CFT-1790 - Provision of IT Infrastructure and Operations Managed Services for the EIB Group

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has issued a call for tenders for the provision of IT Infrastructure and Operations Managed Services, aimed at awarding a maximum 96-month framework agreement to a single successful tenderer. The objective is to enhance the EIB Group's IT capabilities across multiple domains, including both on-premises infrastructure and cloud services, specifically on AWS and Azure.

Eligible applicants include large enterprises with the capability to deliver comprehensive IT services. SMEs are not suitable for this tender. This is classified as a procurement contract, meaning the EIB will purchase services through competition. Applicants do not need to form a consortium as a single tenderer is sufficient.

Geographically, the tender is expected to be open primarily to companies based within the EU, although international companies that meet the requirements may also be eligible. The project is in the operational phase, focusing on ongoing support and maintenance of existing IT infrastructure.

The estimated funding amount surpasses €5 million, attributed to the extensive scale involving thousands of servers and databases, alongside 24/7 support requirements.

The application procedure is an open call with a competitive process that includes negotiation stages, likely involving multiple steps such as proposal submission and evaluation. Success rates for such competitive tenders tend to be low, likely below 10 percent.

Co-funding is not required as this contractual arrangement does not necessitate it. Submission of applications must be done electronically and the deadline for requests to participate is set for April 25, 2025, at 15:00 Europe/Luxembourg time.

The tender encompasses a wide array of IT services categorized under the CPV code 72000000, which includes consulting, software development, and support. Specific domains include network services, unified communications, database management, server operations, automation, backup services, and IT operations support.

Selection criteria will assess the capacity to perform professional activities, financial standing, and technical competency, with a focus on providing evidence of previous successful experiences in managing a complex IT environment.

The documents required for submission include various administrative forms and a technical capacity questionnaire, all specifying that the applicants must demonstrate their qualifications and compliance with the outlined criteria.

This tender ultimately seeks to modernize and strengthen the EIB Group’s digital infrastructure through a single provider capable of delivering high-quality IT services at competitive pricing, emphasizing transparency and adherence to EU procurement standards.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has issued a call for tenders, EIB/2025/CPN/0002, for the provision of IT Infrastructure and Operations Managed Services for the EIB Group. This is a competitive procedure with negotiation, aiming to award a framework agreement to a single successful tenderer. The maximum contract duration is 96 months. The award method will be based on the best price-quality ratio. The TED publication date is 14/02/2025, and the deadline for receipt of requests to participate is 25/04/2025 at 15:00 Europe/Luxembourg time. Submissions must be sent electronically.

The scope of the framework agreement encompasses 11 domains, covering on-premises and two cloud landing zones (AWS and Azure). The estimated volumetrics for each domain, reflecting current EIBG infrastructure design and subject to technological evolution, are as follows:

Domain 1 (Network Services): 550 switches, 90 routers, 1134 access points, 60 other network devices.
Domain 2 (Unified Communication): 320 collaboration rooms.
Domain 3 (Database Services): 600 databases.
Domain 4 (Server Operating Systems Services): 3000 servers.
Domain 5 (Automation Services): 4 Ansible platforms, 4 Terraform platforms, 170 AzureDevops Agents, 1 Automic platforms, 80 Automic agents, 4 UIPath robots, 6 Outsystem Platforms.
Domain 6 (Virtual Services): 102 SDDC VxRail physical servers, 10 Tanzu physical servers, Cloud Landing Zones Azure, Cloud Landing Zones AWS.
Domain 7 (Backup Services): 11 backup appliances, 12 disaster recovery appliances.
Domain 8 (Datacentre Support and Infrastructure Asset Management Services): 72 racks, 122 hardware appliances.
Domain 9 (Observability and Scheduling Services): 3500 monitored hosts, 200 monitored applications.
Domain 10 (IT Operations Support Services): 30000 Configuration Items in CMDB; 24/7 support of operator.
Domain 11 (Client Platform Services): 21 physical windows servers, 1100 virtualized servers.

The main classification (CPV) for this tender is 72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support. The nature of the contract is for services, and it will be a framework agreement without reopening of competition.

Selection criteria include:
Suitability to pursue the professional activity.
Economic and financial standing.
Technical and professional ability.
Consult the procurement documents for details on the selection criteria.

Available documents include:
General Administrative and Submission Clauses Step 1 Invitation to submit a request to participate (Published 14/02/2025, Version 1).
Forms 1 - 6 (Tender administrative forms) Invitation to submit a request to participate (Published 14/02/2025, Version 1).
Form 7 - Technical and professional capacity - Contract reference form Invitation to submit a request to participate (Published 14/02/2025, Version 1).
Documents for the 2nd step of the procurement procedure - FOR INFORMATION ONLY Tender specifications (requests to participate) (Published 14/02/2025, Version 1).
Form 8 - Technical Capacity Questionnaire Invitation to submit a request to participate (Published 14/02/2025, Version 1).
Invitation to Participate UPDATED 14032025 Invitation to submit a request to participate (Published 20/03/2025, Version 1).
Invitation to Participate Invitation to submit a request to participate (Published 14/02/2025, Version 1).

