Uptime Institute and TIA agree on clear separation between their respective benchmarking systems

The Uptime Institute and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) have announced steps to bring success to the future of the data and communications industry by establishing a clear and concise lexicon for the design of data centers as they are planned, constructed and operated worldwide. Both the Uptime Institute and TIA believe that it is in the best interests of the industry to permanently differentiate their respective data center infrastructure benchmarking systems and going forward, TIA will revise the ANSI/TIA-942/TIA-942A Standard to remove the word ‘Tier.’

Thursday, 20th March 2014 Posted 10 years ago in by Phil Alsop

“We appreciate the willingness of TIA and the TR-42 Engineering Committee to work together on this matter,” said Julian Kudritzki, Uptime Institute COO. “Clear ownership of a benchmarking system is key to its utility, consistency, and accountability. By disentangling our respective terminologies, both TIA and Uptime Institute are better able to pursue the independent development of standards and programs as each sees fit. We are confident that this is the lasting and public solution for the issue.”

“TIA and the Uptime Institute share the vision of greater efficiency to data center designs. TIA’s TR-42 Engineering Committee will continue to establish and improve voluntary consensus-based standards that enable the data centers which our consumers and businesses demand,” said Grant Seiffert, President of TIA. “Working with the Uptime Institute on this and other issues demonstrates the best aspects of what TIA can do to help the communications industry meet tomorrow’s challenges.”

The Uptime Institute created the standard Tier Classification System in the mid-1990s as a means to effectively evaluate data center infrastructure as it relates to business requirements for system availability. The Uptime Institute’s Tier Classification System provides a consistent method to compare typically unique, customized facilities based on expected site infrastructure performance, or uptime.

TIA member company experts have long focused on the need to support the deployment of advanced communications networks. TIA’s TR-42 committee leads the industry in expertise for structured cabling and it is their designs, ideas and vision which create the foundation for robust networks in all areas of our built environment.