Driver Licensing Hours Impacted by Move

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will be moving its data center in September, which will impact services. Closures and changes to hours of operation and online services are listed below-

• The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will close all state-operated driver license offices at 4 p.m. Sept. 7.
• The agency will also take all services offline beginning at 6 p.m. Sept. 7 and will restore all services by 9 a.m. Sept. 10. This means that customers will not be able to access Internet services during these times, which occur on a weekend.
• The Department also is not scheduling appointments in its driver license offices Sept. 10 or the morning of Sept. 11. Customers, who know their driver license, identification card or license plate will expire on or before Sept. 7, should visit an office by the expiration date. Florida has new requirements for obtaining a new or renewed driver license, so be sure to visit www.GatherGoGet.com to prepare for your next visit to a driver license office.

The planned outage is an effect of the agency’s data center move from headquarters in Tallahassee to one of the state’s primary data centers, also located in Tallahassee. The move is complex and will require a complete shutdown of all DHSMV enterprise systems throughout the weekend.

The Department has been planning the move in detail, and the technical team has implemented steps to minimize risk and potential impact to our customers. While the Department plans to have the systems operational by 9 a.m. Sept. 10, it is possible some services will not be restored at that time, which can affect normal business operations.

In addition to the early September move, another phase of the move will take place beginning 6 p.m. Sept. 21. Internet services will be unavailable during this phase. In-office services will not be affected.

The move is part of the state’s Data Center Consolidation plan. In 2008, Florida lawmakers passed legislation that mandates all state agency data centers and computing facilities to consolidate into state primary data centers by 2019.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles provides highway safety and security through excellence in service, education and enforcement. The Department is leading the way to a safer Florida through the efficient and professional execution of its core mission: the issuance of driver licenses, vehicle tags and titles and operation of the Florida Highway Patrol. To learn more about DHSMV and the services offered, visit www.flhsmv.gov or visit us on Facebook or Twitter at @FDHSMV.

The department has an office in Largo at 13025 Starkey Road. Appointments are available online.

Editor's Note- Thanks to Sgt. Steve Gaskins of the Florida Highway Patrol for providing this information.