(TIA: Arlington, VA) -- The Telecommunications Industry Association, a trusted industry association, announces continued industry momentum behind the Data Center Excellence (DCE 9000) initiative, a collaborative effort to establish the first quality management system standard specifically designed for modern data center physical infrastructure.

Driven by rapid growth in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and global digital infrastructure investment, DCE 9000 aims to improve supply chain resilience, operational reliability, and consistency across data center deployments worldwide.

Broad industry alignment confirms market need

Recent industry engagement and survey feedback demonstrate strong consensus among hyperscalers, infrastructure providers, suppliers, and integrators on the need for a dedicated quality standard tailored to the complexity of modern data center environments. The survey found:
• 87.8% said the speed of innovation in modern data centers is creating risks to quality and reliability.
• 78.1% of respondents indicated existing quality frameworks don’t fully address the complexity and rapid innovation cycles of today’s data center environments.
• 92.5% agreed that a certifiable standard would improve global consistency, predictability, and deployment outcomes of data center builds.
• 87.8% indicated that a data center infrastructure quality standard would provide value to suppliers

“The pace and complexity of data center infrastructure development require stronger alignment across the global value chain,” says Gino Tozzi, global head of data center quality at Google and chair of the DCE 9000 working group. “DCE 9000 is focused on improving supplier maturity, increasing predictability, and enabling organizations to proactively address quality risks across the infrastructure life cycle.”

The DCE 9000 working group is led by a cross-industry leadership team including Tozzi; vice chair Chad Kymal of Omnex; and secretary Mike Regan of the TIA QuEST Forum.

Expanding industry participation

The initiative continues to gain momentum, attracting participation from leading organizations across the data center ecosystem. In addition to Google, data center operators actively contributing to the development effort include Oracle, Iron Mountain, and Verizon Wireless.

Engagement also extends across the broader supply chain through the QuEST Forum and the DCE 9000 working group, with participation from data center equipment and services providers including ABB, Eaton, Ever Energy, Johnson Controls, Modine, MTU Solutions (Rolls-Royce), Schneider Electric, Trane, Network Connex, Technavious (which also serves as a certification body), and TruNorthe.

This broad collaboration underscores the industry’s shared commitment to developing globally applicable quality benchmarks that support reliable, predictable infrastructure delivery.

“Suppliers working with large data centers face a very specific set of challenges that may go well beyond normal enterprise customer relationships,” says Jennifer Stepniowski for global customer experience and quality at Johnson Controls. “These companies operate at massive scale with exceptional reliability needs and highly mature governance models, creating exciting opportunities for suppliers who continue to evolve and grow alongside them.”

Initial scope focuses on critical infrastructure systems

The initial scope of DCE 9000 focuses on mechanical, power, and cooling infrastructure systems that are essential to data center performance and availability. The standard will address life cycle quality requirements spanning design, manufacturing, installation, testing, commissioning, and supply chain management.

DCE 9000 is designed as a quality management system certification framework that builds upon foundational standards while introducing data center-specific requirements and performance metrics.

“DCE 9000 reflects the industry’s commitment to strengthening the foundation of digital infrastructure through collaboration and standardization,” says Regan. “By establishing common quality expectations and measurable performance metrics, this initiative will help reduce duplication, improve supply chain efficiency, and support reliable infrastructure deployment at scale.”

Accelerated development timeline

The working group is progressing through a structured development process, with key milestones including draft standard development in 2026, and planned publication and certification framework launch in 2027.

TIA continues to expand stakeholder engagement throughout the data center value chain to ensure the standard reflects broad industry expertise and operational requirements.

Organizations interested in participating in the DCE 9000 initiative are encouraged to engage TIA QuEST Forum at membership@tiaonline.org.