Managed backup, disaster recovery and dr site solution for the mining qualifications authority (38 months)

The document is a pricing schedule for professional services in disaster recovery. It requires bidders to provide a ceiling price, personnel rates, phase costs, and expense details.

Closing date: 19 October 2026 at 11:00

Bidding procedure enquiries:

• Contact: Ms Tsholo Dilape
• Email: [email protected]

Technical enquiries:

• Contact: Mr Hatiso Motloung

• Email: [email protected]

• Contact: Ms Faith Kotsedi

• Email: [email protected]

Returnable documents:

• SBD 3.3 (Pricing Schedule for Professional Services: Disaster Recovery): complete and sign, showing ceiling price, personnel rates, phase costs, and expense details.

Submission:

• Method: not specified in the document.
• Closing time: 11:00 on 19 October 2026.
• Offer validity: 120 days from the closing date.

No evaluation criteria are stated in the document. The only requirement is completion of the SBD 3.3 pricing schedule.

Scope: managed services for MQA backup, disaster recovery, and disaster recovery site solution, for a period of 38 months (until 31 March 2030).

Pricing requirements:

• Provide a ceiling price based on total estimated time for all phases, including all expenses and applicable taxes.
• List personnel involved with their positions, hourly rates, and daily rates.
• Break down the project into phases, showing cost per phase and man-days per phase.
• Specify travel expenses (e.g., rate per km, air travel class) and other expenses (e.g., accommodation, telephone, reproduction) with rates, quantities, and amounts.
• Indicate the period required for commencement after acceptance of the bid.
• Indicate the estimated man-days for completion of the project.
• State whether the quoted rates are firm for the full contract period; if not, provide the basis for adjustments (e.g., CPI).

Complete the SBD 3.3 pricing schedule with:

• Ceiling price (all taxes included).
• Personnel involved: name, position, hourly rate, daily rate.
• Phases: cost per phase and man-days.
• Travel expenses: rate, quantity, amount (actual costs only, with proof).
• Other expenses: rate, quantity, amount (actual costs only, with proof).
• Period required for commencement after acceptance.
• Estimated man-days for completion.
• Whether rates are firm for the full contract period; if not, provide adjustment basis (e.g., CPI).

Pricing format: SBD 3.3 pricing schedule.

• All prices must be in South African Rand and include all applicable taxes (VAT, PAYE, income tax, UIF, and skills development levies).
• Travel and other expenses are recoverable only at actual cost, with proof (e.g., certified invoices) required.
• No bid security, guarantees, or retention requirements are stated.

No specific compliance requirements (e.g., CSD registration, tax clearance, B-BBEE, CIDB) are stated in the document.

No specific contractual terms are stated beyond the pricing schedule requirements. The offer must be valid for 120 days from the closing date.

Bidding procedure enquiries: Ms Tsholo Dilape, [email protected]. Technical enquiries: Mr Hatiso Motloung ([email protected]) and Ms Faith Kotsedi ([email protected]).

The bidder must use the provided reference letter template to obtain verifiable references from current or former clients. The template is to be completed by the client and must address the bid requirements.

Reference letter requirements:

• The bidder must obtain a reference letter from a current or former client for past or ongoing projects.
• The reference letter must be completed on the client's company letterhead.
• The reference letter must include the client's legal name, project description relevant to the bid, project duration (start and end dates), contact person name and contact details, and a recommendation (with reasons if not recommended).
• The reference letter must be signed and dated.

Bidders must complete and sign the Bidder's Disclosure form, declaring any employment by the state, relationships with procuring institution personnel, and interests in related enterprises. Bidders must not be listed on the Register for Tender Defaulters or the List of Restricted Suppliers. Bidders must certify that the bid was prepared independently and without collusion or disclosure of pricing to competitors.

The document is the SBD 6.1 Preference Points Claim Form, which is a standard National Treasury form used to claim preference points under the Preferential Procurement Regulations 2022. It does not contain tender-specific scope details.

