Public procurement notice: Additional Information
Published: 2019-05-21
Buyer: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) — Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 30211100
Submission deadline: 2019-06-03
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Summary: UKRI — EPSRC, as managing agent for the national HPC facility on behalf of the other Research Councils, is tendering contracts for 3 elements of the ARCHER2 facility; the hardware (to be based in Edinburgh); the service provision which manages academic access to the facility and the helpdesk; and the computational science and engineering (CSE) support which provides software development and training and support to users of the facility to enable their codes to run as effectively as possible. The hardware element of the ARCHER2 service will provide the compute resource, maintenance and support including storage and network connectivity to provide enhanced provision of HPC hardware for academic scientific research. Estimated value of opportunity — 48 000 000 GBP including VAT and all applicable duties and taxes for Years 1-4, plus optional Year 5 maintenance and support (est. 2 400 000 GBP inc. VAT). Net values: 40 000 000 GBP Years 1-4, 2 000 000 GBP optional year 5.
To participate in this tender participants shall first be registered on the e-Sourcing Suite. If bidders have not yet registered on the e-Sourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link “Register for CCS eSourcing”. Please note that, to register, Bidders must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.
Note: Registration may take some time please ensure that you allow a sufficient amount of time to register.
Full instructions for registration and use of the system can be found at http://ccs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/i-amsupplier/respondtender
Once you have registered on the e-Sourcing Suite, a registered user can express an interest for a specific procurement. This is done by emailing ExpressionOfInterest@ccs.gsi.gov.uk
Your email must clearly state the name and reference for the procurement you wish to register for (for this pre-market engagement the reference is UKSBS PR17125 Hardware). Your organisations full name as a registered supplier; the name and contact details for the registered individual sending the email.
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) will process the email and then enable the bidder to access the procurement online via the e-Sourcing Suite.
The registered user will receive a notification email to alert them once this has been done. As a user of the e-Sourcing Suite you will have access to Emptoris email messaging service which facilitates.
All messages sent to you and from you in relation to any specific RFX event. Please note it is your responsibility to access these emails on a regular basis to ensure you have sight of all relevant information applicable to this opportunity. For technical assistance on use of the e-Sourcing Suite please contact Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Helpdesk (not UK SBS Ltd): Freephone: 03450103503 — email: supplier@ccs.gsi.gov.uk
Training support to respond to a requirement is available to bidders at http://www.uksbs.co.uk/services/procure/Pages/supplier.aspx
The Contracting Authority (CA) will continue to utilise the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) for this procurement if the United Kingdom (UK) is able to gain access to the OJEU.
If, however during this procurement process the UK exits the EU and this does not allow for any transitional arrangements of access aligned to the timings of the procurement, the Contracting Authority will as directed by the UK Governments Cabinet Office (via Crown Commercial Services) utilise the UK Governments own procurement portal to discharge the balance of its statutory obligations associated with this procurement.
To participate in this tender participants shall first be registered on the e-Sourcing Suite. If bidders have not yet registered on the e-Sourcing Suite, this can be done online at https://gpsesourcing.cabinetoffice.gov.uk by following the link “Register for CCS eSourcing”. Please note that, to register, bidders must have a valid DUNS number (as provided by Dun and Bradstreet) for the organisation which you are registering, who will be entering into a contract if invited to do so.
Note: Registration may take some time please ensure that you allow a sufficient amount of time to register.
Full instructions for registration and use of the system can be found at http://ccs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/i-amsupplier/respondtender