MOTT MACDONALD LIMITED

Merlin (strategic issue management service)

Mott MacDonald’s Merlin is a flexible web browser-based issue, crisis and major event management tool enabling strategic collaboration between teams in coordinating city or event operations. Merlin provides the ability to quickly share knowledge, implement coordinated responses to issues, maintain cohesive and clear map-based and tabular views for relevant stakeholders.

Features

• Issue management including capturing all relevant history
• Interactive mapping, supporting geospatial analysis
• Document storage, providing access to contingency plans
• Stakeholder dashboard, providing a shared status of all issues
• Planned event management, enabling impact assessment during crises
• Routine and ad-hoc reporting, encouraging information sharing
• Full audit trail, supporting post-incident analysis
• Secure role-based access from any standard web browser
• Full user account management capabilities
• Multi-lingual support capability available

Benefits

• Internal and external access allows information to be quickly shared
• All data stored centrally and safely, reducing administrative overhead
• Enables informed decision making and ensures teams are kept up-to-date
• Supports cross-organisational collaboration improving communication
• Supports rapid and appropriate response and recovery
• Fully accessible by desktop, tablet, and mobile device
• Developed closely with clients and major recent events
• Advanced filtering and sorting to find incidents quickly and easily

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at technology+systems@mottmac.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

422357111469944

Contact

Samantha Lottering-Geeson
+44 (0)141 222 3798
technology+systems@mottmac.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Application Development and Deployment

  Analytics and business intelligence

  • Business Intelligence
  • Location and geospatial data management and analytics
• Multi cloud support: No

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
• Service constraints: None
• System requirements:
  • Merlin is web-based and requires no specific browser software plugins
  • Merlin supports major browsers, including: Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: Response times for support requests are as follows: ; • PRIORITY 1 requests: response target: 15 minutes, resolution target: 2 hours. ; • PRIORITY 2 requests: response target 30 minutes, resolution target 4 hours.; • PRIORITY 3 requests: response target 1 hour, resolution target 7.5 hours.; All timings are support hours, 0830 – 1700, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.; Enhanced Support: 24x7 (by separate agreement).
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: Standard Support: 08:30-17:00 weekdays (excluding public holidays).; ; Enhanced Support: 24x7 (by agreement).; ; Our team of 1st and 2nd line analysts, assisted and supported by our 3rd line specialists, will provide the following levels of support: 1st line: receive, triage, log, categorise, initial response and attempt initial fix. 2nd line: escalation from the 1st line – follow established processes and knowledge base to resolve issue. 3rd line: escalation form the 2nd line – conduct further, specialist technical investigation. ; ; Support costs and further details are included in our Service Description and Pricing documents. ; ; We will provide a technical project manager/account manager.
• Support available to third parties: No

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Following agreement of contract, the following onboarding process will be undertaken: ; ; • Initiation of project management methodology ; • Clarification session on configuration requirements held on customer premises ; • Templates provided for customer data inputs, such as user accounts, organisation names and map data ; • Hosting setup and configuration ; • Service configuration and commissioning ; • Support setup User training can be provided in the form of classroom-based, hands-on training. ; ; User training is provided as a half-day session at the buyer’s premises. During such training, users are provided with instruction in using all aspects of the system as an end-user. Attendees are provided with electronic course materials. Train-the-trainer training can be provided in the form of classroom-based, hands-on training. ; ; Train-the-trainer training is provided as a full-day session at the buyer’s premises. During such training, trainers are provided with instruction in using all aspects of the system as an end-user, as well as in the underlying system principles, allowing them to confidently provide training and guidance to the ultimate end users. Attendees are provided with electronic course materials. Train-the-trainer training is priced as a unit of five attendees.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: As part of the offboarding process, Mott MacDonald will provide the customer with an extract of all customer data stored in Merlin. This will be provided in Comma Separated Value (CSV) files. All hosted data will then be securely deleted from the server prior to decommissioning of the service.
• End-of-contract process: The system will be decommissioned, and an export of the data will be provided as part of the contract.
• Documentation accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the documentation is accessible: Documentation can be supplied in a variety of formats on a client-by-client basis, which can be defined as part of the call-off arrangements.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Chrome
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Desktop version has full access rights. Mobile version has access to subset of issue management functions.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• API: No
• Customisation available: No

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Resource Autoscaling, Requests and Limits are configured in our platform to ensure users aren’t impacted by demand from others. We also use comprehensive observability and alerting to identify when resource settings are insufficient or approaching saturation. This ensures proactive tuning and maintains consistent performance.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Fully audited system recording user access and all changes to data.
• Reporting types: Reports on request
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: Yes

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: In-house
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with another standard
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: A third-party destruction service
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed / Cryptographic Erasure
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation / Secure Erase

