The Uptime Institute and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) are combining efforts to establish a “clear and concise” lexicon for the design of data centers.

They said it will cover the way facilities are planned, constructed and operated worldwide.

The move is in line with industry needs to permanently differentiate respective data center infrastructure benchmarking systems, according to the Uptime Institite.

As part of the project, the TIA said it will revise the ANSI/TIA-942/TIA-942A Standard to remove the word ‘Tier’.

The Uptime Institute created the standard Tier Classification System in the mid-1990s 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.

The Uptime Institue’s COO Julian Kudritzki said 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,” Kudritzki said.