Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) — Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FL
UK
Contact person: Laura Lewis
E-mail: laura.lewis@uksbs.co.uk
NUTS: UKK14
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://epsrc.ukri.org/
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.uksbs.co.uk/
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Other: Scientific research
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
UKSBS PR17125 Archer2 Hardware
II.1.2) Main CPV code
30211100
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
Please see II.2.4) for full information.
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.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
42 000 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM75
Main site or place of performance:
Advanced Computing Facility (ACF), Edinburgh.
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) — Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) manages the ARCHER supercomputer service on behalf of the high performance computing (HPC) scientific user communities.
This multi-million pound investment, which commenced service in 2013, provides national capability for scientific research across the HEI sector requiring access to high performance computing resources. Supporting a community of academic researchers across the UK, ARCHER provides a prestigious national Tier 1 compute resource for scientific endeavour. As provider of the national HPC service supporting researchers in diverse scientific fields, EPSRC currently manages the provision and support of the ARCHER service. A future capital investment will secure the next generation of HPC service and ensure provision of new HPC architecture capable of addressing the demands of increasing complexity in scientific research.
The overall vision for Archer2 is to build on the existing Tier 1 and Tier 2 investments in national HPC facilities so that the UK is a recognised leader on the international scene for computational science and engineering. In order to achieve this, UK researchers must be able to carry out internationally competitive research across the remits of EPSRC, NERC and beyond. The benefits of the UK being world leading in computational science and engineering will be realised through:
— the enhanced reputation of the UK in science and engineering as a whole,
— the increased ability of UK researchers to make valuable contributions to the solution of complex scientific challenges and to the generation of quality scientific outputs,
— increased attractiveness of UK researchers as partners in high profile international collaborations and improved access to large HPC resources in other countries.
EPSRC, as managing agent for the national HPC facility on behalf of the other Research Councils, is looking to tender contracts for three 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. The maximum budget for years 1-4 including VAT and all applicable duties and taxes is 48 000 000 GBP. There will be an optional 1 year extension period for maintenance and support, including associated services, which will be priced as part of this procurement (estimated 1 500 000 GBP — 2 000 000 GBP ex VAT).
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Benchmarking
/ Weighting: 50
Quality criterion: Quality and added value
/ Weighting: 30
Quality criterion: Terms and conditions
/ Weighting: 10
Price
/ Weighting:
10
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2019/S 050-114236
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: PR17125
Title: UKSBS PR17125 Archer2 Hardware
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
25/09/2019
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 4
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Cray U.K. Ltd
Bristol
UK
NUTS: UKK
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot:
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 42 000 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
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: 0345010 3503 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
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
UK Shared Business Services Ltd
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FF
UK
E-mail: majorprojects@uksbs.co.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: www.uksbs.co.uk
VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
UK Shared Business Services Ltd
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FF
UK
E-mail: majorprojects@uksbs.co.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: www.uksbs.co.uk
VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
UK Shared Business Services Ltd
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon
SN2 1FF
UK
E-mail: majorprojects@uksbs.co.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: www.uksbs.co.uk
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
21/10/2019