Redcentric Solutions Limited

Cloud Workspace

Cloud Workspace offers the security, performance and resilience allowing all proprietary information for your apps, desktops and data under your control; while the innate redundancy of Public Cloud connectivity ensure access regardless of device.

Features

  • Managed Cloud based Virtual desktop infrastructure
  • Integrated Active Directory authentication
  • Auto scaling/consumption based pricing
  • Profile and Policy Management
  • Optional MFA capabilities

Benefits

  • Managed security - operating systems up to date and secure
  • Cost Efficiency - Strong alignment between requirements and resources
  • More Agile working - Supports access from any device
  • Affordability - No CAPEX, instead subscription based charging
  • Improved utilisation - focus on higher value tasks and projects
  • Scalability - flex up and down inline with business growth
  • Stronger Disaster Recovery - resilience and centralised desktop provisioning
  • Consistency of presentation - Controlled/same user-experience

Pricing

£60 a unit a month

Service documents

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Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

2 2 0 3 9 7 3 1 6 6 5 8 9 5 6

Contact

Redcentric Solutions Limited Steph Heseltine
Telephone: +441423850000
Email: tenders@redcentricplc.com

Service scope

Service constraints
Redcentric is committed to continually improving and expanding its core network and data centre capabilities, thus striving to provide the highest levels of service to its customers. In order to facilitate these improvements, it is necessary to carry out essential work from time to time. These activities are carefully scheduled through the use of an internal change control process which is designed to present maximum visibility of that change and thereby ensure that planning and implementation are carried out to minimize the effect on customers and their network services.
System requirements
Not Applicable

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
We aim to acknowledge all Advice and Guidance requested within 15 minutes. Response times will depend on the request type and level of detail required. We typically aim to provide an initial response within 1 hour of the request being made however this can vary dependent on the nature of the request.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
No
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Redcentric’s customer service operation is available 24/7/365 and can be contacted by telephone, email or via the customer portal.
Support is included at no additional cost with Redcentric's services. Redcentric has one direct point of contact for customer support, which deals with all aspects of the service. The Redcentric customer services team takes full responsibility for supporting and logging problems and technical support queries. Their specific role is to ensure that all telephone, email and portal queries are answered and resolved as promptly as possible.
Redcentric has a team of Technical Account Managers and Cloud Support Engineers available. These teams are not included as a standard service and are charged based on the published SFIA rate card.
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Please refer to NHS Digital’s website for further
information and how to become a HSCN Consumer.
Redcentric support the process of migration from an existing HSCN service provider in addition to greenfield deployments, Redcentric’s design consultants will work with you on building a transition plan that will include all end-end solution design and design management, for example migration of IP addressing, Domain Name Server information and logical security tier configuration. In addition Redcentric consultants will ensure that absolute Information Governance is maintained by working with you through all H&SC information governance documentation. During the installation of Redcentric HSCN Gateway Services, Redcentric service delivery consultants will provision and install the hardware and software components of applicable service.
Connection Code and Practice
The Connection Agreement and Practice for customers using Cloud Connect Services to support access into the NHS HSCN has been designed to assist the implementation of NHS projects including data sharing and collaboration. Approval to connect to the HSCN is managed in its entirety by NHS Digital who ultimately approves the organisations connection to the HSCN.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
EXIT PLAN
The Exit Plan shall, unless otherwise agreed with the Customer:
• address each of the issues set out in this Exit Plan in order to assist the Customer in facilitating the transition of the Redcentric Services from Redcentric to a replacement supplier, or the Customer ensuring to the extent reasonably possible that there is no disruption in the supply of Services and that there is no deterioration in the quality of delivery of the Services during any period of transitional assistance; Redcentric will not be obliged to disclose any confidential information to the Customer or replacement supplier, or to transfer any assets, contracts, employees or third party licences.
• provide an estimate of the scope of transitional assistance that may be required by the Customer and suggest how such assistance might be provided (if required); and
• provide an estimate of Redcentric’s personnel that may be required to provide transitional assistance and suggest the management structure to be put in place and employed to provide such transitional assistance.
End-of-contract process
Where the Customer requests the provision of additional transitional assistance, in addition to their initial requirements, Redcentric shall provide such assistance as an additional service. The additional transitional assistance shall be chargeable at the Redcentric prevailing time and materials consultancy day rates.

