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Isambard AI

Hardware
South West (UKK11)
Published value
Not published
Submission deadline Not published
Lots published1
Procurement Executive Summary
AI & Search Synopsis
Generated from official OCDS record
Tenderline Synopsis: University of Bristol: "Isambard AI". Published status: complete. Published value: Value not published. 1 published lot. Submission deadline not published. See the official notice for participation instructions.
Contracting AuthorityUniversity of BristolScope & CategoriesNot publishedSubmission Window
complete
No deadline published
Submission GatewayDirect notice routeLegal Basis & RegimeStandard procurementEstimated Value (exc. VAT)Not published
Bidder Intelligence · Authority Profile: University of Bristol
Market Analytics
View Authority Profile →
Derived from OCDS awards & bid statistics
Published history for University of Bristol. These figures describe retained records, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
Published-to-award variance
Not availableInsufficient comparable data
Requires at least 5 comparable procedures
Competition Density
4Bids / Report
20.3% of reports have one bid
Supplier ConcentrationNo estimate
Insufficient attributable awardsNo concentration estimate available
Payment Terms
Check noticePublished terms
Payment obligations depend on the applicable regime and contract. Consult the official documents.
Coverage: 74 active published awards; 69 bid reports (which may be per lot). Supplier values exclude multi-supplier awards, frameworks and DPS, and use GBP only. They are published award values, not payments. Published-to-award variance compares single-lot, single-award, single-supplier GBP procedures with explicitly non-framework/non-DPS status; increases remain in the average. Unpublished data stays unknown. Awarded suppliers are winners, not all bidders.
Procedure terms
Contracting AuthorityUniversity of Bristol
Procedure methodNot published
Procurement categoryNot published
Statuscomplete
Framework / DPSFramework
CompetitionNot published
Above thresholdNot published
Legal basisNot published
Tender period startsNot published
Clarification deadlineNot published
Electronic submissionNot published
Submission languagesNot published
Published10 Nov 2023, 16:16 GMT
Last source update10 Nov 2023, 16:16 GMT
Recurring procurementNot published
ClassificationHardware
Delivery area
South West (UKK11)
OCIDocds-h6vhtk-04177e
What is being bought
Isambard-AI is a new GPU-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing system to deliver a national AI Research Resource (AIRR) for the UK, as recommended in the “Independent Review of The Future of Compute: Final report and recommendations ”, and to support the Frontier AI safety taskforce. This new AIRR will support several initiatives, particularly on AI safety and foundational models, where the UK aims to establish a leadership position. Isambard-AI will be delivered as a “self-contained unit”. The RFP and Contract covers, in summary, the following mandatory requirements: 1. The scale-out GPU-based production system 2. An early access GPU-based system with AI storage 3. High performance network fabric 4. System management support for multi-tenancy: 5. Support for 5 years of service 6. One or more self-contained units 7. Energy efficiency 8. Storage solutions optimised for AI training and inference 9. AI supercomputing facility access and gateway nodes 10. Data Centre Connectivity and Edge Router for Services 11. UPS 12. Data transfer and mover tool 13. Software and licenses 14. Security monitoring, auditing and compliance 15. Monitoring, reporting and RAS tools 16. Eventual decommissioning 17. Training / handover 18. Environmental impact
What changed
From the official release history
  1. Status changed to complete
    10 Nov 2023, 16:16 GMT
  2. Official notice release published
    10 Nov 2023, 16:16 GMT
  3. Buyer information updated
    10 Nov 2023, 16:16 GMT
Lots and requirements (1)
Published by the contracting authority
  • Lot 1 · #1
    Individual lot title not published
    Status not published
    Published valueNot published
    A call for a mini competition was made on 13 September 2023 under the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (“SUPC”) Framework Agreement for the Supply of Servers, Storage and Solutions National Agreement (“SSSNA Framework Agreement”) by issue of a Request for Proposals ("RFP") to all of the Lot 4 (Solutions – HPC and/or DIC) Panel members. The SSSNA Framework was established pursuant to the Find a Tender Notice reference 2021/S 000-027936 published on 8 November 2021. Lot 4 panel members were offered a site visit to view the site for the upcoming Isambard 3 Tier-2 HPC service at the National Composites Centre within the Bristol and Bath Science Park. The RFP identified the mandatory requirements (scored on a Pass/Fail basis), the scored desirable requirements, set out the award criteria and scoring methodology and provided a response template and draft call off contract based on the SSSNA Framework Agreement. The RFP gave Lot 4 panel members 2 weeks to respond (until 5pm Wednesday 27 September 2023), the evaluation concluded on 2 October 2023 and a voluntary standstill period concluded on 31 October 2023. Delivery of an initial 150+ GPUs and site preparation is required in early 2024 to enable Phase 1 of Isambard-AI to go live by the end of March 2024, in order to meet milestones set by the Department of Science, Information and Technology (“DSIT”) in the grant funding of Isambard-AI via UKRI. DSIT’s plans for the new AI Research Resource at the University were announced as part of a £900m investment to transform the UK’s computing capacity, by press release of 13 September 2023. Only one tender was received in response to the RFP (from Hewlett-Packard Limited trading as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, the provider of Isambard 3). The University proceeded to evaluate the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise tender response, confirmed that it met the mandatory requirements and scored the response to the desirable requirements (see below). Standstill letters were issued to the Lot 4 panel members on 18 October 2023. The call-off contract in relation to the supply of Isambard-AI with Hewlett-Packard Limited (“the Contract”) has been finalised and is ready for signature.
    Contract periodNot published
    EligibilityNot published
    Options / renewalNot published
Timeline
  1. Procedure published
    10 Nov 2023, 16:16 GMT
  2. Award active
    Not published · Not published
  3. Contract active
    Signed 18 Oct 2023, 00:00 BST · £175,875,000
Commercial outcome and competition
Awards
Hewlett-Packard Limited (trading as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise)
Not published · Not published · active
Contracts
Isambard AI
£175,875,000 · signed 18 Oct 2023, 00:00 BST · active
Bid statisticsNo aggregate bid statistics published
Buyer and organisations in this procedure

