Hewlett-Packard Co recently said it would consolidate 85 data centres around the world into six large facilities in the United States, hoping to save $1 billion annually in coming years.
HP said its information technology infrastructure would be run in Atlanta, Houston and Austin, Texas, with two facilities in each city.
Part of the savings will come from a 25 percent drop in utility costs, the company said. The centres, which would be used for HP's internal requirements, would be designed so that they could be managed remotely. Additionally, the sites are considered less vulnerable to natural disasters, the company said.
HP also plans to save on real estate and data networking costs, said spokesman Mike Moeller. The company also has received some tax incentives from some localities, he said.
Moeller declined to say how many jobs would be cut in the move, but said they were included in layoffs that the company announced last year. HP in July 2005 said it would cut 14,500 jobs. It raised that number to 15,300 in November.
HP will continue to operate more than 70 data centres in 23 countries that provide technology outsourcing and other services for its customers.