Categories & Criteria
This page lists the 14 categories you can enter within Projects, Products & Solutions, and People & Organisations, along with judging criteria
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
Geography
The DCR Excellence Awards are open to data centre projects, products and organisations serving the UK & Ireland.
Timeframe
- Projects: All projects must have been commissioned or achieved a major milestone between January 1, 2025, and March 1, 2026.
- Products/Solutions: All products must have been launched or significantly updated between January 1, 2025, and March 1, 2026.
- People/Organisations: All organisations and people must either currently be active in the data centre sector, or have operated in the sector between January 1, 2025, and March 1, 2026. For our Skills Initiative of the Year Award, this initiative needs to have been active between January 1, 2025, and March 1, 2026.
Number of Categories Per Entry
A single project/product/initiative may be entered into up to two categories. Justification must be provided for each category.
Projects
Data Centre of the Year
This category recognises an operational data centre that demonstrates outstanding performance across reliability, efficiency, sustainability and readiness for emerging workloads such as AI and high-density computing.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all data centre owners and operators with at least one facility that meets our general awards eligibility rules.
We ask that you provide evidence of the operational performance of your data centre – showcasing its excellence across availability, efficiency, service quality and sustainability.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Operational excellence (availability, resilience, incident management) – 25%
- Sustainability and efficiency (PUE, water, carbon, circularity) – 25%
- AI/high-density readiness and flexibility (cooling, power, design) – 20%
- Customer service and stakeholder outcomes – 20%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 10%
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Colocation Provider of the Year
This category recognises a colocation provider that delivers exceptional service, innovation and value to customers across its data centre portfolio.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all colocation providers that meet our general awards eligibility rules.
We recommend that you provide at least two customer testimonials to help your case. These can be anonymised to protect any private information.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Service quality and SLAs (uptime, support, flexibility) – 30%
- Innovation in offerings (interconnection, ecosystems, managed services) – 25%
- Sustainability and responsible operations – 20%
- Customer outcomes and testimonials – 15%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 10%
New Build Project of the Year
This category recognises a new data centre build or major expansion that demonstrates excellence in design, delivery and performance.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
We ask that you clearly outline the project’s objectives, scope and context, and provide evidence of how the design and delivery met or exceeded those objectives. Wherever possible, include measurable outcomes such as capacity delivered, performance metrics, efficiency figures, programme and budget performance, and any sustainability credentials or certifications achieved. Visuals such as layouts, photos or diagrams are also encouraged.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Design excellence (architecture, resilience, scalability, density) – 30%
- Delivery performance (programme, budget, health & safety, collaboration) – 25%
- Sustainability by design (embodied and operational impact, future-proofing) – 25%
- Measured early outcomes (performance data, customer uptake) – 15%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 10%
Modernisation & Retrofit Project of the Year
This category recognises outstanding upgrades, retrofits or modernisation projects carried out on live data centres to improve capacity, efficiency, resilience or functionality.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all organisations involved in the modernisation or retrofit of an existing, operational data centre (including owners, operators, consultants, contractors and integrators) where the project meets our general awards eligibility rules. The project must have been delivered on a live site.
We ask that you clearly explain the starting point and challenges of the existing environment, the scope of the works undertaken, and how risk to live services was managed. Please provide before-and-after evidence of impact, including metrics such as increased capacity, improved efficiency, enhanced resilience, reduced risk or other measurable benefits. Strong entries will also highlight any innovative approaches or technologies used, and how collaboration between stakeholders contributed to success.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Complexity and risk management in a live environment – 30%
- Measurable improvements (capacity, efficiency, resilience, performance) – 30%
- Innovation in approach or technology – 20%
- Collaboration between stakeholders (owner, vendors, contractors) – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 10%
Sustainable Data Centre of the Year
This category recognises a data centre that sets the standard for sustainable and responsible operation, delivering strong environmental performance alongside business and customer value.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all data centre owners and operators with at least one facility that meets our general awards eligibility rules and can demonstrate a track record of sustainable operation.