The tender uses the 80/20 preference point system. Price is allocated a maximum of 80 points, and specific goals a maximum of 20 points. Specific goals and their maximum points are:

• B-BBEE Status Level of Contributor: 15 points (Level 1: 15, Level 2: 14, Level 3: 10, Level 4: 8, Level 5: 6, Level 6: 5, Level 7: 4, Level 8: 2, Non-compliant: 0)
• Business owned by ≥50% black women: 2 points
• Business owned by ≥50% black youth: 1 point
• Business owned by ≥50% black people with disability: 1 point
• Business owned by ≥50% black people living in rural areas: 1 point

Bidders must complete and submit the SBD 6.1 Preference Points Claim Form, including the declaration regarding company/firm details. To claim preference points, bidders must provide a valid B-BBEE certificate or sworn affidavit. Failure to submit proof for specific goals means no preference points are claimed for those goals.

Bidders must submit a valid B-BBEE certificate or sworn affidavit to claim preference points. The specific goals include ownership by black women, youth, people with disabilities, and people living in rural areas, each requiring supporting documentation.

The Mining Qualifications Authority requires a service provider to deliver managed services for backup, disaster recovery, and a disaster recovery site solution for a period of 38 months, until 31 March 2030.

Compulsory briefing session on 6 October 2026 at 09:00 via Microsoft Teams. Meeting link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/381752385347631?p=hGhSTsWd5EJr6Jx6ch, Meeting ID: 381 752 385 347 631, Passcode: pz7Nq9uq.

Bidding procedure enquiries:

• Contact: Ms. Tsholo Dilape
• Telephone: 011 547 2628
• Email: [email protected]

Technical enquiries:

• Contact: Mr. Hatiso Motloung and Ms. Faith Kotsedi
• Telephone: 011 547 2648 / 011 547 2692
• Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Submission address: MQA Head Office (Block B Reception), No.7 Anerley Road, Parktown Johannesburg, 2193

Submission method: electronic, to [email protected], or deposit in the bid box at MQA Head Office (Block B Reception), No.7 Anerley Road, Parktown Johannesburg, 2193.

Closing time: 19 October 2026 at 11:00. Late bids will not be considered.

Bids must be submitted on the official forms provided, not re-typed.

Returnable documents (all must be completed and signed):

• SBD1 (Invitation to Bid): bidder details, tax compliance status, and foreign supplier questionnaire if applicable.
• SBD7 (Contract Form): to be signed by the successful bidder.
• Proof of authority to sign (e.g., company resolution).
• SARS Tax Compliance Status PIN or CSD number.

Failure to provide any required particulars may render the bid invalid.

Evaluation is subject to the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, 2000 and the Preferential Procurement Regulations.

Bidders must be tax compliant and provide a SARS Tax Compliance Status PIN or CSD number.

Consortia, joint ventures, and sub-contractors must each provide separate TCS/CSD documentation.

Bids from persons in the service of the state, or companies/close corporations with directors/members in the service of the state, will not be considered.

Foreign suppliers must complete the questionnaire in SBD1.

Attendance at the compulsory briefing session is required.

The Mining Qualifications Authority requires a service provider to deliver managed services for backup, disaster recovery, and a disaster recovery site solution.

Contract period: 38 months, until 31 March 2030.

The solution must cover backup, disaster recovery, and a disaster recovery site.

Tax compliance: bidders must submit a SARS Tax Compliance Status (TCS) PIN or, if not available, a CSD number.

Consortia, joint ventures, and sub-contractors must each submit separate TCS/CSD documentation.

Bids from persons in the service of the state, or companies/close corporations with directors/members in the service of the state, will not be considered.

Foreign suppliers must complete the questionnaire in SBD1 and may be exempt from TCS PIN registration if they have no RSA presence or income.

VAT registration number must be provided.

Bidders must comply with tax obligations and submit a SARS PIN or CSD number. Bids from persons in the service of the state, or companies/close corporations with directors/members in the service of the state, will not be considered. Failure to provide required particulars may render the bid invalid.

