In July 2024, CrowdStrike rolled out a software update that crashed more than 8 million Windows systems worldwide. The faulty release disrupted hospitals, grounded flights, halted banking operations, and affected government services. Comparable to a major cyberattack, the incident caused more than $5 billion in estimated losses, with widespread outages, loss of public trust, and a prolonged recovery effort.

The CrowdStrike failure highlights how quality and security are inseparable for businesses and organizations. Software defects, flawed integrations, and deployment errors can damage systems as severely as malware. As information and communications technology (ICT) systems grow more complex and interconnected, IT departments require a unified approach to managing both types of risk.

This article explores how the Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) TL 9000 quality standard provides a proven, ICT-specific framework to reduce failure rates and operational costs, prevent disruptions, improve customer loyalty, and bolster operational resilience. It also outlines how the SCS 9001 standard for cybersecurity and supply chain risk offers a complementary framework to identify vulnerabilities, validate security controls, and strengthen safeguards across increasingly interconnected ecosystems.

Analyzing CrowdStrike: What really went wrong

The CrowdStrike failure was triggered by an input mismatch in its Falcon sensor software, a lightweight agent that provides endpoint protection by monitoring and analyzing device activity for malicious behavior. A routine update delivered 21 input fields instead of the expected 20, resulting in an out-of-bounds memory read that crashed systems across industries and resulted in the infamous blue screen of death (BSOD) on affected devices.

Although CrowdStrike maintained robust development and security practices, its public root cause analysis confirmed the absence of a rollback mechanism, layered deployment strategy, and structured quality oversight process. The company has since implemented corrective actions in each of these areas.

Notably, the failure wasn’t caused by negligence or malice. It resulted from gaps in design validation, release control, and change management. This type of systemic shortcoming demonstrates the broader need for comprehensive, industry-specific standards, especially as the line between quality failures and cybersecurity threats continues to blur.

Parallel threats: Quality and security are inseparable

For years, many ICT organizations have treated quality and security as disparate concerns managed by different teams and governed by distinct frameworks. Yet in practice, the two are inextricably linked. A defect in a software update, a misconfigured device, or an unvetted third-party integration can compromise the stability of an entire ecosystem, just like a security breach.

As the CrowdStrike incident highlights, the consequences of a quality failure can match—or even exceed—those of a malicious cyberattack. Both can bring down mission-critical services and disrupt national infrastructure. Both require a systematic approach to risk identification, mitigation, and resolution.

TIA addresses this convergence through two complementary frameworks: TL 9000 for quality, and SCS 9001 for cybersecurity and supply chain risk. TIA built both frameworks on ISO 9001, enabling ICT providers to incrementally expand their compliance strategies. Instead of managing duplicative efforts, organizations can unify quality and security assurance—improving risk visibility while reducing operational overhead.

Why TL 9000 matters: An ICT-specific framework

TL 9000 was developed by TIA’s QuEST Forum during the late 1990s to address quality issues in the rapidly evolving telecommunications sector. Building on the solid foundation of ISO 9001, the framework takes quality management further with more than 80 targeted ICT requirements—covering software, hardware, and service innovation through every life cycle phase. TL 9000 adds the rigor and specificity needed for complex ICT systems. Key capabilities include:
• Traceable testing protocols that require stress testing, boundary testing, and validation against abnormal input conditions
• Release and migration controls that support phased deployment, rollback planning, and change documentation
• Structured problem resolution and defect tracking to enable early containment and root cause analysis
• Supplier oversight to ensure that third-party software and hardware meet defined quality standards
• Executive accountability through management reviews and continuous improvement metrics

TL 9000 embeds risk mitigation into every phase of development through structured processes and life cycle-based oversight. Image: TIA

By adopting TL 9000, ICT organizations embed quality into every phase of development and operations, minimizing both the frequency and severity of failures.

Benchmarking as a force multiplier

Unlike many generic quality systems, TL 9000 integrates a performance measurement and benchmarking program. Certified organizations submit monthly data on key metrics such as outage frequency, software fix quality, hardware returns, and on-time delivery.

The data are anonymized, aggregated, and published as industry benchmarks for more than 100 product categories. This allows organizations to assess performance against industry standard benchmarks, proactively identify trends and recurring issues, drive improvements based on real-world outcomes, and demonstrate quality to partners and customers without additional audits.

TL 9000-certified companies report a 90% improvement in wireline software fix quality, a 92% reduction in return rates for certified wireless providers, and a 130% improvement in delivery performance for edge routers. Mobile base transceiver providers also saw a 50% improvement. Additionally, organizations achieved a 62% reduction in major problem reports for packet switches. These outcomes drive operational savings and improve customer satisfaction.

Extending quality principles to cybersecurity and supply chains

SCS 9001, TIA’s companion standard for cybersecurity and supply chain risk, builds on the ISO 9001 foundation and is informed by TL 9000. It extends quality management principles into the security domain by requiring organizations to validate security controls, assess supplier risk, and embed cybersecurity into operational and procurement practices. Implemented independently or alongside TL 9000, SCS 9001 supports a unified strategy for managing quality and security across complex ICT environments.

Avoiding regulatory issues: The case for industry leadership

Another recent high-profile incident, the Salt Typhoon cyber-espionage campaign, attributed to a state-sponsored threat actor targeting the U.S. telecommunications sector, is currently under investigation by Congress. Incidents like the CrowdStrike outage and Salt Typhoon are raising global concerns and drawing increased regulatory focus to ICT systems. In the U.S., Congress has explored quality and security mandates through the Federal Communications Commission and other agencies. In the EU, the NIS2 Directive expands requirements across healthcare, energy, and communications sectors. Costa Rica recently mandated SCS 9001 for vendors supporting national infrastructure.

These trends signal a tightening regulatory environment. While policy development takes time, the risks of delay are real: economic losses, reputational harm, and reduced market access. A voluntary, industry-led model offers ICT providers greater flexibility and control while demonstrating leadership to regulators, partners, and the public.

TL 9000 provides that solution. It has already transformed telecom by improving network availability, reducing product return rates, increasing customer satisfaction, and reducing operational costs. Through rigorous industry benchmarking, global carriers and suppliers have achieved remarkable gains: higher software-fix quality, lower product return rates, and faster resolution of reported issues. The broader ICT industry can benefit from the same discipline, data, and accountability before external mandates are enforced.

Resilience starts with standards

Despite its multibillion-dollar price tag, the CrowdStrike outage wasn’t a one-off event. It’s a symptom of deeply entrenched vulnerabilities in ICT quality management and control. As software, devices, and networks continue to scale in complexity, the risk of failure will only increase for organizations of all sizes.

TL 9000 offers a tested and trusted framework to reduce that risk. With ICT systems now critical to public safety, economic continuity, and national security, quality must be treated with the same level of priority as security. By adopting TL 9000 and SCS 9001, ICT providers can shift from reactive crisis response to proactive resilience—effectively embedding quality and security in every phase of development and deployment.

To learn more about TL 9000 or participate in its continued development, visit TIA.