For example, a survey of 34 states, including Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey, by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), shows a solid push at the state level toward data-center consolidation.

The survey also found that many states are considering moving to shared-services delivery in an effort to cut costs. Several states are looking to companies to provide data-center operations, communications systems, payment systems and disaster recovery as services, the NASCIO survey found.

According to the NASCIO report, about 77 percent of the state officials surveyed said that they had either consolidated data centers or have projects in progress. In addition, nearly 85 percent of respondents reported shared data-center services projects under way.

The consolidation efforts and the use of and demand for shared services "were higher than I expected them to be," said John Gillispie, who is chief operating officer at the Iowa Department of Administrative Services' Information Technology Enterprise. He is also co-chair of the NASCIO committee that conducted the survey and reported some of the findings. "I think everybody is seeking efficiency," Gillispie said.

There are several factors driving the consolidation and shared-services efforts by the states, including aging IT workforces, legacy systems and the advent of technologies that many staffs aren't prepared for, said John Lovelock, an analyst at Gartner Inc.