Bidding procedure enquiries: Ms. Tsholo Dilape, Tel: 011 547 2628, Email: [email protected]. Technical enquiries: Mr. Hatiso Motloung and Ms. Faith Kotsedi, Tel: 011 547 2648 / 011 547 2692, Email: [email protected] / [email protected].

The MQA requires a comprehensive and robust IT backup, disaster recovery (DR) and DR site solution and services for a period of 38 months, to ensure uninterrupted business continuity in the event of a disaster or critical incident.

Compulsory briefing session: Microsoft Teams meeting on 6 October 2026 from 09:00 to 10:00. Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/381752385347631?p=hGhSTsWd5EJr6Jx6ch, Meeting ID: 381 752 385 347 631, Passcode: pz7Nq9uq.

Technical enquiries:

• Contact: Hatiso Motaung
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 011 547 2648

Technical enquiries (alternate):

• Contact: Faith Kotsedi
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 011 547 2692

Procurement / SCM enquiries:

• Contact: Tsholo Dilape
• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: 011 547 2628

Returnable documents (Phase 1 compliance) — all must be completed, signed and submitted:

• Proof of CSD registration.
• Valid Tax Clearance Certificate or Tax PIN.
• B-BBEE Certificate of Measured Entity (or sworn affidavit where applicable).
• SBD 1 (Invitation to Bid): signed cover page.
• SBD 3.3 (Pricing Schedule): signed pricing.
• SBD 4 (Declaration of Interest): discloses any director/shareholder employed by the state or connected to the MQA.
• SBD 6.1 (Preference Points Claim): claims B-BBEE points.

Disqualification risks:

• Failure to submit any of the above returnable documents disqualifies the bid, unless the MQA, where law permits, requests outstanding information that does not affect the substance of the bid.
• Bids scoring below 70/100 on functionality and site visit are non-responsive.
• Bids received after the closing time are disqualified.

Evaluation is in four phases; a bidder must pass each phase to proceed to the next.

Phase 1 – Compliance: submission of all returnable documents listed under submission guidelines.

Phase 2 – Mandatory requirements:

• Two off-site DR facilities (primary and secondary) must be located within South Africa, away from MQA's Parktown head office.
• Evidence: off-site location and GPS coordinates of both facilities.
• Both hosting facilities must be accredited by a recognised body (e.g. TÜV SÜD, Uptime Institute, SANAS).
• Evidence: accreditation certificate of each facility.
• Attendance at the compulsory Teams briefing session.

Phase 3 – Functionality and site visit (scored out of 100):

• Functionality is scored out of 80 on a 0–5 scale per criterion. Minimum to proceed to site inspection: 60/80.
• Functionality criteria and weights:
• Company profile with at least 6 years' industry experience in IT backup/DR (weight 10).
• At least 3 compliant reference letters (weight 20).
• IT Backup Engineer CV with 3–5 years' experience (weight 10).
• IT Backup/DR certification for the proposed solution (weight 10).
• Project Manager CV with 3–5 years' project management experience (weight 10).
• Project management certification (weight 10).
• Proposed project plan aligned with sections 3 and 4 of the ToR (weight 10).
• Site inspection (weight 20) evaluates the primary hosting facility on: backup power supply, security (24/7 physical, biometric access, surveillance), raised floor, cooling, fire suppression, and uninterrupted power supply with monitoring.
• Minimum to proceed to Phase 4: 70/100 on functionality and site visit combined.

Phase 4 – Pricing and specific goals (80/20 preference points system):

• Price: 80 points.
• Specific goals: 20 points.
• Goal 1 – B-BBEE status level (max 15 points): Level 1 = 15, Level 2 = 14, Level 3 = 10, Level 4 = 8, Level 5 = 6, Level 6 = 5, Level 7 = 4, Level 8 = 2, non-compliant = 0.
• Goal 2 – Promotion of black woman/youth/disabled/rural area (max 5 points): ≥50% black women = 2, black youth = 1, black disabled = 1, black rural = 1.

The MQA requires a comprehensive managed IT backup, disaster recovery (DR) and DR site solution for 38 months.

