SOUTHERN UNIVERSITIES MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Modelling and Architecture

Modelling and Architecture helps organisations design robust, scalable software (SaaS) systems through clear technical blueprints, domain models, and architectural patterns. We translate business requirements into structured solutions, ensuring performance, security, and long‑term maintainability. This foundation guides efficient development of complex software applications, reduces risk, and supports future growth.

Features

• Remote access
• Reporting
• Provision required infrastructure resources

Benefits

• Improved flexibility & agility of projects
• Optimise computing resources
• Enable scalability
• Enable greater automation
• Supports modern cloud‑native workloads
• Centralised, programmatic management

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

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 consulting@sums.ac.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

993236728078364

Contact

Aya Ferguson
0118 228 4020
consulting@sums.ac.uk

About your service

• Service categories:

  Application Development and Deployment

  Application development

  • Development languages, environments and tools
  • Software construction components
  • Business rules management

  Modelling and architecture

  • Object Modelling Tools
  • Business Process Modelling Tools
  • Enterprise Architecture Tools
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
• What software services is the service an extension to: Software application and development services
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: No specific service constraints.
• System requirements: Software licences

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: We respond to urgent queries within 24 hours 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.
• 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: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: We typically provide 2nd level support, but other types are available for negotiation. Costs are agreed on project-by-project basis depending on scale. ; ; Buyers could typically expect to pay between £800+VAT per month and £3000+VAT per month. ; ; There are several support roles available including technical account manager and cloud support engineers.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Typically, buyers and users make use of our services by allowing our staff to perform activities following buyer direction. ; ; Should users require these abilities themselves then we can provide online and onsite training as well as providing relevant associated documentation.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: There are a variety of methods to extract data at the end of contract, depending on the project and technologies used. Typically we will ask the format the user requires and endeavour to extract and send their data in this format. Examples include CSV, JSON and XML. We also allow data egress in the form of full database exports.
• End-of-contract process: Most projects that include this service are completed on a time and materials basis. Buyer representatives with authority control cost and what is included by directing the business (CCQ Tech) each week. Should, for example, the buyer wish to add a project report that was not previously discussed they could expect to pay for it to be produced at the previously agreed day rate.
• Documentation accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: No
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: We make every effort to meet client requirements especially as projects and objectives range greatly. As such, buyers can describe a wide range of customisation requirement that we will endeavour to meet if possible.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Leveraging corporate cloud services like AWS and Azure the business can scale compute resources comprehensively almost irrespective of demand.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: We provide a variety of service metrics depending on project, technologies, infrastructure and the relevant metrics available.
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: Yes

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Staff screening not performed
• Government security clearance: Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • United Kingdom
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: In-house
• Protecting data at rest: Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed / Cryptographic Erasure
  • Data Erasure
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation / Secure Erase

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Users export their data by requesting a data export from the business.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: Various databases and database formats
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Contracts inherit respective chosen cloud service provider SLAs (e.g. Microsoft, Amazon, Google). Additionally custom SLAs can be put in place that involve a percentage uptime for production systems and credit notes in the case of failure depending on project requirements.
• Approach to resilience: In production databases, included are WAL backups for point in time restoration, depending on the use case: hourly, daily, weekly and monthly backups to an external S3 provider, in some cases two different providers. ; ; Services are designed to be cloud agnostic and deployable with infrastructure as code so in the case of an outage we can redeploy within reasonable timeframes.
• Outage reporting: We have in house monitoring tools set up across all infrastructure which conveys messages for memory, CPU, general load and other alerts before reaching any outage levels. Alerts are communicated by email and message at any point of failure.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Low level claim based access adhering to OAuth2.0 and OIDC principles with hierarchical application user, and claim group mechanisms to control this.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: You control when users can access audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: Between 1 month and 6 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: Between 1 month and 6 months
• How long system logs are stored for: Between 1 month and 6 months

