analysis … Data Halls 2, 3, and 4 will not be utilized by the 21 largest agencies for a very long time.”

Todd indicated that the consultant’s suggestion to lease the extra space out would not be met with much opposition. “Everybody in every state around the country is looking for ways to raise revenue.”

If the state does decide to become a landlord to a service provider, the provider will have to invest between $60m and $70m to install supporting infrastructure in the two remaining data halls.

Because the construction project is funded by a combination of public and private capital, the state is precluded from using more than 10% of the property for private-sector purposes. Excipio wrote that if the third-party provider makes the investment in infrastructure, the state will own less than one-tenth of total asset value in the two halls and the restriction will not apply.

Specific ways in which the property will end up being used are still being worked out. Todd said the state is considering hiring more experts for advice on the matter.

The state legislature will have to approve the plans, once they are finalized.