University of Bristol

Contracting authority GB-FTS-1015
View buyer profile

  • University of Bristol
    buyer

    4th Floor, Augustine's Courtyard, Orchard Lane, Bristol, UKK11, BS1 5DS
    to22587@bristol.ac.uk
    +44 01179289000

  • Hewlett-Packard Limited (trading as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise)
    supplier

    Ground Floor, 210 Wharfedale Road, Winnersh Triangle, Berkshire, RG41 5TP, Berkshire, UKJ11, RG41 5TP

  • Royal Courts of Justice
    reviewBody

    The Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Documents (0)
Official links; attachments are not copied
No data
No linked documents are published
Related procedures (0)
No data
No related procedures published
Planning and rationale
Planning budgetNot published
No-engagement rationaleNot published
Procedure rationaleThis VEAT notice is issued prior to entering into the Contract and aims to ensure that publicity is given to the University’s intentions, the nature of the Contract and the procurement route before the Contract is signed. No prior publication of a notice was made specifically for the Contract. The University relies on the contract notice published on Find a Tender reference 2021/S 000-027936 for the SSSNA Framework Agreement (“the Framework Notice”) and considers it legitimate to award the Contract without prior publication of a notice specific to Isambard-AI as it has used a compliant route to market under the SSSNA Framework Agreement in accordance with regulation 33 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“PCR 2015”). SUPC has confirmed that call off contracts awarded to date under the SSSNA Framework, including the Contract, fall below the total estimated value (of £500,000,000) set out in the Framework Notice. A call for a mini competition was made on 13 September 2023 under the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (“SUPC”) Framework Agreement for the Supply of Servers, Storage and Solutions National Agreement (“SSSNA Framework Agreement”) by issue of a Request for Proposals ("RFP") to all of the Lot 4 (Solutions – HPC and/or DIC) Panel members. The SSSNA Framework was established pursuant to the Find a Tender Notice reference 2021/S 000-027936 published on 8 November 2021. Lot 4 panel members were offered a site visit to view the site for the upcoming Isambard 3 Tier-2 HPC service at the National Composites Centre within the Bristol and Bath Science Park. The RFP identified the mandatory requirements (scored on a Pass/Fail basis), the scored desirable requirements, set out the award criteria and scoring methodology and provided a response template and draft call off contract based on the SSSNA Framework Agreement. The RFP gave Lot 4 panel members 2 weeks to respond (until 5pm Wednesday 27 September 2023), the evaluation concluded on 2 October 2023 and a voluntary standstill period concluded on 31 October 2023. Delivery of an initial 150+ GPUs and site preparation is required in early 2024 to enable Phase 1 of Isambard-AI to go live by the end of March 2024, in order to meet milestones set by the Department of Science, Information and Technology (“DSIT”) in the grant funding of Isambard-AI via UKRI. DSIT’s plans for the new AI Research Resource at the University were announced as part of a £900m investment to transform the UK’s computing capacity, by press release of 13 September 2023. The University has also satisfied itself, in tailoring the call-off terms (as set out in the SSSNA Framework Agreement) to the RFP requirement and finalising the Contract, the amendments made to the SSSNA Framework call off terms and conditions are non-substantial and permitted by regulation 33 and general principles, including the principles of equal treatment and proportionality and the inherent flexibility, whether pursuant to Regulation 32(2)(a) or Regulation 33 of the PCR 2015, to agree non-substantial amendments.