Supply of General-Purpose Servers for the IT Service of the University of Cantabria

Summary

The University of Cantabria’s IT Service is procuring 13 general-purpose servers as a single lot to replace aging equipment, some of which has been in continuous use for more than eight years, and to maintain the operation of university databases, domain controllers and applications. Delivery is due within five months of contract signature: four months are allocated for supplying the equipment and one month for checking that it works at the university’s premises. The order comprises four database servers, two storage and application-service servers, five domain controllers, one application frontend server and one application backend server. Minimum specifications include processors with 12–32 cores, 32–192 GB of memory and SSD or HDD storage in RAID configurations, with network interfaces varying according to each server’s purpose. Every device must include licensed out-of-band management, including FIPS 140-2 certification or higher, remote-console access, hardware monitoring and digitally signed firmware updates. Redundant power supplies and fans, a 19-inch rack-mount kit, and a five-year warranty with next-business-day maintenance are required. All server types must come from a single manufacturer’s product range; equipment must be new, supplied through the manufacturer’s official sales channel, and not subject to a manufacturer-announced end-of-life cycle. The tender ceiling is €210,000 excluding VAT, or €254,100 including 21% VAT; the tender documents provide for payment after contract completion. Price is the sole award criterion and is worth up to 100 points. The bidder must submit a technical offer describing the equipment and its configuration in Spanish or with an official Spanish translation. Participation requires a signed European Single Procurement Document and evidence of financial and technical capacity. Where no specific financial threshold is stated, the default turnover requirement applies: at least 1.5 times the estimated contract value, or €315,000, in the best of the last three completed financial years. Technical capacity is demonstrated through experience supplying similar goods. The successful bidder must provide a definitive guarantee equal to 5% of the offered price excluding VAT.