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: The data stored in Merlin is accessible to users through the application at any time they require. If an export is required it can be provided by the support team. A full export of the data is provided at the end of the contract as part of the offboarding process.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: CSV

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
• Other protection between networks: API and web‑browser traffic entering or leaving the platform between networks is protected using modern TLS 1.2+ encryption to maintain confidentiality and integrity.; ; All access to APIs or web applications requires authentication, with MFA enforced wherever possible.; ; For protocols that do not natively support encryption, a secure VPN connection is required; however, such protocols are not typically used within the Merlin product.
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
• Other protection within supplier network: All access to APIs or web applications requires authentication, with MFA enforced wherever possible.; ; Communications with backend services, such as databases, storage are restricted to the internal virtual network, ensuring data remains isolated from external access. ; ; These backend services also typically use TLS 1.2+ encryption for service‑to‑service security.

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Service levels can be defined on a client-by-client basis as part of the call-off arrangements.
• Approach to resilience: The Merlin system would be hosted on Microsoft Azure within the UK. The Azure UK region has three Availability Zones to provide high resilience in case of a zone outage. Microsoft use a variety of physical security such as limiting access to buildings and floors to only pre-approved personnel. The Merlin software is hosted in Azure via Platform as a Service products, which provide automatic OS and platform patching. Merlin utilizes point in time backup functionality on data stores to protect against data loss due to corruption. Sensitive data is encrypted within the database and is only unencrypted within application at time of use and the entire database is encrypted at rest.
• Outage reporting: Merlin services are continuously monitored by our OpenNMS monitoring platform, monitoring not only outages but also proactively scanning for conditions that have the potential to become issues. OpenNMS supports standard metrics such as CPU usage, network bandwidth, disk space and RAM usage. Outages are reported internally to our helpdesk, who coordinate and escalate to project managers as required to liaise with client representatives.; ; Planned outages are communicated in advance to all users via email.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Limited access over dedicated link, enterprise, community network or private endpoints.; ; Username and strong password/passphrase enforcement and multi-factor authentication.; ; The system supports Role based access control to ensure the least privileged required to access specific data.; ; Accounts and roles will be assigned to individuals.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: Between 6 months and 12 months

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards:
  • ISO/IEC 27001
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: Cyber Essentials Plus
• Information security policies and processes: Our cloud services are managed under Mott MacDonald's Information Security Management System (ISMS) which is independently audited and certified under ISO27001:2022.; ; Project Managers are responsible for their Projects’ Security Incident Management for systems that are not connected to Group IT systems. All projects must complete an Information Security Risk Assessment (ISRA) as part of our Project Plan of Work (PPW), which must review risks and provide mitigation strategies.; ; All serious information security incidents (actual or perceived) must be immediately reported to the Director Business Management Systems and Risk who will form a Response Team and Plan to deal with the situation.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Our configuration and change management processes are documented as procedures complying with both ISO9001:2015, TickITPlus and potential security impacts through ISO27001:2022. TickITplus covers our expertise in project management, technical and advisory services in transport engineering, system integration and the development of associated software to Government, Local Authority and the Private Sector. Management and mitigation of risk is an integral part of our system and is monitored and reported through a set of mature project governance procedures designed to identify risks and mitigate against them as soon as possible.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: We review newly released third party software upgrades and patches. We perform non-critical Operating System updates quarterly. Our Cyber Security specialist issues a weekly vulnerability report detailing all new threats from the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), rated by Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) which our support team review and assess for our environment. Once complete we follow existing incident management procedures for security incidents. Where high or critical patches are identified we raise a request and, once approved, deploy to live. Our Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation requires remedial work to be undertaken within 14 days.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We use a number of tools and techniques to monitor systems for signs of compromise: ; ; • Regular network penetration test scans to detect potential vulnerabilities; ; • Host-based intrusion detection; ; • Network firewall; ; • Web application firewall where justified by the risk assessment; and ; • Comprehensive system and network monitoring using OpenNMS to detect log events and service issues. ; ; We treat a potential compromise as an information security incident and respond using our Business Management System STEP procedure which details the process for dealing with an information security incident.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: External users can report incidents through our service desk portal or by contacting the Help Desk by phone or email. Internal users report information security incidents using our ServiceNow system. Any potential compromise is treated as an information security incident and managed through our BMS STEP procedure, aligned with ISO 27001, which defines the required response process. Our cyber security measures are tailored to your needs and supported by our Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001 Information Security Management accreditations. All staff complete annual cyber security training to maintain awareness and ensure consistent adherence to our policies and procedures.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: Yes

