Supply and Delivery of Network Switches

To deliver 11 network switches, meeting the specification below, to a designated address in Chester, by Wednesday 10th February 2016.

Specification: ? 11 switches required ? All must be brand new stock (not refurbished) genuine Cisco 3650 model (Equivalents not acceptable). 48 port with Power Over Ethernet. ? 1 switch to have IP services ? 10 switches to be LAN based ? All switches to have 4 x 1Gb uplink port

Additional information: Cheshire Shared Services (CSS) was formed in 2009 following a Local Government Reorganisation which created two unitary Councils ? Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC) and Cheshire East (CEC) from the former County Council and six District Councils. A number of shared service groups were created to provide functional support to the councils and return benefits in terms of economies of scale, greater coordination and an ability to support a wide range of specialist, primarily back office functions.

On 1st May 2014 CSS became CoSocius, a limited company wholly owned by the two councils committed to delivering cost effective and innovative solutions to Cheshire councils and an increasing number of separate companies, and replaces CSS.

CoSocius delivers a broad range of ICT and transactional Finance and HR services. The ICT function supports all aspects of technology at over 800 locations across the geographical area that comprises the County of Cheshire, including 300 schools for nearly 9,000 users. It supports over 300 main business applications. The main Data Centre based just outside Chester offers state of the art facilities in terms of security, efficiency and reliability. The Data Centre houses the server estate which serves CWAC and CEC ICT infrastructure.

However, CoSocius is to revert back to an ICT Shared Service by 1 April 2016 and therefore the contractor may initially deal with CoSocius but this contact will cease and will transfer to the ICT Shared Services.

This opportunity is being procured using an e-tendering system called The Chest. If you are not currently registered, go to the following and click the ?Register Free? box: https://www.the-chest.org.uk /procontract/supplier.nsf/frm_home. If you go to https://www.the-chest.org.uk/procontract/supplier.nsf/frm_opportunity_search. You will be able to search via the ?Organisation? drop down menu for Cheshire West and Chester tenders. Select this particular opportunity from the list and register interest; you will then be able to find further information and access the Request for Quote (RFQ) document and any additional Information. The Closing Date for receipt of RFQ submissions via ?The Chest? is on 28/01/2016 (12:00). You are advised to express an interest and subsequently access and start your RFQ Response and meet the deadline, which is absolute. Once the closing date has passed, the evaluation process will begin. It is estimated that a decision will not be made until 01/02/2016. The guidance notes provided with the RFQ document on the Chest show an estimated timetable to assist you. The RFQ and any subsequent additional information will be available to download from ?The Chest?. It is your responsibility to download the RFQ document from ?The Chest?. Please do not call the Procurement Department to find out initial details of this opportunity - all instructions and details of this opportunity will be found in the RFQ document once you have accessed it on the Chest. Any clarification questions must be raised via ?The Chest? in the Questions and Answers section. Any notifications regarding this opportunity will be issued via ?The Chest?. It is your responsibility to check ?The Chest? to be aware of any updates.

Chester