--- title: "Natural History Museum - Bulk Storage Solution" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05f247" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05f247" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f247.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f247.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM" published: "2026-06-22" --- # Natural History Museum - Bulk Storage Solution Buyer: NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05f247 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05f247) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f247.json) ## Summary The Natural History Museum in South Kensington, United Kingdom, is in the planning stage of procuring a modern Bulk Data Storage and Lifecycle Management Solution. This procurement aims to support the Museum's digital transformation strategy by providing scalable storage capacity for over 300 scientists engaged in various research domains. The procurement is planned for 2026 and will utilise the Technology Services 4 framework agreement (RM6190). A market engagement exercise has concluded, with participant input aiding in refining the procurement approach. The Museum seeks to explore innovative service delivery methodologies, including a hybrid cloud architecture with on-premise caching, delivered as a fully-managed service. Key information gathering took place earlier in 2026, with a scheduled engagement via an e-tendering portal on 12 January 2026. Businesses specialising in data services, especially those with expertise in cloud-aligned and managed data storage solutions, are positioned to benefit significantly from participating in this procurement. The project demands suppliers capable of 24/7 service monitoring, security patching, capacity planning, and disaster recovery, alongside fulfilling ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus certification requirements. This opportunity can significantly aid in business growth by positioning suppliers as key innovators in data service delivery for a renowned institution, the Natural History Museum. Companies skilled in deploying scalable, robust data storage systems, particularly those familiar with AWS and hybrid storage solutions, will find this procurement opportunity appealing and aligned with their capabilities. ## Notice The Natural History Museum ("NHM") intends to initiate a procurement exercise in 2026 for a modern, cloud-aligned Bulk Data Storage and Lifecycle Management Solution to deliver scalable capacity that meets growing research demand and aligns with the Museum's digital transformation strategy. The solution is anticipated to be the primary bulk storage infrastructure supporting over 300 scientists across multiple research domains including CT scanning, bioinformatics, molecular biology, and imaging analysis. We envisage (based on the museums current cloud strategy) , a hybrid architecture with intelligent on-premise caching and cloud-native object storage and archive in AWS, delivered as a fully managed service with multi-tier data lifecycle management and robust access control. The NHM currently intends to undertake a single procurement utilising an outcome-based functional requirements approach. The procurement will seek a comprehensive managed service encompassing both the storage platform infrastructure and ongoing operational support, with the supplier assuming responsibility for 24/7 monitoring, capacity planning, security patching, backup and disaster recovery, and service delivery under contractual Experience Level Agreements (XLAs). Any supplier would need to be certified to ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus. This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice relates to the development of the solution as a unified managed service procurement. The NHM is seeking supplier engagement to validate requirements, explore innovative approaches to outcome-based service delivery, and inform commercial models including consumption-based pricing, XLAs and meaningful KPIs, and leased equipment options. This notice is solely for the purpose of engaging the market to gather information. It does not constitute a call for competition or form part of a competitive process. Participation in this engagement will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement, nor will it bind the NHM to proceed with any specific course or action. For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-South-Kensington:-Data-services./YBHX95RYZ2 To respond to this opportunity, please click here: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/YBHX95RYZ2 ### Planning Information The engagement will take place via collection of information via a questionnaire accessible via an e-tendering portal. The NHM is seeking supplier engagement to validate requirements, explore innovative approaches to outcome-based service delivery, and inform commercial models including consumption-based pricing, XLAs and meaningful KPIs, and leased equipment options. This notice is solely for the purpose of engaging the market to gather information. It does not constitute a call for competition or form part of a competitive process. Participation in this engagement will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement, nor will it bind the NHM to proceed with any specific course or action. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058682-2026 | | Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 22 Jun 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 12 Jan 2026 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 30 Jun 2026 - 30 Jun 2031 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Planning | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM | | Locality | SOUTH KENSINGTON | | Post town | South West London | | Postcode | SW7 5BD | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLI London | | ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West | | ITL 3 | TLI33 Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham | | Local authority | Kensington and Chelsea | | Electoral ward | Brompton & Hans Town | | Westminster constituency | Kensington and Bayswater | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 72300000 - Data services - 72317000 - Data storage services ## Release History - 22 Jun 2026 at 15:52 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058682-2026 - 9 Dec 2025 at 19:05 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081263-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058682-2026 22nd June 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081263-2025 9th December 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/YBHX95RYZ2 - https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-South-Kensington:-Data-services./YBHX95RYZ2 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05f247. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f247.json.