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v4.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 0%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 0%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 10%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 20%
• Over £5,000,001: 20%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: DNV - Business Assurance
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Tuesday 5 August 2025
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO 9001 certification: DNV - Business Assurance
• ISO 9001 accreditation date: Thursday 4 September 2025
• What the ISO 9001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: 4d64f612-191f-485d-bf50-d016bfb3d1ce
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: Ee30c29d-72b9-4573-ae54-3b24518459ee
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) staff

Social value

• Section B - Commitment for Future: Delivery:

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 1: Fair work: That offers fair wages and good working conditions. Help people get a job, stay in work, and progress in their careers, with good employment opportunities across the country. Notes: Where there is a large proportion of labour costs in the contract, commercial teams should consider MAC in Outcome 1 as a priority

    • New or retained jobs on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b, 1c and 1d
    • Providing opportunities for, and measuring and monitoring of, staff workforce conditions over time, including employee engagement, involvement in decision-making and satisfaction and adapting to any changes in the results, with clear processes for acting on issues identified
    • Plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important workplace issues to address
    • Ensuring new workers are informed of their right to join a trade union
    • Monitoring of employee engagement rates (by protected characteristic) and, where necessary, the development of actions to ensure all voices are heard across the diversity of the workforce
    • Employment contracts that reflect actual hours worked; steps taken to ensure employees understand their contracts and have the ability to review and adjust them if actual hours regularly exceed contracted hours
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about, and feel empowered to, address their physical wellbeing
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about and feel empowered to report and address bullying and harassment
    • Activities to cascade good practice on fair working conditions throughout the supply chain
    • Payment of more than the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (as appropriate) to the contract workforce
    • Monitoring and reporting of gender and ethnicity pay gaps and plans to address them where necessary
    • Entitlement to sick pay for the contract workforce, with provision in place for any staff who do not meet the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, payment of sick pay from day one of absence and payment of staff on the contract workforce who are off sick a replacement income of 100% of their usual earnings for as long as possible
    • Measures to support in-work progression to help people in the contract workforce, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills relevant to the contract
    • Support for the contract workforce by providing career advice, and providing opportunities for staff working on the contract with in-work progression career development into known skills shortages or high growth areas
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Volunteering opportunities for staff
    • Understanding of the modern slavery risks and issues affecting the market, industry, sector or country (of origin or of source) relevant to the contract, and the workforce in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key subcontractors
    • Measures to identify, mitigate and manage modern slavery risks relating to the contract and how these will be implemented
    • Outline policies and practices to be applied to or put in place for the contract to mitigate and manage modern slavery risks, including: Pre-employment checks, recruitment practices. Workplace conditions, safeguarding plans and processes in place and regular monitoring with relevant groups considered, which may include sampling
    • Means of influencing staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders with respect to modern slavery risks relating to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

    • Understanding of employment and relevant skills issues, and of the education and training issues relating to the contract. Illustrative examples: demographics, skills shortages, new opportunities in high growth sectors, geographic/local community and skills/employment challenges
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering

  • Mission: Make Britain a clean energy superpower: To cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero

    Policy Outcome 4: Sustainable procurement practices: Reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

    • Understanding of how to influence staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders through the delivery of the contract to support climate and nature protection and improvement
    • Activities to reconnect people with the environment and increase awareness of ways to protect and enhance it

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

    • Understanding of employment and skills issues, and of the skills and employment shortages of high growth sectors relating to the contract
    • Understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Collection of the views and expertise of disabled people and their representative organisations on successfully supporting disabled employees or applicants
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition
    • Introducing transparency to pay and reward processes
    • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
    • Other measures to provide equality of opportunity for disabled people and those with health conditions into employment, including becoming a Disability Confident employer and inclusion of supported businesses in the contract supply chain
    • Understanding of the issues affecting inequality in employment, skills and pay in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. Measures to tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce
    • Inclusive and accessible development practices, including guidance for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 7: Creating a pipeline of opportunities: For the contract workforce, reducing barriers to entry for under-represented groups.

    • Understanding of the issues affecting the development of new skills by target cohort
    • Understanding of the underlying factors affecting improvements to reduce barriers to entry and training schemes for the target cohort(s) related to the contract workforce
    • Other measures to offer development opportunities for the target cohort(s) in the contract workforce
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
    • Creation of outreach activities to create a pipeline of employees for the future contract delivery
    • Content of the outreach activity is designed to suit the target cohort
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort

  • Mission: Build an NHS fit for the future: That is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

    Policy Outcome 8: Increasing productivity through physical and mental wellbeing: In the supply chain and communities in the relevant area.

    • Understanding of issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce
    • Understanding barriers to access to health and social care services or employment opportunities e.g. digital inclusion
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention policies that support-focused activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing which support people with a disability or health condition
    • Actions to invest in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at technology+systems@mottmac.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.