TIA Developing Data Center Quality Standard

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) has launched an initiative to develop a Data Center Quality Standard, which will be focused on infrastructure. The TIA says the standard will be “aimed at advancing operational excellence, reliability, and sustainability in the rapidly expanding global data center market.” It expects to have a draft ready for public review in 2026.

The TIA said the standard, which it will administer, will build on existing quality and supply chain standards with an initial focus on data center physical infrastructure. Specifically, the standard will do the following.

• Establish a common framework for quality that operators, customers, regulators, and partners can trust
• Help streamline supplier qualification processes and reduce costly redundancies
• Provide a shared language and sets of practices for consistent performance across the industry
• Address reliability, sustainability, and lifecycle management—key areas driving customer decision-making

“Driven by the growth of AI, cloud computing, and digital services, demand for data centers is increasing worldwide,” the TIA said when announcing the initiative. “According to McKinsey & Company, global demand is expected to triple by 2030, with U.S. demand projected to grow 20 to 25 percent annually. Meeting this need will require an estimated $6.7 trillion in global capital investment by the end of the decade, including $5.2 trillion specifically for AI-ready data centers. Amid this unprecedented growth and complexity, the absence of consistent standards across critical components and infrastructure can introduce vulnerabilities in implementation, uptime, sustainability, and lifecycle management. The industry needs trusted, unified quality standards that evolve in step with the pace and scale of investment.”

Gino Tozzi, global head of data center infrastructure quality at Google, commented, “Beyond sheer demand, the physical complexity of data centers adds another layer of urgency. Facilities must integrate servers, networking equipment, storage systems, generators, and cooling towers—each with its own quality, reliability, and maintenance requirements. Establishing a unified quality framework will help ensure these systems perform together seamlessly to support the industry’s rapid growth.”

Google recently joined the TIA’s QuEST Forum, which develops certifiable, process-based quality management systems.

The TIA’s CEO Dave Stehlin added, “TIA’s mission is to bring the ICT industry together to create standards that solve real-world challenges. This initiative is both timely and essential and we believe this collaborative process will create a practical framework for global adoption of this Data Center Quality Standard.”

“For over 30 years, Omnex has been at the forefront of helping industries define and implement quality management systems that enhance business performance,” said Chad Kymal, Omnex’s chief technology officer. “As an accredited training partner with TIA, we’re proud to contribute our deep expertise to the development of global standards—particularly by taking a leadership position in this Data Center Quality initiative. We recognize the strategic role data centers play as the backbone of the digital economy, and we’re committed to supporting their continued growth and reliability.”

The TIA’s vice president of business performance, Mike Regan, noted the QuEST Forum is ideally positioned to support this effort. “We will draw from our more than 20 years of real-world experience in providing quality management standards that have delivered substantial and measurable improvements in product and service quality, customer satisfaction and operation efficiency,” he said.