The Uptime Institute announces the imminent release of the most significant addition to the Tier Program since the Tier Classification System. On 1 July 2010, Uptime Institute (Institute) will publish Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability - the international standard for data center facilities management. The focus of Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability is the risk factors and enhancement beyond Tier that affect site infrastructure performance. Tier Classification System addresses the Design Topology; Operational Sustainability the management of that Design Topology.

Data center owners currently lack a means to benchmark their operations in globally recognized terms and criteria. The Institute's response is twofold. First, Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability will define the three Elements of site operations (Management & Operations, Building Characteristics, Site Location). Management & Operations alone is the cause of 70% of downtime events. Thus, Operational Sustainability provides data center owners and operators with a tool to address the leading cause of data center incidents.

Additionally, the forthcoming standard will prioritize the risk factors within each Element. This structure assists both data center owners and operators to best use available resources and to justify additional investment. The prioritization of risk factors draws upon multiple resources, including analysis of the Institute's Abnormal Incident Report database, which is composed of over 4,500 incidents and 400 downtime events.

The first Operational Sustainability presentations were offered during the Uptime Institute Symposium in May in New York. The industry's reception of the content and structure of the standard was enthusiastic. Ongoing presentations at data center events in South America have met with a similar response.

For additional information on Tier Standard: Operational Sustainability, an Introduction may be downloadedHERE.