Using the service

Web browser interface
No
API
No
Command line interface
No

Scaling

Scaling available
No
Independence of resources
Redcentric will work with the customer to understand the criticality of the service. Where required Redcentric a number of options are available, including but not limited to:
Private/Hybrid Cloud Hosting
Dedicated Capacity Management Process
Continuous Monitoring
Usage notifications
No

Analytics

Infrastructure or application metrics
Yes
Metrics types
  • CPU
  • Memory
  • Network
Reporting types
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • 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
No
Datacentre security standards
Supplier-defined controls
Penetration testing frequency
At least once a year
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Other
Other data at rest protection approach
In the majority Redcentric does not have access to any raw data which is stored by customers, as such customers must define how data at rest is encrypted and they must manage this themselves. In all cases, Redcentric recommend that data at rest be encrypted using full disk encryption configured using a minimum of AES256. Where customers request that Redcentric manage storage and thus by implication have access to data at rest also, AES256 full disk encryption is implemented. In the event that Redcentric personal have either direct
to indirect access to data, only SC cleared members are staff utilised.
Data sanitisation process
Yes
Data sanitisation type
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
  • Hardware containing data is completely destroyed
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
  • Files
  • Configurations
  • Logs
Backup controls
During the service design Redcentric will agree with the customer the backup schedule, the areas to be backed up, frequency, etc.
Datacentre setup
  • Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
  • Multiple datacentres
Scheduling backups
Supplier controls the whole backup schedule
Backup recovery
  • Users can recover backups themselves, for example through a web interface
  • Users contact the support team

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Bonded fibre optic connections
Data protection within supplier network
TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
The Redcentric HSCN Gateway service Core system availability is 97.50% per calendar month.
Any reduced charges under this Service Level Agreement will be confirmed by credit note issued by Redcentric to our customers, confirming the adjustment to be made to the following monthly charge.
The availability Service Level is calculated at the end of each measurement Period and is calculated as follows:
Percentage Availability = ((MP-SU)x100)/MP
Where:
MP = Measurement Period. This is the total number of minutes in the measurement period.
SU = Service Unavailability. This is the total number of minutes in the measurement period when the Service is not available for use
by the Customer for reasons other than those set out below.
Approach to resilience
Due to the secure nature of the services Redcentric provides, this information is available on request.
Outage reporting
During a system outage Redcentric will communicate with our customers via email, updates are also provided via the Redcentric customer portal.
The Service Manager will also provide a detailed report following any outage showing the cause of the outage and what mitigation has been put in place to prevent the issue repeating in the future.

Identity and authentication

User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Redcentric utilises a centralised RBAC (Role Based Access Control) access control system based on the concepts of Least Privilege and Segregation of Duty to manage Redcentric system administrator and Data Centre Operations access to customer data and solutions.
This access control system is subject to regular audit under our ISO 27001 accreditation and ISMS.
All Redcentric logical access to the customer hosted data must traverse our management environment, which provides segregation and logging controls.
Management activity logs are retained in a secure (read only) manner for at least one year and are sufficient to provide individual accountability.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
Devices users manage the service through
  • Dedicated device on a segregated network (providers own provision)
  • Dedicated device on a government network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated device over multiple services or networks

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
User-defined
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
User-defined
How long system logs are stored for
User-defined

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
British Standards Institute
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
19/08/2020
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
Hosting in external 3rd parties needs to be brought into scope on a per basis.
This is a chargeable extra.
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
Yes
Who accredited the PCI DSS certification
Gemserv Ltd
PCI DSS accreditation date
02/06/2022
What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover
Requirement 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11. Appendix A1, A2
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber essentials plus
Yes
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
  • Authorised to process HM Government data marked 'Official-Sensitive'
  • HSCN CN-SP Network provider
  • Certified ISO9001: 2015 - Quality Management Standard
  • Certified ISO22301: 2012 - Business Continuity Standard
  • Certified ISO14001: 2014 - Environmental Management Standard
  • Certified ISO20000-1: 2011 - IT Service Management Standard
  • PSN accredited for the provision of Infrastructure as a Service
  • Information Governance Statement of Compliance (IGSoC)
  • Data Security and Protection Toolkit Complia
  • Authorised to process and store Person Identifiable Data (PID)

