The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, hereinafter the contracting authority, is a federal scientific institution under the Science Policy PPS with a medium-sized computer network covering several sites and physical buildings. Our buildings welcome around 500 internal and external users every day and hundreds of daily visitors to the Museum of Natural Sciences.

The contracting authority has an in-house IT department responsible for the Institute's IT infrastructure, but has only moderate in-house network expertise (several employees with CCNA certification). The network of contracting authorities has become increasingly large and complex over the last ten years. In the future, the contracting authority will only see higher requirements as regards the size, reliability and capacity of the network. Future planning includes both ambitious plans for a digital museum of the future and construction challenges, all of which require adequate and careful planning to ensure the operation and performance of the network at all times and at all stages.

For these reasons, the contracting authority needs additional expertise in the field of networks, which must be available in a flexible manner, for which full-time internal recruitment is not the best solution. This public contract covers a four-year strategic partnership in the field of IT networks, renewable for a maximum period of six years. The different packages of the contract cover both the provision of services defined under a managed services model and the provision of competency profiles under a consultancy model.

Lot 1: Network and data center monitoring

This bundle covers the provision of a powerful and customizable monitoring system as part of a managed service model. This system is used for monitoring uptime and reporting on the network and services available over the network, as well as monitoring physical parameters such as, for example, temperature and virtual parameters such as, for example, the occupancy rate of hard drives in the data center.

This bundle covers the provision of a third-line support service as part of a managed service model for solving complex network problems in the contracting authority's Cisco network. The successful bidder is responsible for resolving reported incidents and acts as an intermediary between the contracting authority and Cisco.

This lot consists of providing a competency profile of a network architect in a consultancy model. The architect shall be an experienced network expert who performs structural and ad hoc tasks at the contracting authority, including consulting, design and configuration of the contracting authority's network. The architect is responsible both for the systematic and continuous improvement of the network of the contracting authority and for the formulation of responses to the needs expressed.

This package includes both the supply of typical network equipment, from small active equipment to typical installation equipment, and the provision of network installer competency profile as part of a consultancy model. The successful tenderer shall construct low-complexity technical installations in accordance with the needs expressed by the contracting authority and shall provide the equipment necessary for this purpose.

This lot includes carrying out an objective annual audit of the security of the contracting authority's network, making recommendations and areas for improvement and checking the status of observations from previous audits.