The Dextrous Web (trading as dxw)

Cloud hosting and support

dxw provides best-in-class cloud-based container hosting services backed by comprehensive technical support. Our service offers scalable hosting in UK data centres, ensuring your service is always secure and dependable. The platform is highly flexible, providing customised hosting and easy migration of your applications and services on and off the platform.

Features

• Hosting specially built for public sector, tailored to your needs
• UK-based cloud hosting, fully GDPR compliant
• Secure, hardened environment with flexible, on-demand scaling and replication
• ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus (CE+) certified
• Online ticketing system with a comprehensive SLA
• 24/7 and out-of-hours emergency support (optional)
• Content delivery network (CDN)
• Active monitoring and alerting
• Proactive maintenance, backups and security patching

Benefits

• Secure, reliable, scalable hosting
• Cost-effective pricing: only pay for what you use
• Rigorous maintenance schedule
• Easy access to help from our developer and operations experts
• User-friendly ticketing system to report bugs and discuss problems
• In-house technical experts in support and hosting
• Robust processes for handling and resolving high-severity incidents
• Easy access to help from our developer and operations experts
• Protective monitoring designed to give you peace of mind
• Comprehensive automated alerting for your service to catch problems quickly

£880 a unit a month

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  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 sales@dxw.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

206042686013042

Contact

Alex Jackson
0345 257 7520
sales@dxw.com

Service scope

• Service constraints: This is a specialised platform for public sector services.; ; Services migrated onto the platform must be audited by us before being deployed onto the platform. This process may result in chargeable work being necessary; for example, if we find a security vulnerability.; ; This service can host complex cloud applications such as forum and discussion sites, transactional services and services requiring high-availability.; ; Only emergency support issues can be addressed outside of business hours. Our hours of business are 1000-1800 on weekdays, excluding public holidays.
• System requirements: A reasonably modern browser as per GOV.UK Service Manual

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: For urgent priority, the initial response is 1 support hour. For continued support, response times are 2 working hours (though dxw will usually continue working and updating urgent priority support tickets during support hours) For high priority, the initial response is 2 working hours. For continued support, response times are 8 working hours. For normal priority, the initial response is 8 working hours. For continued support, response times are 24 working hours (ie three working days). For low priority, the initial response is 24 working hours. For continued support, response times are 80 working hours (ie two working weeks).
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Phone support: No
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Levels of support for services depend on the services being used and the requirements of the client. Please enquire for further details using the clarifications process.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Dxw will organise the transition and subsequent service for you. We will work with you to configure the service to meet your needs. We’ll make sure that all of the options are clearly presented and explained, so that you can feel confident about your decisions.; To begin with, we’ll assess your likely capacity and support requirements. Based on this we’ll recommend a combination of support options and infrastructure that we believe best meets your needs. We can do this at a very early stage via the G-Cloud clarifications question process, so that you have all the information you need to make an informed decision. All of these aspects can also be varied throughout the life of the contract.; We can also offer help with more complex migrations that may require functional changes or assurance work to be completed, as well as supporting any internal assurance work that you might need to do within your organisation.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: If you choose to migrate away from the platform, we will ensure you have everything that you need. All you need to do is inform us and we will guide you through the process. This will include getting you a copy of your database, files and source code. We will also arrange a handover meeting and can help you manage any necessary licensing arrangements.; We will discuss what format the data needs to be in with you so that you have what you need to more easily switch providers. For a fee, we can also remain involved in the migration work alongside you and your new supplier, to help them become familiar with the service and to complete a more thorough handover.
• End-of-contract process: This platform is provided in a way to avoid lock-in. We have designed the off-boarding process to be as seamless and simple as possible. ; If you decide to move on we will keep in close contact with you throughout the off-boarding process, to ensure quality of service from beginning to end. ; We will arrange a meeting, in person or on the phone, to discuss the date you want to leave and the steps we will need to take in order to prepare your service for the move. This will include steps like data migration (see previous section), decommissioning and URL redirection, new supplier liaison and issuing final invoices.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: No
• API: No
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • MacOS
• Using the command line interface: Developers can manage and deploy their applications to the platform

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type:
  • Automatic
  • Manual
• Independence of resources: All client services are isolated and use separate underlying hardware.
• Usage notifications: No

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
• Reporting types: Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to 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: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up:
  • Database
  • File uploads
• Backup controls: By raising requests through our ticketing system
• Datacentre setup: Multiple datacentres
• Scheduling backups: Users contact the support team to schedule backups
• Backup recovery: Users contact the support team

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)
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: We aim for the platform to be available 100% of the time unless a period of scheduled improvement work is underway. We acknowledge; that, other than during these occasional periods, anything less than 100%; availability is a lapse in the service level that you expect.; ; In reality, with any real-world system involving components and; connectivity, there is no such thing as perfect reliability. However, if the platform becomes unavailable as a result of a failure of a component that we control, we will refund the fees paid for any period of downtime longer than 1 hour.
• Approach to resilience: The platform is spread across several datacentres with load balanced across all of them. The platform also autoscales with demand.; ; For more details, please enquire.
• Outage reporting: The platform is comprehensively monitored. For any outage incident, we alert clients via email and conduct a post-incident review.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Support and management interfaces require a username and password login over HTTPS.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through:
  • Any device but through a bastion host (a bastion host is a server that provides access to a private network from an external network such as the internet)
  • Directly from any device which may also be used for normal business (for example web browsing or viewing external email)

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: 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

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: Approachable Certification
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 06/04/2023
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Our certification covers all areas of the business and operations.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Our information security management system covers every aspect of dxw's operations. Day-to-day security decisions are managed by our Head of Technical Operations, who reports to the Managing Director. The effectiveness of the system is reviewed at least annually. We are also subject to annual audit. Small improvements are made to our process continuously, as we learn lessons.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: The platform is fully configuration-managed, and all changes are tracked via source control. We monitor announcements of issues related to the system-level and application-level components that we use and treat all security-related updates as high-priority work.; ; We constantly monitor and improve the platform as we gain experience operating it, and we consider the security impact of our changes at all stages of our work.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: We keep our services under constant review. We monitor open-source intelligence and vulnerability disclosure lists in order to discover new vulnerabilities. We also proactively seek out vulnerabilities in components we use and disclose them responsibly. We treat security updates as high-priority work. The vast majority of routine updates, including security updates, are automatically applied to production machines. We regularly carry out penetration testing, both on behalf of our clients and of our own, and use the results to harden and improve our services, and to model new potential threats and attacks.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We monitor a wide variety of metrics across our infrastructure. We also monitor for anomalous log events and review these alerts centrally. As necessary, we also carry out investigations into underlying issues, and take appropriate remedial action. We respond to these issues as they arise during business hours, at the start of business hours for non-emergency alerts, and 24/7 for critical alerts.
• Incident management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: Following the initial incident response by our operations team, we carry out a post-incident review. This review is published internally and shared with clients when there is a client impact. The review identifies the nature of the incident, documents the initial response, explains the timeline and circumstances of the incident and lists agreed remedial actions. These actions are then fed into ongoing operations work. Users are able to report incidents via the support desk, and are encouraged to use our emergency address and/or follow up by phone where appropriate.

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 v3.0)

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Third-party
• Third-party virtualisation provider: AWS
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: If on the fully shared platform users are separated by containers and security groups.; Users with their own account are kept apart by the use of their own virtual machines and security groups.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: Dxw's data centre partners focus on energy efficiency and continuous innovation in their data centres, and their scale allows them to achieve higher resource utilisation and energy efficiency than the typical on-premises data centre. In addition to the environmental benefits inherently associated with running applications in the cloud, they have a long-term commitment to achieve 100% renewable energy usage for their global infrastructure.

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  dxw strives to positively impact the public and third sectors through its work. One of our key initiatives is our commitment to environmental sustainability and the fight against climate change. We have achieved carbon neutrality recognition by disclosing our carbon footprint calculation, implementing a carbon reduction strategy, and implementing a carbon offsetting program that neutralises 150% of our estimated carbon footprint.; ; We also set ambitious goals for ourselves, including a year-on-year reduction in emissions, collaborating with sustainable and ethical companies, challenging suppliers to reduce their carbon footprints, and working with clients to provide data on their emissions. Our carbon reduction plan is publicly accessible on our website.; ; Working with dxw can help minimise the environmental impact of your digital service through low-tech options, carbon reduction strategies, and offsetting where possible. For example, we can help establish an environmental performance budget for your services, defining key goals and constraints such as page loading times, asset optimisation, and performance ratings. This can help optimise performance, reduce energy consumption, and enhance user experience, particularly in regions with limited electricity access or on battery-powered devices.; ; By reducing energy consumption, dxw can contribute to both environmental sustainability and enhancement of user experience. A service with fewer assets and optimised content can help reduce overall energy consumption for users and at the hosting level. This offers cost savings and performance savings for users.; ; Overall, dxw's commitment to environmental sustainability and the fight against climate change is commendable. Our approach to minimising the environmental impact of the services we work on through low-tech options, carbon reduction strategies, and offsetting, where possible, can help achieve tangible cost and performance advantages for clients while contributing to a better environment.

