Natural History Museum - Cloud-Based Bulk Data Storage and Lifecycle Management Service

The Natural History Museum is conducting market engagement to inform a 2026 procurement for a modern bulk data storage solution. The solution will support over 300 scientists across multiple research domains including CT scanning, bioinformatics, molecular biology, and imaging analysis. The Museum seeks a comprehensive, fully managed hybrid service combining on-premise caching with cloud-native object storage and archive in AWS. The service provider will assume full operational responsibility including 24/7 monitoring, capacity planning, security patching, backup, disaster recovery, and performance against agreed service levels. Key requirements include ISO27001 certification and Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation. The Museum is exploring outcome-based functional requirements, consumption-based pricing models, and leased equipment options. This engagement is a preliminary market consultation to validate requirements and gather innovative approaches—participation does not confer competitive advantage in future procurement processes.