The 451 Group the parent company of Tier 1 research has acquired the Uptime Institute. The 451 Group, a leading independent IT research and analyst organization, has announced the acquisition of The Uptime Institute, a Santa Fe, NM-based think tank and professional services organization. Uptime is best known as the developer of the Tier Classification System, widely accepted as the de facto industry standard for providing a consistent means to compare typically unique, customized data center facilities from the perspective of expected site infrastructure availability, or uptime.   

It has been a tough year for publications, analyst groups and associations that cater to the data center community. Advertising has been down, analyst report purchases have slipped, attendance at trade show events are padded with free passes and the culprit has been the recent economic slip which has reduced IT department’s budgets on such items.

In the past year there have been reductions in staffing for many publications and organizations that provide the mentioned services. Earlier this year the Uptime Institute felt the pinch and reduced its workforce considerably. Similar tough decisions have also being made at other data center related organizations as well.

Now it is confirmed that the Uptime Institute has been acquired. Is it a surprise? Over the years we have interviewed many current and past members of the Uptime Institute and the consensus is that the group has done a great deal for the industry, but has slipped over the years in its focus and direction.

The formation of new groups such as the Green Grid, Data Center Pulse and other trade show events along with a lack of new relevant research has pushed the Uptime Institute away from the spot light.

If you are in the data center community you are certainly familiar with the Uptime Institute and its Uptime Tier Classification system that most of the industry has utilized and mimicked. In addition, the Uptime Institute maintained an engineering consulting services arm called ComputerSite Engineering that was only recently renamed to the Uptime Institute Professional Services.  Since its original development the Uptime Tiers have only recently been updated even though its members and those outside of its membership noted the grey areas in the Tiers that needed to be shaded lighter or darker.

The Uptime Institute founded by Ken Brill is a strong and recognizable name in the industry. Its name alone has considerable value. In its early years the organization was a ground breaking think tank of corporate members with similar issues that were learning from each other. The membership helped to make the Uptime Institute. Today, there are more options and the industry has become better educated and is tired of hearing the same angles. The industry is looking for fresh ideas and research that will help them solve their problems and this has been an area where the Uptime Institute has been less than stellar. Do not get me wrong, I believe that the Uptime Institute is a wonderful contributor to the industry, but to stay in business requires new direction for the Institute, but who would be interested?

There is no question that the Uptime Institute label is recognizable in most data center circles worldwide.  The 451 Group will certainly look to help influence the data center industry and tap into the Uptime's existing research and compliment with thier own. It should be a good merge and hopefully we will see some quality information from the New Uptime Institute.