Services - 615597-2020

18/12/2020    S247

United Kingdom-Reading: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

2020/S 247-615597

Prior information notice

This notice is a call for competition

Services

Legal Basis:
Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)Name and addresses
Official name: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
Postal address: Shinfield Park
Town: Reading
NUTS code: UKJ11 Berkshire
Postal code: RG2 9AX
Country: United Kingdom
Contact person: Procurement at ECMWF
E-mail: procurement@ecmwf.int
Internet address(es):
Main address: https://www.ecmwf.int/
Address of the buyer profile: http://procurement.ecmwf.int
I.3)Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the abovementioned address
I.4)Type of the contracting authority
European institution/agency or international organisation
I.5)Main activity
Other activity: Meteorological services

Section II: Object

II.1)Scope of the procurement
II.1.1)Title:

ECMWF/ItPQ/2020/307 European Weather Cloud — Delivery and Operation of a Production On-Prem OpenStack Cloud

Reference number: ECMWF/ItPQ/2020/307
II.1.2)Main CPV code
72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
II.1.3)Type of contract
Services
II.1.4)Short description:

ECMWF is issuing an Invitation to Pre-Qualify (ItPQ) to help it plan a blended in-source and out-source strategy for the procurement, implementation and operation of a production quality, general-purpose, on-premises cloud-computing-environment (the ‘Cloud Strategy’). In summary, the purpose of the ItPQ is to:

— state ECMWF’s requirements;

— solicit responses from the widest possible range of potential suppliers who are able to meet those requirements; and

— use those responses to draw up a shortlist of potential suppliers who will be invited to tender for the planned follow-up Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the implementation phase of the project.

II.1.5)Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: 1.00 EUR
II.1.6)Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: no
II.2)Description
II.2.3)Place of performance
NUTS code: UK UNITED KINGDOM
NUTS code: IT ITALIA
II.2.4)Description of the procurement:

ECMWF, and their partners, hold an ever-growing data store for meteorological applications and so they have started the pilot phase of the ‘European Weather Cloud’ to make it easier to work on weather and climate big-data in a cloud-based infrastructure. The pilot phase of such endeavours to develop a set of terms and conditions for operation and use of such an infrastructure.

ECMWF is issuing an Invitation to Pre-Qualify (ItPQ) to help it plan a blended in-source and out-source strategy for the procurement, implementation and operation of a production quality, general-purpose, on-premises cloud-computing-environment (the ‘Cloud Strategy’). In summary, the purpose of the ItPQ is to:

— state ECMWF’s requirements;

— solicit responses from the widest possible range of potential suppliers who are able to meet those requirements; and

— use those responses to draw up a shortlist of potential suppliers who will be invited to tender for the planned follow-up Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the implementation phase of the project.

In the first instance, this environment will support the production of the new ‘European Weather Cloud’. It is probable that other production systems will, in due course, be added, increasing demand, and resulting in significant scale-up requirements, and further enhanced resilience requirements. This ItPQ describes some of those other existing production systems. Others are in the planning stage between ECMWF and its partners.

Once the ‘Cloud Strategy’ is defined, ECMWF hopes to issue one or more Invitations to Tender (ITTs) during the second half of 2021; these will be for the out-source components. First systems deployments in ECMWF’s new twin data-hall Bologna Data Centre are planned to take place during the Q2 2022.

ECMWF encourages responders to submit complete responses to this ItPQ, including enhanced responses where invited to do so in the document.

At this stage, we envisage a financial commitment in excess of EUR 1 million per annum, for an initial contract period of between 3 and 5 years and the possibility of annual extensions, however this does not include consolidation of other ECMWF systems, as mentioned above, which would inflate this figure.

II.2.5)Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
II.2.6)Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: 1.00 EUR
II.2.7)Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 36
This contract is subject to renewal: yes
Description of renewals:

Initial contract period is between 3 and 5 years with the possibility of annual extensions.

II.2.10)Information about variants
II.2.11)Information about options
II.2.13)Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
II.2.14)Additional information

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Description
IV.1.1)Type of procedure
Restricted procedure
IV.1.3)Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
IV.1.8)Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2)Administrative information
IV.2.2)Time limit for receipt of expressions of interest
Date: 26/02/2021
Local time: 15:00
IV.2.4)Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted:
English
IV.2.5)Scheduled date for start of award procedures:
30/06/2021

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.3)Additional information:

The procurement for the contract will be conducted in accordance with ECMWF's procedures as set out in ECMWF's invitation to tender documents (once published), which will be available on ECMWF's eProcurement Portal (https://procurement.ecmwf.int/) and no other procedures will apply. In submitting this notice ECMWF does not waive the privileges and immunities granted to it by virtue of its status as an intergovernmental organisation or submit itself to any jurisdiction.

Tenders must be submitted using ECMWF's eProcurement Portal. Hard copy (paper) submissions will not be accepted. Suppliers must register their organisation on the eProcurement Portal to be able to access the documents, once these are published, and to be able to submit a response to any opportunity.

The eProcurement Portal can be accessed from one of the following links: https://procontract.due-north.com or https://procurement.ecmwf.int (the latter redirects to the ProContract opportunities page).

VI.4)Procedures for review
VI.4.1)Review body
Official name: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
Postal address: Shinfield Park
Town: Reading
Postal code: RG2 9AX
Country: United Kingdom
Internet address: https://www.ecmwf.int/en/about/suppliers
VI.4.3)Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:

See instructions on ECMWF's Suppliers web page: https://www.ecmwf.int/en/about/suppliers

VI.4.4)Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
Official name: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)
Postal address: Shinfield Park
Town: Reading
Postal code: RG2 9AX
Country: United Kingdom
Internet address: https://www.ecmwf.int/en/about/suppliers
VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:
15/12/2020