We ask that you provide clear, verifiable evidence of your data centre’s environmental performance, including metrics such as PUE, WUE, carbon emissions, renewable energy use, waste and circularity where available. Strong entries will also describe the wider sustainability strategy and roadmap for the facility, any innovative measures implemented (for example, heat reuse or water-saving initiatives), and how ESG considerations such as community impact and workforce practices are embedded into day-to-day operations.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Measured environmental performance (PUE, WUE, carbon, renewables, waste) – 35%
- Long-term sustainability strategy and roadmap – 25%
- Innovation in sustainable design and/or operation – 20%
- Wider ESG impact (community, workforce, governance) – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 10%
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Products & Solutions
Cooling Innovation of the Year
This category recognises hardware or software innovations that materially improve data centre thermal management, efficiency or capacity.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all providers of data centre cooling technologies or solutions, including air, liquid and immersion cooling, as well as thermal control and optimisation software, where the solution meets our general awards eligibility rules.
We ask that you clearly describe the cooling innovation, the challenge it is designed to address, and how it differs from existing approaches. Strong entries will include performance data from real-world deployments, such as efficiency gains, increased rack density, improved reliability or measurable cost and carbon savings, as well as at least one customer reference or anonymised case study.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Technical innovation and differentiation – 35%
- Proven performance gains (efficiency, density, reliability) – 30%
- Ease of deployment and integration – 20%
- Market relevance and scalability – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 5%
Digital Infrastructure Innovation of the Year
This category recognises software, platforms or digital tools that transform how data centres are monitored, managed, automated or optimised.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all providers of digital infrastructure solutions for data centres, including DCIM, orchestration, automation, optimisation, analytics and digital twin platforms, where the solution meets our general awards eligibility rules.
We ask that you explain the core capabilities of your solution, the problems it solves for data centre operators and how it fits into the wider technology stack. Strong entries will provide concrete examples of customer impact, including improvements in operational efficiency, risk reduction, capacity utilisation, cost savings or sustainability, supported by metrics and case studies.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Innovation and capability (features, architecture, AI/analytics use) – 35%
- Demonstrated customer impact (operational, financial, risk) – 30%
- Interoperability and openness (APIs, standards, ecosystem) – 20%
- User experience and operational adoption – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 5%
Networking Innovation of the Year
This category recognises innovations in data centre networking that enable higher performance, flexibility, security or efficiency.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all providers of data centre networking solutions, including switching, routing, optical, fabrics, SDN and related technologies, where the solution meets our general awards eligibility rules.
We ask that you describe the networking innovation, its architecture and how it advances the industry compared to existing solutions. Strong entries will demonstrate impact on scalability, latency, throughput, reliability or simplicity of operation, supported by deployment examples and performance metrics. You should also highlight how the solution supports modern workloads such as AI, high-performance computing, edge and multi-cloud environments.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Technical innovation and differentiation – 35%
- Impact on scalability, latency, throughput or reliability – 30%
- Support for modern workloads (AI, edge, multi-cloud) – 20%
- Operational simplicity and manageability – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 5%
Power & Energy Innovation of the Year
This category recognises products or solutions that materially improve how data centres generate, store, distribute or protect power, or manage energy use.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all providers of data centre power and energy solutions, including UPS, power distribution, backup power, on-site generation, energy storage and energy management or optimisation technologies, where the solution meets our general awards eligibility rules.
We ask that you clearly explain the innovation, the specific power or energy challenge it addresses and how it improves on conventional approaches. Strong entries will provide quantified benefits – for example, gains in efficiency, resilience, capacity, total cost of ownership or sustainability – evidenced through customer deployments and case studies. Information on flexibility, modularity and how the solution supports future growth or changing loads is also encouraged.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Technical innovation and differentiation – 35%
- Measurable benefits (efficiency, resilience, TCO, sustainability) – 30%
- Flexibility and scalability (modularity, future-readiness) – 20%
- Market adoption and references – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 5%
Security Innovation of the Year
This category recognises innovations that strengthen physical or cyber security in and around data centres, helping operators manage evolving threat landscapes.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all providers of data centre security solutions, including physical security, monitoring, access control, cyber security, threat detection and converged security platforms, where the solution meets our general awards eligibility rules.
