Data Centre Infrastructure

Overview Massey University is issuing this RFP to invite proposals for a non-exclusive preferred supplier arrangement for data centre infrastructure supply and associated services. Massey intends to establish a single preferred supplier capable of quoting, supplying and supporting the full range of data centre infrastructure requirements described in this opportunity. Current manufacturers and models are identified to provide context on the existing environment. Respondents may propose suitable enterprise-grade alternative technologies where these meet or exceed Massey's requirements, although the ability to propose an alternative technology does not remove the requirement for the respondent to demonstrate capability across the full scope. Purpose The outcome sought is the appointment of one preferred supplier capable of meeting the full scope, directly or through disclosed specialist partners, while retaining overall contractual accountability. Scope The scope includes supply, delivery, configuration, warranty and support of enterprise data centre infrastructure across Massey's Albany, Manawatū and Wellington campuses, with individual requirements quoted as they arise, covering: Compute services (physical and virtual): HPE DL360/DL365/DL385 server fleet, ESXi host clusters and standalone hosts, and Nutanix clusters (production, dev, legacy), delivered primarily as an IaaS capability and forming the foundation for most IT services Storage services (enterprise tiered storage): NetApp AFF A400/A250 (SSD, high-performance), NetApp FAS8300 (tiered/capacity storage), and NetApp disk shelves (DS224C, DS460C, etc.), forming the core data platform service (block/file storage) Data protection and backup services: Ceph storage infrastructure, tape libraries and archival storage, and backup, retention and recovery infrastructure, with the strategic direction being to move towards a backup service offering End-user compute services: dedicated VDI clusters (DL385 Gen11 servers), GPU-enabled VDI nodes (Nutanix NX-3155G series), and NetApp storage for VDI workloads Advanced compute and research services: Nutanix HPC nodes, HPE DL385/DL580 servers, GPU and VDI hardware, and GPU and HPC as a Service models Platform and virtualisation services: VMware ESXi clusters and Nutanix hyperconverged infrastructure, forming the control plane for compute services Database and application hosting services: dedicated SQL servers (mssqldb hosts) and high-performance NetApp storage noted for SQL/HPC Departmental/edge IT services: department servers (Avid Nexis, QNAP, Lambda GPU servers, etc.), delivering federated IT services outside central platform standardisation Data centre infrastructure services: UPS systems (APC, Rittal, Centiel), generators (backup power across sites), cooling systems (dry coolers, in-row cooling, fan coil units), and PDUs and rack infrastructure, underpinning the physical service layer ensuring availability Network-adjacent storage and interconnect services: NetApp cluster switches (Broadcom BES) Contractor Requirements Enterprise Technology and Lifecycle Assurance Respondents must demonstrate the capability to quote, supply, deliver and support enterprise-grade infrastructure across the full scope, including: Supply, delivery, configuration and associated implementation services as required Manufacturer-backed warranty and support in New Zealand, including OEM escalation and support pathways, fault management and incident escalation, replacement and spares arrangements where applicable, post-warranty support and lifecycle services, and continuity of supply and support across the contract term Delivery with Massey Oversight Provide appropriately qualified personnel and access to relevant OEM technical expertise Define each requirement with Massey and submit a transparent, itemised quotation before any purchase is authorised Identify applicable manufacturer warranties, licence terms, support arrangements and delivery assumptions Manage specialist partners and subcontractors while retaining accountability for the complete requirement Provide clear quotation response times, lead times, delivery plans and escalation arrangements