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
As a managed service provider that the delivers services into different vertical sectors (central government, NHS, legal, finance, manufacturing and so on), we take several measures to secure these assets. This requires work to implement, manage and be audited against a number of recognised security standards and frameworks. This benefits all our customers and also provides a recognised and repeatable methodology for delivering services to a higher security level, where required, for specific customer environments.
Redcentric’s policy is to deploy individual customers using physical and logical segmentation appropriate to the client’s operational requirements. Segmentation techniques and technologies including MPLS IP-VPN security, firewalls and VLAN technology are used to ensure a high level of security. Testing is typically done at a service provider level so as to not impact specific customer deployments.
It is the responsibility of Redcentric to provide an assured managed service infrastructure to deploy client services over. Whilst some aspects of security can be abdicated to the client’s service provider Redcentric recommend that customers perform their own assurance testing within the context of their business setting and context. Redcentric will always co-operate with customers around any testing activities and subsequent outcomes.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Supplier-defined controls
Configuration and change management approach
Redcentric maintains an ISO 27001 audited configuration and change management process for customer hosting infrastructure. Initial customer hosting deployments are initially configured by a combination of automated provisioning tools and expert system administrators. Newly deployed infrastructure is subject to a peer review prior to being put live.
Customer change management is performed according to Redcentric internal ticketing processes and workflows, providing customers with the ability to request and plan changes by Redcentric system administrators, authorisation mechanisms and visibility of work performed on their hosting environment.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
Redcentric proactively manages vulnerabilities within the corporate infrastructure and all infrastructure connected to or participating within 3rd party external networks such as the healthcare network, the public internet and other corporate or partner networks or customer hosting domains.
Redcentric conducts quarterly or as required automated in-depth vulnerability scans of critical internal infrastructure including administrative and orchestration systems, underlying customer host servers, backup infrastructure, edge and intermediate firewalls and load balancers using Nessus. These scans are automatically parsed by our internal configuration and change management system and items requiring investigation escalated directly to DevOps.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
Redcentric can provides a range of protective monitoring services including vulnerability management and auditing and assessment services
(such as SIEM).
Redcentric will work with the customer to put in place an approach to Proactive Monitoring which meets the requirements of the customer.
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
Redcentric maintains a formal incident management process for internal and customer-impacting incidents that includes triage, containment and remediation and root cause analysis. Roles are defined to provide responsibility for overall command, communications and technical authority. Workflows and related information are managed by our centralised internal ticketing system. Redcentric will inform customers of any security incident that directly impacts on their hosting solution in a timely manner once detected.
Redcentric defines a customer impacting security incident as a security-related problem which may have actively impacted on the confidentiality, integrity or availability of more than one customer.

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
Supplier
Virtualisation technologies used
VMware
How shared infrastructure is kept separate
Network segregation is provided for customers by a combination of per-server and/or per-customer dedicated VPN’s/VLAN’s and hypervisor virtual network segregation mechanisms.
The Redcentric Managed Firewall Service interoperates with host-level virtual firewalls on all Cloud and Dedicated customer servers in order to enforce this segregation to a high level of assurance. This can be complimented by the use of hardware and/or software firewalls on individual servers and VM’s, as- well as the creation of additional SSL/TLS tunnels or VPNs to create encrypted network overlays as
per customer requirements.

Energy efficiency

Energy-efficient datacentres
Yes
Description of energy efficient datacentres
We have a number of existing facilities which were built before 2011 in use today which have been reviewed and modified to increase their ‘Energy Saving Levels’. No new facilities have been built since this time.
When new IT equipment or software is sourced and deployed, we review how we can increase our ‘Energy Saving Levels’ and factor this into designs.
As well as being an operator of services from our facilities we also provide co-location and private cloud hosting. Under the EU code of conduct we endeavour whenever upgrading our facilities to review increasing our ‘Energy Saving Levels’. Where a customer is procuring their own IT equipment, we offer advice and guidance.
In adhering with the EU Code of Conduct for Energy Efficient Datacentres we are committed to;
• The fulfilment of relevant compliance obligations
• Continually working towards improving the environmental management system to enhance environmental performance
• Protection of the environment, including the prevention of pollution and sustainable use of resources
• Working towards incorporating environmental factors into business decisions as standards.

Social Value

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

In recent times ESG has become an important subject for consideration by the boards of companies across the globe and there is increasing demand for transparency and accountability in this area. The UK government has committed to a Net Zero Strategy, with a target to achieve nationwide Net Zero by 2050 and plans to introduce mandatory Sustainability Disclosures Requirements in line with the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures framework.

