The Advanced Biomedical Computing Center (ABCC) at the National Cancer Institute - Frederick is a unique scientific computing center whose groups and members are integrated in such a way as to offer strategic and tactical advantages over traditional computer and data centers where individual groups work in isolation from the scientists and domain experts. Scientific impact is the dominant factor in determining the computational hardware, software, policies, and procedures that ABCC implements. This factor contrasts with traditional centers where the science is adapted to fit the computational resources because the initial design and resource allocation are decided with minimal scientific input. By integrating computational biologists, computational chemists, system administrators, information technology (IT) professionals, system security, database experts, software developers, and computer hardware specialists into a single entity with a common mission, ABCC is able to address many problems more efficiently and quickly than a traditionally organized structure. In addition, new initiatives or concerns can be addressed more effectively by leveraging the many areas of expertise brought by each of these group members. Finally, this integration offers cost savings by eliminating duplication of skills often necessary when departments are segregated by specific tasks.