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: Other
• Other security governance standards: We comply with the UK government's Software Security Code of Practice
• Information security policies and processes: We are cyber security plus accredited and follow information security policies outlined within the framework.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: All software and infrastructure changes follow documented change management policies. Code, configuration, and infrastructure are maintained in private Git repositories and tracked through their full lifecycle using defined branching, tagging, and release strategies. All changes are made via pull requests requiring peer review and final approval by a project technical lead. CI/CD pipelines control build and deployment, with production access restricted to authorised administrators. Changes are assessed for security impact, including authentication, data access, and dependencies. Centralised deployment processes include testing environments, controlled releases, and rollback mechanisms.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Potential threats are identified through vendor and framework security advisories, cloud provider security notifications, and ongoing internal review. Identified vulnerabilities are assessed by the relevant technical lead based on severity, exposure, and potential impact to authentication, data access, and availability. Remediation is prioritised accordingly and implemented through controlled hotfix or standard change workflows using pull requests, review, and CI/CD pipelines. Container images are rebuilt on each release to incorporate patched dependencies. Emergency patches are deployed out of cycle when required. Vulnerability tracking and remediation are managed through issues and pull requests, with immediate escalation and mitigation for actively exploited threats.
• Protective monitoring type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Protective monitoring is implemented through application and infrastructure logging, access auditing, and continuous service health monitoring. Logs are retained for a minimum of 30 days and typically 90 days or more. Monitoring includes defined alert thresholds for internet traffic, system load, CPU, memory usage, and service availability, with categorised alerts for early warning, critical escalation, and service outages. Alerts are reviewed by authorised technical leads, with critical alerts investigated immediately and non-critical alerts reviewed within defined operational response times to support timely detection and response.
• Incident management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v4.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: Incident management follows predefined and documented processes covering identification, escalation, containment, remediation, and recovery. Security incidents may be identified through monitoring alerts, internal reporting, or customer notification via defined support channels. All incidents are immediately escalated to technical leads for assessment and response. Response actions may include access restriction, configuration changes, service isolation, or deployment of fixes. Incident response is initiated immediately based on severity. Incident details, actions taken, and outcomes are documented, with post-incident reports and lessons learned produced and shared internally, and with clients where appropriate.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: Yes

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: We are a highly pragmatic organisation and free trials are versatile in what they can include. These are negotiable on a project-by-project basis.

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

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 3%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 4%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 5%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 7%
• Over £5,000,001: 10%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: No
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: Ee174ab2-fb17-4593-aef9-f1ffe6622a4f
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Cyber Essentials Alternative: In relation to the services you do not have a current and valid Cyber Essentials Plus certificate which has been awarded by one of the government approved Cyber Essentials accreditation bodies but you are working towards gaining it, and will be in a position to confirm that you have been awarded a current and valid Cyber Essentials Plus certificate by one of the government approved accreditation bodies within 12 months of the date of award.
• Other security certifications: No

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
    • Offer a pay and leave entitlement to all eligible staff who become kinship carers, ideally equivalent to statutory adoption pay and leave
    • 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
    • Plans for an appropriate income replacement policy for staff who are required to spend time away from work to care for a sick dependent or close relative
    • Understanding of in-work progression issues affecting 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 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
    • How these flow down the supply chain and are monitored Illustrative examples include reporting, site visits, audits, etc.
    • How to ensure business decisions re: price/cost, short lead times, payment timescales do not create modern slavery risks in the supply chain
    • How the supplier will work with NGOs, trade unions or other businesses to address modern slavery risk
    • 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
    • Delivery of apprenticeships, supported internships and T Level industry placement opportunities (Level 2, 3 and 4+) in relation 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 3: Resilient, innovative and flexible supply chains: Support economic growth through enabling resilient businesses, opportunities for small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises

    • Understanding of the types of businesses in the market and the level of participation by new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Understanding of local demographics, needs and opportunities for the co-design of the goods, services and works to be delivered under the contract
    • Methods for engaging with different parts of the community (including the education system and charities representing the community) and how communities come together to inform decisions, strategy and projects to leave a positive legacy for future generations
    • Measures to involve local stakeholders and/or users in design (e.g. in the design of services, systems, products or buildings)
    • Plans for positive actions with community groups.
    • Measures for making facilities used in the delivery of the contract available for community groups, education or training
    • Measures to engage users and communities and build relationships to increase community integration build trust and influence how the contract is delivered
    • Plans to respond flexibly and adapt approaches to community engagement and initiatives
    • Support for community-led initiatives relevant to the contract. Illustrative examples: improving transport links; reducing loneliness; helping with English language proficiency; and facilitating social mixing among people with different backgrounds
    • Collaborating with anchor institutions and community groups to make facilities available for education, training or community events

  • 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 opportunities for additional environmental benefits delivery in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Collaborative ways of working with the supply chain to deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Delivery of additional environmental benefits through the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and 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
    • Creation of employment opportunities particularly for those who face barriers to employment, such as prison leavers, care leavers and/or who are located in deprived areas, and for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors
    • 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
    • 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
    • Offering a range of quality opportunities with routes of progression if appropriate, e.g. T Level industry placements, students supported into higher level apprenticeships.
    • 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
    • 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

  • 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 consulting@sums.ac.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.