  Tackling economic inequality

  As an employee-owned company, we prioritise the collective well-being of our staff and strive to create an inclusive environment that represents the communities we live in and addresses the complex and interrelated issues affecting inequality in employment, skills, and pay in the digital and data profession, within the UK public sector and supply chain. Our commitment to promoting equity and diversity is evident in various initiatives, such as advertising job opportunities in platforms targeting underrepresented groups, implementing measures to reduce bias in our recruitment process, introducing standardised pay bands, and providing robust career progression frameworks. ; ; We actively engage in initiatives promoting diversity and equity, such as sponsoring Ada Lovelace Day and collaborating with the University of Leeds to inspire talent from underrepresented groups in STEM careers. Our public blog reflects our commitment, where we share insights on diversity and equity issues, including team members' perspectives and discussions on neurodiversity, trans awareness, and more. ; ; To gauge our company's standing and identify areas for improvement, we conduct an annual diversity survey, meticulously monitoring and anonymously reporting on nine dimensions of diversity. We also provide open and confidential channels for staff to raise and discuss diversity and HR-related matters. ; ; Our leadership team is dedicated to upholding our inclusion, diversity, and equal opportunities policies. We offer training on unconscious bias for new hires and equality in recruitment for hiring managers and allocate an annual learning and development allowance of £1000 and four days for professional development. We actively support team members with paid assistance for professional qualifications and offer flexible and remote working options. ; ; By championing inclusivity, fostering professional growth, and addressing systemic biases, we strive for a workplace where everyone can thrive and contribute meaningfully.

  Equal opportunity

  dxw believes that being a team of individuals with different backgrounds, views, and experience enables us to create better public services. We’re employee-owned, so it’s part of our deed of trust to pay staff fairly and support their wellbeing. Our leadership team is responsible for our inclusion, diversity and equal opportunities policy.; ; To understand and identify where we stand as a company and how we can improve, we run an annual diversity survey, monitoring and anonymously reporting on nine dimensions of diversity. We also provide open and private channels, as appropriate, that enable staff to identify and discuss diversity and HR issues and topics.; ; We provide unconscious bias training on joining and equality in recruitment training. We recently offered discipline-specific training for the UCD team on ‘Equity by Design’, which gave our teams practical ways to ensure that BAME communities are represented in our work.; ; We advertise jobs in places that target less-represented groups, e.g. Coding Black Females, Ada’s List and disability-focused recruitment sites. We reduce bias in our recruitment process through anonymisation and situation/skills-based selection rather than CVs. We relocated our HQ to Leeds to create more opportunities outside of London. We introduced standardised pay bands mapped to SFIA levels to reduce pay inequality across and within teams. We use career progression frameworks to set out behaviours, skills, and capabilities needed to progress. We offer flexible working patterns and support remote working.; ; We write about diversity and equity issues on our public blog to encourage representation, including individual team members’ perspectives on equity in March 2023, neurodiversity and autism in the workforce in February 2023, and trans-awareness week in November 2022.; ; We also have a working group that regularly discusses, recommends, and supports actions to improve Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI).

  Wellbeing

  dxw is committed to promoting wellbeing in the workplace and has developed a comprehensive wellbeing program for its staff. The program includes a cash plan, a cycle-to-work scheme, and access to an employee assistance program. We also monitor staff wellbeing through regular check-ins, tracking annual leave utilisation and working hours, and monitoring staff engagement with physical wellbeing benefits. We conduct company-wide sentiment analysis through quarterly surveys to refine our HR policies and address identified issues effectively. This has included the introduction of personal leave allowances in addition to our regular annual leave. To support individual wellbeing, line managers are trained to support staff on individual wellbeing matters and have access to forums for knowledge sharing. Our board of directors actively address health and wellbeing concerns, and any wellbeing issues impacting projects are escalated to the appropriate director for discussion and resolution. We offer flexible work schedules to promote a healthy work-life balance, such as four-day workweeks and compressed hours. ; ; Overall, dxw prioritises employee wellbeing, demonstrating our commitment to socially responsible business practices.

Pricing

• Price: £880 a unit a month
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  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 sales@dxw.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.