Current environment:

• Dell EMC PowerVault ME4 SAN (15TB, ~10TB used).
• Three physical hosts, 14 virtual machines (VMware 8.0, Windows, 1 Linux).
• M365 environment with 245 users (Mail, SharePoint, OneDrive) at 30.87TB used.
• Veeam Backup and Replication (including M365).
• Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, MS Exchange, MS Dynamics Great Plains, MS SQL.
• Externally hosted MIS/ERP system (1.55TB).
• Total data across all storage: ~42.42TB.

Required services:

• Two off-site DR hosting facilities (primary and secondary) within South Africa, away from MQA's Parktown head office.
• Primary facility must be fully secured with at least 99.95% availability.
• Secondary replication facility equivalent to primary.
• Full migration services (takeover from previous provider), including setup of on-premises and externally hosted systems.
• Full managed services for backup, DR and DR site, including replication from MQA main data centre and external hosting to DR site and failover site.
• Duplicate of MQA production site and M365 environment.
• 50 Mbps dedicated fibre link for replication with internet breakout.
• Software licenses for the solution (renewable, valid for contract term) — responsibility of the service provider, included in pricing.
• 24/7/365 service/help desk.
• Backup monitoring and reporting tool for automatic daily reports.

Deliverables:

• Two backup/replication/DR hosting environments (primary and secondary).
• Full managed backup (including M365 OneDrive, Exchange, SharePoint, Teams) and DR services with support and maintenance.
• Full environment setup, including migration of data from current provider and external hosting of MQA ERP.
• Backup retention: daily incremental – 3 weeks; weekly full – 4 weeks; monthly full – 12 months; yearly full.
• Three quarterly DR restore/simulation tests (April, June, September) plus one full annual DR simulation test (December 2026, last week before December break), with test reports.
• Monthly service management reports through monthly SLA meetings; daily backup reports via automatic notification.
• 50 Mbps internet line for replication.
• Backup and DR solution design/architecture documentation.

Data growth expectations:

• M365 data currently ~30.87TB, expected to grow to 65TB.
• Other data (on-premises and externally hosted) expected to grow by 7TB over 3+ years.
• Total expected data storage over 38 months: approximately 80TB.

Project plan:

• Must detail tasks, timeframes, resource allocation, milestones, and a risk register.
• Must be aligned with scope of work and deliverables in sections 3 and 4 of the ToR.
• Full takeover of services must be completed within three weeks of the project kick-off meeting or signing of the contract, whichever occurs first.
• Project plan must be submitted to MQA for review and approval before commencement of services.

Company experience:

• Must provide reference letters from different clients in backup and/or disaster recovery solutions.
• Reference letters must be on client letterhead, dated, signed by relevant officials, include project duration and contactable details, and describe work done within five years prior to the closing date.
• MQA may contact reference clients; if they do not confirm the work, the reference is not considered.

Key personnel:

• IT Backup Engineer: CV with 3–5 years' experience in IT backup and disaster recovery.
• IT Backup/DR certification for the proposed solution (e.g. Veeam) is required; additional certifications in network, backup, or IT security earn higher scores.
• Project Manager: CV with 3–5 years' project management experience.
• Project management certification (e.g. NQF 5 with project management, or professional certification) is required; membership in a professional body earns higher scores.

Quality requirements:

• Backup and DR hosting facility must be fully secured with at least 99.95% availability.
• Backup and replication must follow MQA approved policies.
• Monthly service management reports through monthly SLA meetings; daily backup reports via automatic notification.
• Quarterly DR restore/simulation tests and annual full DR simulation test with test reports.
• Service provider must exhibit high integrity and professional competence in all assignments.

Pricing must be itemised per year for the 38-month period, in South African Rand including VAT, and aligned with the scope of work. MQA may negotiate price with the preferred bidder under specified principles.

Pricing format:

• Itemised pricing per year for the 38-month period.
• Amounts in South African Rand, inclusive of VAT.
• Price must align with the scope of work.

