GOP House Members Seek FCC Server Move Info

House Commerce Committee Republican leaders want the Federal Communications Commission to better explain why it is moving servers off-site to a multi-agency facility in West Virginia. In a March 4 hearing, FCC managing director Jon Wilkins explained in a graphic accompanying his written testimony that the commission was moving "over 200 on-premise, antiquated servers occupying expensive downtown real estate to a 100 off-premise, cloud-based deployment in a secure multi-agency facility" and told the legislators that the FCC had just signed a contract to start moving the servers.

In the letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler dated March 27, the legislators asked for a copy of that contract, information on how the contract was awarded, what steps the FCC had taken to make sure it did not lose any info in the move and more. They want the answers and information by April 10. "Given the committee's strong interest in the manner in which the commission is managing its own information technologies, we are writing to seek information to better understand the facts and circumstances surrounding the planned relocation of these servers and the impact, if any, such relocation may have on the FCC's document management practices." Signing the letter were Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), House Communications subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), and House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA).