St. Louis Data Center Colocation Space for ICN (IFB)

The Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) is soliciting bids through Invitation for Bid (IFB) Contract B-50925 for a ten-year colocation services agreement at the St. Louis Data Center, specifically at one of two Netrality locations: 210 North Tucker Boulevard or 900 Walnut Street in St. Louis, Missouri. The procurement seeks to establish indefinite-quantity colocation space to support the Integrated Communications Network (ICN) serving K-12 customers, state agencies, and paying customers across Illinois. Required services include physical rack space and cabinets (full racks or individual cabinets), power delivery at multiple voltages (-48DC, 120AC, and 208AC at typical 20 Amp capacity), environmental controls meeting ASHRAE standards with 99.99% uptime Service Level Agreement, fiber optic patch panels and cross connects, physical security with 24/7 access, Smart Hands on-site technical support with 24/7 availability, and comprehensive backup systems including UPS and generators supporting Uptime Institute Tier III and Tier IV practices. The State's current anticipated deployment includes one 42RU @ 19" locking cabinet, two 48V DC power feeds, nine cross connects, one pair dark fiber extension, one 24-count fiber homerun, and ad hoc Smart Hands support, with all services required to be installed and fully operational within 180 days of contract execution. Vendors must comply with all Illinois Standard Terms and Conditions, maintain comprehensive insurance including $1,000,000 general commercial liability per occurrence, adhere to prevailing wage requirements for certain service workers, and perform all services in the United States unless otherwise approved by the State. Evaluation criteria include responsiveness, responsibility, and price, with award made to the lowest priced responsive and responsible bidder. The bid submission deadline is March 25, 2026, with all required documents submitted electronically through the BidBuy platform; bidders must submit written questions no later than ten days prior to bid opening, and bids must remain firm for 90 days following opening.

Potential bidders must be registered in the Illinois Procurement Gateway (IPG) or complete the appropriate vendor disclosure form, and if the contract exceeds $100,000 in annual value, vendors must disclose all lobbyists or agents representing the company and provide detailed financial disclosures and conflicts of interest certifications. If this procurement qualifies as a Small Business Set-Aside, bidders must be registered with the Illinois Small Business Set-Aside Program at the time bids are due; vendors may also claim applicable preferences under the Illinois Procurement Code, such as domestic product preferences, with documentation required for such claims. The solicitation is restricted exclusively to the two specified Netrality facilities, and no proposals from alternative data center providers will be considered, though the State has indicated that alternate facilities may be procured in the future for redundancy and disaster recovery purposes. Pricing is estimated and held firm for the first six years of the contract, with vendors permitted to request one upward price adjustment in year seven and one in year nine based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), subject to written request at least sixty days prior to the effective date and approval by DoIT's Information Technology Procurement Office. No specific budget range or award value is disclosed in the available solicitation documents; however, a $15 fee is required for administration of the Minority Contractor Opportunity Initiative for contracts of $1,000 or more, to be deducted from the first payment to the vendor. Illinois law governs the solicitation and any resulting contract.