IBM Power11 Server Upgrade

The Illinois Secretary of State's Information Technology Department is pursuing a sole-source procurement for an IBM Power11 Server Upgrade valued at $963,199.63 over a three-year contract period extending from February 1, 2026, through January 31, 2029. The procurement encompasses the acquisition of six IBM Power11 S1122 servers (three per data center), two dedicated Storage Area Networks (SANs), Hardware Management Consoles (HMCs), networking equipment, racks, and redundant network switches to be distributed between the HOWLETT and DIRKSEN data centers. The project includes professional installation, upgrade, racking, and migration services required to transition from end-of-life IBM Power9 servers that will no longer receive vendor support, firmware updates, or hardware replacement after January 2026. The sole-source justification is predicated on equipment compatibility and the mission-critical nature of the Secretary of State's mainframe infrastructure, which processes services for all 25 office departments continuously on a 24/7 basis; IBM Power11 is determined to be the only viable option because it provides full compatibility with existing AIX and LPAR workloads, eliminates costly application migrations and retraining, and preserves operational expertise and processes. The contract need was identified on November 1, 2025, with services required by January 2, 2026. The public hearing regarding the sole-source procurement method is scheduled for February 4, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at 501 South Second Street, Springfield, Illinois, with a deadline of February 3, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. for interested parties to submit written comments or request public hearing participation to Katherine Tople at the Illinois Secretary of State's Budget and Fiscal Management office.

No set-aside designations, disadvantaged enterprise restrictions, or limitations on organizational eligibility are specified in the procurement documents, as this is a sole-source award to IBM without competitive bidding procedures. The existing infrastructure consists of end-of-life IBM Power9 servers currently operating in the HOWLETT and DIRKSEN data centers, which will be replaced by the IBM Power11 platform to maintain continuity of critical state services. IBM is the identified incumbent vendor and exclusive contractor for this upgrade, having already negotiated competitive rates with the agency to ensure optimal pricing. The procurement is funded through state appropriations, and no renewal options are included in the three-year contract term. The State Purchasing Officer Dave Littrell approved the sole-source justification on January 23, 2026, and the notice was posted to the Illinois Procurement Bulletin on the same date, with procurement reference number 26-350SOS-ITSOS-B-50644.