Supply and delivery of dell blade servers, rack servers and vmware licenses – icasa 05-2026

ICASA invites DELL accredited bidders to supply, deliver, deploy and support hardware solutions: Dell PowerEdge MX760C Servers, Dell PowerEdge R450, and Dell UNITY XT HFA. The procurement expands ICASA's existing Dell infrastructure (MX7000 chassis and Unity XT HFA storage) to increase computing and storage capacity. It is not intended to replace the existing environment; procuring from another manufacturer would require replacement or redesign, increasing complexity and risk. The upgrade supports scalability while phasing out aging, out-of-warranty hardware.

ICASA offices: 350 Witch-Hazel Avenue, Eco Point Office Park, Eco Park, Centurion. Private Bag X10, Highveld Park 0169. Telephone: (012) 568 3000/1.

Returnable documents — all must be completed, signed and submitted with the bid:

• SBD 1 (Invitation to Bid): bidder and contact details, signed as the offer cover page.
• SBD 2 (Tax Clearance Certificate Requirements): confirms tax compliance status.
• SBD 3.1 (Pricing Schedule): firm pricing for the goods and services.
• SBD 4 (Declaration of Interest): discloses any director or shareholder employed by the state or connected to ICASA.
• SBD 5 (National Industrial Participation Programme): declares participation in the NIPP.
• SBD 6.1 (Preference Points Claim): claims B-BBEE points under the 80/20 system.
• SBD 7.1 (Contract Form): renders services under the contract.
• SBD 8 (Declaration of Bidder's Past Supply Chain Management Practices): discloses past SCM practices.
• SBD 9 (Certificate of Independent Bid Determination): certifies no collusion or price disclosure.
• Declaration in terms of Fronting: declares no fronting practices.

Bids must be submitted as part of the bid document; incomplete or unsigned forms may lead to disqualification.

Evaluation is in four phases:

• Phase 1: Administrative Compliance — all returnable forms completed and signed.
• Phase 2: Mandatory Requirements — bidder must be an authorised Dell Partner or Dell reseller, submit a valid OEM letter or certificate, and comply with all technical specifications. Failure disqualifies the bid.
• Phase 3: Functional Evaluation (total 100 points, minimum 70 to proceed):
• Reference Letters (weight 40): 1 to 5 or more letters on client letterhead from projects in the last five years, including client name, contactable details, project completion date, and description of services. Scoring from 1 (no letters) to 5 (five or more). References verified by ICASA.
• Bidder's Experience (weight 20): years of experience in supplying, installing, configuring and commissioning server infrastructure. Scoring from 1 (less than 3 years) to 5 (more than 10 years). Company profile required.
• Completeness of Project Plan (weight 40): plan must cover work breakdown structure, implementation milestones, timelines, allocation of qualified resources, project risk management, and quality control management. Scoring from 1 (less than 6 requirements or no plan) to 5 (all 6 requirements).
• Phase 4: Price and Specific Goals Evaluation — 80/20 preference point system under the Preferential Procurement Regulations, 2022. Price 80 points, Specific Goals 20 points.

The bidder must supply, deliver, deploy and support Dell hardware to expand ICASA's existing Dell infrastructure. Required items:

• Four (4) Dell PowerEdge MX760C blade servers (for the existing MX7000 chassis) with VMware licenses.
• Two (2) Dell PowerEdge R450 rack servers.
• One (1) supplemental upgrade for the existing Dell Unity XT HFA storage.

Detailed SKU-level specifications are provided for each item, including processors, memory, storage, networking, power, and support. Key requirements:

• MX760C: Intel Xeon Gold 6526Y processors, 32GB RDIMM (16 modules), PERC H755 Mini, iDRAC9 Enterprise, 480GB SSD drives, 36-month ProSupport Plus and 4-hour Mission Critical support.
• R450: Intel Xeon Silver 4309Y processors, 16GB RDIMM, PERC H755, iDRAC9 Enterprise, 1.6TB SSD drives, 36-month ProSupport Plus and 4-hour Mission Critical support.
• Unity XT HFA upgrade: 3x 400GB FAST Cache SSDs, 12x 6TB NLSAS drives, 8 hours onsite deployment.
• VMware licensing: 32 CPU cores VCF-VSP-FND-8 Foundation 8 VMware vSphere 4, must comply with the MX760C CPU core specifications and VMware licensing terms.

Bidders must provide a datasheet for the proposed solution showing the specifications and an itemised quotation.

Scope of work:

• Supply all items listed in the technical specification.
• Test and deploy the new servers and storage equipment.
• Issue a completion certificate upon finalisation.
• Provide Dell support as specified.
• Fully configure the entire solution.
• Implement in accordance with Dell best practices.

The bidder must fully configure the entire solution. Implementation must be in accordance with Dell best practices.

Reference letters: must be on client's official letterhead, issued by previous clients for projects completed within the last five years, demonstrating successful supply, installation, configuration and commissioning of server infrastructure or similar projects. Each letter must include client name, contactable details, project completion date, and detailed description of services delivered. References will be verified by ICASA. Scoring: 1 letter = 1 point, 2 = 2, 3 = 3, 4 = 4, 5 or more = 5.

Bidder's experience: in supplying, installing, configuring and commissioning server infrastructure. Company profile required. Scoring: less than 3 years = 1, 3-5 years = 2, 6-7 years = 3, 8-10 years = 4, more than 10 years = 5.

Pricing must be submitted on SBD 3.1 (Pricing Schedule). The bid is evaluated on an 80/20 preference point system: Price 80 points, Specific Goals 20 points. No other financial requirements (bonds, guarantees, payment terms) are stated.

Mandatory requirements (failure disqualifies):

• Bidder must be an authorised Dell Partner or Dell reseller.
• Submit a valid Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) letter or certificate as proof.
• Comply with all technical specifications in section 3.

Returnable forms (all must be completed and signed):

• SBD 1, SBD 2, SBD 3.1, SBD 4, SBD 5, SBD 6.1, SBD 7.1, SBD 8, SBD 9, and a Declaration in terms of Fronting.

B-BBEE points are claimed via SBD 6.1 under the 80/20 system.

The bidder must be an authorised Dell Partner or Dell reseller. The bidder must submit a valid Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) letter or certificate as proof. The bidder must comply with all technical requirements outlined in the technical specification.

The bid is evaluated in four phases: Phase 1 Administrative Compliance, Phase 2 Mandatory requirements, Phase 3 Functional evaluation, Phase 4 Price and Specific Goals Evaluation. Functional evaluation criteria include Reference Letters (weight 40), Bidder's experience (weight 20), and Completeness of Project Plan (weight 40). Bidders scoring 70 or more out of 100 proceed to Price and Specific Goals evaluation. Price is weighted 80 points, Specific Goals 20 points.