Data Centre and Server Room Maintenance Services

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd has issued an open request for proposal (RFP) for the provision of support and maintenance services for its data centres, server rooms and portable modular data centres (PMDCs) over a five-year period. The contract covers the full set of facility infrastructure that keeps these environments operational, including static UPS units, generators, CRAC/FCU and comfort cooling systems, chillers and cooling towers, transformers, MV and LV switchgear including automatic transfer switches, electrical distribution boards, PDUs, gas and sprinkler fire detection and suppression, room integrity and hydrostatic testing, infrared scanning, bulk fuel storage, building management system (BMS) software, flood sensors, lightning protection, raised access floors, and general facility works. The service provider must perform planned maintenance on monthly, quarterly and six-monthly cycles, following OEM requirements and best practice, and must supply and install non-peripheral components on request, including support for server room relocations.

The Appendix A site list spans roughly 70 locations across South Africa, including corporate data centres in Gauteng, server rooms at power stations (coal, peaking, nuclear and wind), divisional offices and PMDC units. Sites are grouped into four clusters (A to D), and a single supplier may be appointed to only one cluster, so bidders may tender for one or more clusters but will be asked to choose if they win several. Bidders must demonstrate a local operational presence in the cluster they are bidding for. The contract is governed by an NEC Term Services Contract (TSC3) and an SLA with measurable KPIs, including 99.9% critical infrastructure availability on a 24x7 basis, P1 incident response within 30 minutes, P1 resolution within four hours, monthly maintenance schedule compliance of 100%, and root cause analysis reports within 10 days. Penalties of up to 10% of the monthly service bill apply for KPI failures.

Bidders must meet mandatory requirements including valid CSD registration, ECSA registration where applicable, SHEQ compliance (including OHS Act section 37(2) agreements and safety files before site access), supplier development and localisation (SDL&I) commitments, and audited financial statements. Quality requirements follow Eskom's Category 2 supplier quality management specification, which calls for an ISO 9001-aligned quality management system, a draft contract quality plan and a quality control plan. Evaluation is based on a 75% functionality threshold at desktop evaluation, with the remaining weighting split 90/10 between price and specific goals, applied to tenders above R50 million. The tender closes on 27 November 2026 at 10:00 SAST and submissions must be made electronically through the Eskom e-tendering portal. A non-compulsory clarification meeting is scheduled for 5 November 2026.