Open Clouds for Research and Education (OCRE) - IaaS+ Cloud Tender 2024

GÉANT is a not-for profit organisation, acting as central purchasing body for the benefit of its members. By aggregating demand through a European open procurement procedure, it put in place Framework Agreements for cloud (Iaa S+) services, connecting these to the Pan European Research and Education IT ecosystems and to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). The purpose of the procurement initiative is to bridge the demand and supply sides for Infrastructure, Platform and Software as a Service (Iaa S+) and to be able to contract these services via Call off Contract through these Framework Agreements. The procurement has been conducted as an Open Procedure in accordance with the Dutch Public Procurement Act (Aanbestedingswet 2012, revised 1 July 2016). The open procedure has been divided into 39 lots. Each lot represents 1 Country where several Framework Agreements have been awarded. The combined value of services over the lifespan of the Frameworks Agreements over all lots is estimated at EUR 1807000000. In some countries a bank guarantee may be required to adhere to local laws. Estimated values per lot vary significantly. See the ITT documents published on the Mercell online tendering platform for more details. Framework Agreements for cloud solutions are awarded to Bidders who passed the procurement evaluation, resulting in a portfolio of services for Customers to consume. The Framework agreements provide standardized contract terms and Call off Contracts for use by Customers. This will remove, or will at least significantly reduce, the local overheads for technical, commercial or legal activities typically required when engaging with Suppliers. As a result, this procurement will significantly reduce barriers for Pan European Research and Education participating institutes to consume cloud solutions. GÉANT awards Framework Agreements to Suppliers (who are selected in accordance with mechanisms described within this procurement) for a period of up to five (5) years from commencement date. This term is justified due to the large investment in time and effort required by both the supply and procurement side of this aggregated procurement. The EU Regulation 2022/2560 on foreign subsidies distorting internal market has been applied to all relevant EU lots.