Negotiation:

• MQA may negotiate price with the preferred bidder, subject to: no second or unfair opportunity, not detrimental to other bidders, and not leading to a higher price than submitted.

Payment:

• Payment only for acceptable work completed and timeously delivered.

No bid security, bonds, guarantees, or retention mentioned.

Mandatory compliance:

• CSD registration (proof required).
• Valid Tax Clearance Certificate or Tax PIN.
• B-BBEE Certificate of Measured Entity or sworn affidavit (non-compliant contributors score zero for specific goals).
• SBD 1, SBD 3.3, SBD 4, SBD 6.1 – all signed.

Mandatory technical requirements:

• Two off-site DR facilities within South Africa, away from MQA's Parktown head office.
• Both facilities accredited by a recognised body (e.g. TÜV SÜD, Uptime Institute, SANAS).
• Attendance at compulsory Teams briefing session.

B-BBEE specific goals:

• Goal 1 – B-BBEE status level (max 15 points): Level 1 = 15, Level 2 = 14, Level 3 = 10, Level 4 = 8, Level 5 = 6, Level 6 = 5, Level 7 = 4, Level 8 = 2, non-compliant = 0.
• Goal 2 – Promotion of black woman/youth/disabled/rural area (max 5 points): ≥50% black women = 2, black youth = 1, black disabled = 1, black rural = 1.
• Verification via B-BBEE certificate or sworn affidavit.

No CIDB grading required (not construction).

No specific health and safety requirements are stated beyond general integrity and professional conduct.

Contract terms:

• Award subject to acceptance of the SCM general conditions of contract.
• MQA may terminate the contract for clear evidence of non-performance or poor quality of work.
• MQA may award the assignment (or part) to more than one bidder at its discretion.
• Payment only for acceptable work completed and timeously delivered.
• MQA may undertake due diligence on qualifying bidders.
• MQA reserves the right not to award the bid.
• Suggestions accepted by both parties during progress meetings become part of the contract.

Evaluation is in four phases: compliance, mandatory requirements, functionality and site visit, and pricing and specific goals. Functionality is scored out of 80; bidders must obtain 60/80 to proceed to site inspection. Site inspection is scored out of 100; bidders must obtain 70/100 to proceed to price and specific goals. Phase 4 uses the 80/20 preference points system: Price 80 points, Specific goals 20 points.

Returnable documents: the Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) supplement the General Conditions of Contract (GCC) and prevail in any conflict. No other returnable forms are specified in this document.

Bidders must be eligible under the GCC, including holding a valid SARS tax clearance certificate. Bids from bidders engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices may be rejected, and such conduct can lead to contract termination and restriction from public-sector business.

Performance security: the successful bidder must furnish performance security within 30 days of contract award notification, in the amount and form specified in the SCC. Acceptable forms include a bank guarantee, irrevocable letter of credit, or cashier's/certified cheque. The security is returned within 30 days after completion of all obligations, including warranty.

Tax clearance: a valid original SARS tax clearance certificate must be submitted before contract award. No contract will be concluded with a bidder whose tax matters are not in order.

Clause 33: The National Industrial Participation Programme (NIP) applies to all contracts subject to the NIP obligation.

Special Conditions of Contract (SCC) supplement the GCC and prevail in any conflict.

Returnable documents:

• Bidder's Disclosure form (SBD 4 equivalent): discloses whether the bidder, its directors, trustees, shareholders, members, partners, or controlling persons are employed by the state, have a relationship with anyone at the procuring institution, or have an interest in another related enterprise. A false or incomplete disclosure disqualifies the bid.
• Certificate of Independent Bid Determination (SBD 9 equivalent): certifies that the bid was prepared independently, without consultation or collusion with competitors, and that bid terms were not disclosed to competitors before bid opening.

Bidders listed on the Register for Tender Defaulters or the List of Restricted Suppliers are automatically disqualified. No other evaluation criteria (e.g., scoring split, minimum qualifying score, preference point system) are stated in the extracted document.

No specific compliance requirements (e.g., CSD registration, tax clearance, B-BBEE level) are stated in the extracted document.