We ask that you describe the security solution, the threats or risks it is designed to address and how it improves on existing practices. Strong entries will provide evidence of effectiveness in real-world deployments, including reductions in incidents, improved detection or response, or support for compliance and regulation. You should also explain how the solution integrates with data centre operations and other systems, and how it affects day-to-day workloads for security and operations teams.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Innovation and effectiveness against real-world threats – 35%
- Integration with data centre operations and systems – 25%
- Evidence of risk reduction or compliance benefits – 25%
- Usability and operational impact (false positives, workload) – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 5%
People & Organisations
Data Centre Consultancy of the Year
This category recognises consultancies that consistently deliver high-quality advice and demonstrable value across data centre strategy, design, engineering or operations.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all consultancy practices working with data centre clients that meet our general awards eligibility rules.
We ask that you outline your consultancy’s core services, approach and areas of expertise, and demonstrate how these translate into successful outcomes for clients. Strong entries will include multiple client examples or case studies with measurable results – for example, improvements in performance, risk profile, cost, capacity or sustainability – supported by testimonials where possible. Evidence of structured methodologies, repeatable frameworks and contributions to industry best practice or standards will also strengthen your submission.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Quality and repeatability of methodology – 25%
- Measurable client outcomes (performance, risk, cost, ESG) – 30%
- Thought leadership and contribution to best practice – 25%
- Client satisfaction and testimonials – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 10%
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Lifetime Achievement Award
This category recognises an individual who has made an outstanding, long-term contribution to the data centre industry through their leadership, innovation and service.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to nominations for individuals who meet our general awards eligibility rules and have a substantial track record in the data centre sector. Nominations may be submitted by peers, colleagues or organisations; self-nominations are discouraged.
We ask that you provide a concise career overview for the nominee, highlighting key roles, projects and achievements, as well as their wider contribution to the industry. Strong nominations will demonstrate how the individual’s work has had a lasting impact on the way data centres are designed, built, operated or regulated, and will include endorsements from colleagues, customers or industry bodies where possible. Evidence of mentoring, knowledge sharing, community engagement or support for the next generation of talent will also be viewed favourably.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Breadth and depth of career achievements – 40%
- Lasting impact on the industry (standards, education, innovation) – 30%
- Leadership, mentoring and community contribution – 20%
- Quality and authenticity of nomination – 10%
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Net Zero & ESG Leadership Award
This category recognises an organisation with a credible, ambitious and evidenced approach to net zero and wider ESG (environmental, social and governance) leadership in the data centre space.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all data centre owners, operators, service providers and vendors that meet our general awards eligibility rules and can demonstrate a clear net zero and/or ESG strategy.
We ask that you summarise your organisation’s net zero and ESG strategy, including clear targets, timelines and scope, and explain how this is embedded into business decisions and operations. Strong entries will provide evidence of delivery and progress – such as emissions reductions, efficiency improvements, renewable energy procurement, diversity and inclusion outcomes, or community initiatives – supported by data where possible. You should also highlight how you report on performance, engage stakeholders and contribute to wider industry or societal goals.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Ambition and clarity of net zero/ESG strategy – 30%
- Evidence of delivery and progress (metrics, milestones) – 35%
- Integration into business decisions and culture – 20%
- External engagement and transparency (reporting, initiatives) – 10%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 5%
Skills Initiative of the Year
This category recognises programmes that develop, attract or retain talent in the data centre sector, helping to address current and future skills gaps.
Review the category descriptions here and decide where your project, product or initiative best fits. A single entry may be submitted into up to two categories, provided you can justify each one.
This category is open to all organisations running skills-focused initiatives related to data centres, such as training schemes, academies, graduate programmes, apprenticeships, re-skilling, outreach or inclusion programmes.
We ask that you describe the objectives, structure and target audience of your skills initiative, and explain how it addresses specific skills challenges in the data centre industry. Strong entries will include evidence of outcomes – for example, numbers of participants, progression into roles, retention, diversity metrics or feedback from participants and partners. Details on curriculum design, delivery methods, partnerships with education providers or industry bodies, and plans for scaling or replicating the initiative will also strengthen your submission.
This category will be judged accordingly:
- Relevance and scale in addressing skills gaps – 30%
- Measurable outcomes (participants, progression, retention, diversity) – 30%
- Quality of programme design and learner experience – 20%
- Potential for replication and wider industry impact – 15%
- Quality and clarity of submission – 5%