Regarding the eSubmission system, it supports the latest versions of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Attachments should be less than 50 MB in size, and the maximum number of documents allowed per tender is 200 files. A Personal Identification Code (PIC) is mandatory for participation. The system supports all 24 official EU languages and uses UTF-8 character set encoding. It encrypts all uploaded documents using an asymmetric key.

Several questions and answers (Q&A) have been published regarding this tender. Some key points include:
The deadline for submission of tenders cannot be extended.
Both ITIL v3 and ITIL v4 certifications are acceptable for the 250 Certified ITIL Foundation staff, provided the certificate is issued by PeopleCert or an AXELOS-accredited training provider.
The EIB needs to be able to verify contract references, including contacting the reference client.
An extract from the relevant register proving there are no grounds relating to criminal convictions for the economic operator is sufficient.
Points will be scored only if the Candidate demonstrates experience with VMware vRA.
Blue Prism certification is not accepted for scoring in relation to requirement 09 under short-listing criterion 2.
The reference in footnote 6 of Form 7 to section 1.1 of Annex A is incorrect; the definition of acronyms is in the "Definitions" section of Annex A.
For item 4, all listed technologies have to be in the same contract.
The term "Hardware appliances" refers to physical IT infrastructure such as servers, storage appliances, network switches, routers, firewalls, proxies, and load balancers, excluding virtual appliances.
The term "end-users" refers to the employees of the reference client organization and the consultants working for the client.
Any combination of UPC or AARPA professionals is acceptable, as long as the minimum total number is 10.
The EIB extended the deadline for submission of requests to participate from 04/04/2025 to 25/04/2025.
The candidate must provide documents for each separate legal entity relied upon.
The only condition that has an implication on the location of the client and/or the place of delivery of the services under the contract references is specified in Section 1.2 of the Terms of reference and Section 1.1.2 Services locations of Annex A Technical Specifications.
Qualified Electronic Signatures are accepted for the request to participate and/or tender documents.
The wording "same period" in section 1.7.1.3 Criterion T3 refers to the last 5 years before the deadline for submission of requests to participate.

In summary, this tender is an invitation from the European Investment Bank for companies to bid on a framework agreement to provide comprehensive IT infrastructure and operations managed services. The services span a wide range of IT domains, including network services, unified communication, database services, server operating systems, automation, virtualization, backup, data center support, observability, IT operations support, and client platform services. The EIB is looking for a single provider to manage both its on-premises infrastructure and its cloud presence on AWS and Azure. The selection process involves a competitive procedure with negotiation, and the final decision will be based on the best price-quality ratio. Companies interested in participating must demonstrate their suitability, economic stability, and technical capabilities, and they must submit their requests electronically by the specified deadline. The tender documents provide detailed information on the scope, requirements, and submission process.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant type is a single economic operator or a group of economic operators (consortium).

Funding Type: The funding type is a procurement, specifically a framework agreement.

Consortium Requirement: A single applicant or a consortium of multiple applicants is acceptable.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is implied to be within the EU, as contract references must be for clients based in the EU and for services delivered within the EU.

Target Sector: The target sector is ICT, specifically IT infrastructure and operations managed services, including consulting, software development, Internet and support.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lead contracting authority, and the contract references must be for clients based in the EU.

Project Stage: The project stage is for the provision of managed services, implying a commercialization or operational stage.

Funding Amount: The estimated total value is not specified.

Application Type: The application type is an open call for tenders, using a competitive procedure with negotiation.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive a service contract.

Application Stages: The tender process involves at least two steps: a request to participate and a subsequent tender submission for shortlisted candidates.

Success Rates: Success rates are not specified, but the purpose of the selection and shortlisting criteria is to shortlist 3 candidates.

Co-funding Requirement: Co-funding requirements are not explicitly mentioned.

Summary:

This is a call for tenders by the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the provision of IT Infrastructure and Operations Managed Services. The EIB intends to award a framework agreement to a single successful tenderer. The scope includes 11 domains covering on-premises infrastructure and cloud landing zones on AWS and Azure. The tender process is a competitive procedure with negotiation, involving an initial request to participate, followed by a full tender submission from shortlisted candidates. The maximum contract duration is 96 months. Submissions must be electronic. The deadline for receipt of requests to participate is April 25, 2025. The tender documents outline the selection criteria, focusing on the suitability to pursue the professional activity, economic and financial standing, and technical and professional ability of the candidates. The tender is open to single economic operators or consortia. The selected tenderer will be responsible for managing a complex IT environment, including network services, unified communication, database services, server operating systems, automation services, virtual services, backup services, data center support, observability and scheduling services, IT operations support services, and client platform services. The tender documentation includes administrative forms, technical capacity questionnaires, and general submission clauses.