AFCOM

What AFCOM does

AFCOM is a private professional association founded in 1980 that serves data center and IT infrastructure professionals, with a stated membership base of more than 2,000 individuals spanning enterprise IT, hyperscale operators, construction, healthcare, and public sector organizations. The organization operates as a subsidiary unit within Informa PLC's Informa Connect division, delivering vendor-neutral education, peer networking, and industry research rather than a unified software product.

Its core offering is the Data Center World global conference series, co-produced with Informa across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America, with the 2026 edition (45th anniversary) featuring 500+ exhibitors and 20%+ exhibitor growth over 2025. Adjacent products include the AFCOM Journal quarterly publication, the 10th edition State of the Data Center annual report, the 5 Bold Predictions whitepaper series, on-demand webinars, the Inside the Box weekly newsletter, regional US chapter events, virtual chapter meetings, and the AFCOM Career Center job board. The underlying technology stack is a standard association platform from YourMembership.com handling member records, dues invoicing, email marketing, and event registration; there is no proprietary AI or ML infrastructure described.

Revenue is generated through two streams: recurring membership dues (pricing not publicly disclosed) and event revenue from Data Center World registration fees, sponsorships, and exhibitor participation. Go-to-market is community-led via chapters, conferences, content, and member referrals. AFCOM is not independently funded and operates as a closely integrated business unit inside Informa's events and publishing portfolio; no standalone financial statements are disclosed.

Name

AFCOM

Legal name

AFCOM - Advancing IT and Data Center Infrastructure Professionals

Website

https://afcom.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AFCOM is a 45-year-old professional association serving 2,000+ data center and IT infrastructure professionals worldwide, delivering vendor-neutral education, peer networking, the Data Center World conference series, research reports, and regional chapters as a subsidiary of Informa PLC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Orange

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: AFCOM generates revenue through professional membership fees. Members join to access vendor-neutral education, peer network, and practical resources for data center operations.
2. Event Revenue: Revenue from Data Center World conferences and regional events including registration fees, sponsorship, and exhibitor participation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

AFCOM is a professional association delivering vendor-neutral education, peer networking, and practical resources to data center and IT infrastructure professionals. It operates a paid professional membership program alongside the co-produced Data Center World global conference series, the AFCOM Journal quarterly publication, annual research reports, on-demand webinars, regional and virtual chapter events, and a career/job board for the 2,000+ data center professionals it serves.

Product overview

AFCOM is a professional association for data center and IT infrastructure professionals, offering a portfolio of educational and networking products rather than a unified software platform. The core offerings include the annual Data Center World conference (co-produced with Informa PLC), the AFCOM Journal quarterly publication, annual research reports including the State of the Data Center Report (10th edition) and 5 Bold Predictions whitepaper series, on-demand webinars, a weekly Inside the Box newsletter, local and virtual chapter meetings, and a Career Center job board. These products work together to provide vendor-neutral education, peer networking, and industry research to over 2,000 data center professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Data Center World: Global event series for data center solutions and education, co-produced by AFCOM and Informa PLC. Includes regional events in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Australia, Middle East, and Latin America.
• State of the Data Center Report
• AFCOM Journal

Products and services

• AFCOM Professional Membership Annual paid membership giving data center and IT infrastructure professionals access to vendor-neutral education, peer networking, practical resources, chapter events, and member benefits.
• Data Center World Conference Annual industry conference co-produced with Informa PLC, featuring expo halls with 500+ global exhibitors, technical sessions, and networking for data center professionals, with regional editions across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America.
• AFCOM Journal Quarterly publication from AFCOM covering emerging data center technologies, sustainability, AI impact, and water management issues for data center and IT infrastructure professionals.
• State of the Data Center Report Annual industry research report now in its 10th edition (2026), drawing on surveys of data center professionals to provide quantitative insights on industry trends, technology adoption, and operational practices.
• 5 Bold Predictions Whitepaper Annual whitepaper series providing forward-looking predictions on data center technology trends, disruption, and industry transformation available to AFCOM members.

Quantifiable outcome

• 45+ years of industry leadership and knowledge sharing
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Informa PLCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2026Data Center World is co-produced by Informa PLC in partnership with AFCOM. Informa PLC is the parent company that produces the Data Center World global event series including regional events in D.C., Dallas, Hong Kong, Vienna, Australia, Brasil, Jakarta, and Middle East.
• ITI (Information Technology Industry Council)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Data Center World 2026 will debut a new Public Policy Forum presented in partnership with ITI to address policy decisions shaping the data center industry's future under the Trump Administration's AI Action Plan.
• ABBminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026Data Center World 2026 will debut an Innovation Challenge powered by ABB, supporting the event's focus on innovation and AI-powered data center solutions.
• OmdiaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 February 2024Omdia provides research content for AFCOM members including data center power and cooling systems analysis, cloud and data centre market reports, and IT budget forecast trackers.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BICSI: BICSI is a professional association serving information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure professionals, including those designing and managing data centers. It directly competes with AFCOM in the data center and IT infrastructure membership space, with overlapping member demographics (network engineers, data center operators) and similar revenue model (membership dues, conferences, credentialing).
• 7x24 Exchange International: 7x24 Exchange International is a nonprofit organization focused on improving reliability and resilience of mission-critical data center facilities. It directly competes with AFCOM for data center facilities and operations professionals, offering similar membership-based education, local chapter events, and annual conferences.
• The Green Grid: The Green Grid is a global nonprofit consortium working to improve data center resource efficiency and sustainability. It overlaps with AFCOM on serving data center operations professionals but focuses specifically on efficiency/sustainability standards and metrics rather than general professional development.
• Datacenter Dynamics (DCD): DCD is a media and events business covering the data center industry globally. It competes directly with AFCOM's Data Center World by running its own DCD>Connect conference series, industry awards, and content/research products targeting the same data center professional audience.

Emerging players

• Infrastructure Masons (iMasons): iMasons is a non-profit professional community for digital infrastructure industry professionals. It targets a similar data center and infrastructure professional audience as AFCOM but is more recently established and emphasizes digital-first community engagement and industry benchmarking initiatives.
• Data Center Coalition: Data Center Coalition is an industry advocacy organization representing data center operators on policy and public affairs. It overlaps with AFCOM on policy advocacy (recently debuted Public Policy Forum at Data Center World) but focuses narrowly on hyperscale operator policy interests rather than general professional development.

Broad incumbents

• ASHRAE (Technical Committee 9.9): ASHRAE is a broad professional society for HVAC&R engineers, with TC 9.9 focused specifically on data center thermal management. It serves some of the same data center facilities professionals as AFCOM but is a much larger society covering the broader built environment, making it a broader incumbent.
• Informa PLC: Informa PLC is AFCOM's parent company and operates a vast portfolio of B2B events, media, and professional development services. While not a direct competitor, Informa's broader events portfolio (including competing technology events) and its strategic priorities directly shape AFCOM's growth trajectory and competitive positioning.
• AFCOM (Europe/Middle East/Asia regional equivalents) - Uptime Institute: Uptime Institute is the global standard-setting body for data center reliability (Tier I-IV certification). It serves a similar data center professional audience through training, certification, and intelligence services, but emphasizes infrastructure standards and certification rather than general professional community—making it a broader incumbent with partially overlapping value.
• IDG (International Data Group) / Foundry / CIO.com events: IDG/Foundry operates a portfolio of enterprise IT media brands (CIO, Computerworld, CSO) with associated events and communities. It competes with AFCOM for IT decision-maker attention via conferences, awards programs, and research, with overlap particularly in the enterprise IT infrastructure audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/afcom
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/afcom

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AFCOM