eThekwini IT Hardware Assemblers is a Durban-based firm that assembles and sources workstations for corporate clients, using upstream vendors (OEMs and authorised distributors) for key components and base units. A new client contract does not tell eThekwini which brand to buy or exactly how the workstations must be built. For example, the client does not specify whether the workstations must be Dell, HP, or Lenovo, and it also does not prescribe the internal component choices such as the processor type, RAM size, storage type, or graphics configuration. Instead, the contract sets outcome requirements: over the first six months after installation, total allowed downtime must be limited to about 1% of the time, and the supplier must respond to support queries within agreed time windows. The project manager at eThekwini wants upstream vendors to propose suitable workstation configurations, but still needs the requirement to be measurable and enforceable in the client contract. How should eThekwini describe the requirement in its request to upstream vendors so offers can be evaluated fairly and the client’s outcomes remain enforceable?

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Specify the internal technical design in detail (components and configuration) and require vendors to quote on an identical build

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State measurable availability and support outcomes, specify how performance will be verified, and set acceptance criteria linked to the contract requirements

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Provide a reference workstation as a sample and require vendors to match the sample configuration for all units supplied

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Specify a preferred brand and approved model list, and require vendors to quote only against those models to standardise offers

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eThekwini IT Hardware Assemblers is a Durban-based firm that assembles and sourc...

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