Redcentric is fully supportive of this approach, and it is in the process of developing its reporting capabilities in this area. We are committed to developing an ESG strategy that aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals, to updating our ESG scoring, keeping abreast of the regulatory environment, conducting materiality assessments, publishing our strategy and updating our website with key corporate policies. We are also committed to developing a long-term strategy to achieve Net Zero. Currently Redcentric’s power requirements are met 100% by green energy sources.

We are looking to engage with a consultancy firm who will help us to develop a net zero strategy and with some of our ESG reporting requirements that sit under the Environmental pillar. The Board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) is cognisant of the growing importance of ESG and is currently developing a comprehensive corporate ESG strategy with targets to drive further accountability across the business. A full ESG plan will be published at the time of the Company’s preliminary results announcement.
We have maintained our ISO 14001:2015 certification for three years.
Redcentric is a company listed on AIM (Alternative Investment Market), we are required to publish our carbon emissions in our annual reports which are published on the Redcentric website.
Our Environmental Management System (EMS) was introduced 2018. It is a documented system which is reviewed regularly.
Covid-19 recovery

Covid-19 recovery

As a key partner to the NHS and working with our healthcare customers, we delivered solutions that enabled business continuity during the pandemic through the provision of secure remote access solutions, national infrastructure, and collaboration services. Redcentric is also proud to have played an active role in supporting the NHS throughout the pandemic, providing services which have provided vital connectivity for new Nightingale hospitals and vaccination hubs.

As we move forward from the pandemic, we continue to support our NHS, wider public sector organisations and commercial customers as they move to the new way of working. Providing hosting for critical national infrastructure and solutions that deliver secure access regardless of location and collaboration tools supporting disparate teams.

The covid-19 pandemic and the resulting impact had a material influence over the trading environment in which we have operated. Initially we dealt with a surge in demand at the outbreak of the pandemic however we also dealt with a reduction in large scale IT projects as people waited for market and wider environment to stabilise.

At Redcentric we continued to operate following our business continuity plan with all staff having the ability to work remotely and only those with roles that dictated it on site, the business did not need to furlough at any point.

We have seen encouraging signs of increased customer interactions again and the larger IT projects and paused tenders all now back in progress. Supply issues are being closely monitored by working closely with our supply chain and working with multiple suppliers and partners.

Given the tricky headwinds created by covid the performance of the business over the covid period and as we move out of it has been excellent. When compared to the equivalent period pre-covid revenue is up 3.9% and with zero debt.
Tackling economic inequality

Tackling economic inequality

N/A
Equal opportunity

Equal opportunity

Equality and diversity
Redcentric actively supports the principle of equal opportunities in employment and is committed to ensuring that individuals are treated fairly, with respect and are valued. Redcentric opposes all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, age, or disability (the "Protected Characteristics"). It is important to Redcentric that no one receives less favourable treatment or be disadvantaged on any of the above grounds. Every possible step will be taken to ensure that individuals are treated equally and fairly and that decisions on recruitment and selection and opportunities for training and promotion are based solely on objective and job-related criteria.
Gender Pay Gap Report
Our gender pay report at the snapshot date of 5th April 2021 showed that the overall difference between men and women’s earnings at Redcentric was 21% (mean) or 18% (median), based on hourly rates of pay at the snapshot date of 5th April. Like most organisations in our industry, the primary reason for our gender pay gap is an imbalance of male and female colleagues at different levels across the organisation. We are confident as we make progress towards achieving greater gender balance across all roles within Redcentric.
Learning and Development
We have a strong ethos of upskilling and supporting the development of our colleagues.
• Apprenticeship programmes - gain qualifications in networks, data storage, computing and electro-technical systems
• Work Experience Programme ‘Redcentric Set Go’ – allowing local students to gain experience within the workplace to enhance their skills and CV
• Learning Management System (Talent LMS) which allows employees to gain access to multiple training modules to enhance their development
Wellbeing

Wellbeing

At Redcentric, the wellbeing of our colleagues is incredibly important to us. Over the last 12 months we have introduced a whole host of wellbeing initiatives aimed at improving our colleagues mental and physical health.
Hybrid working model has allowed our colleagues more flexibility and encouraged them to gain work: life balance.
Our Wellbeing Channel hosts resources that support mental and physical health including webinars, mental health resources for children and recordings of our yoga and mindfulness sessions.
The Met Life Wellbeing Hub is available to all employees, providing a range of wellbeing support and access to services including therapy, counselling, legal and financial management information.
Linking in with our CSR strategy, we have created a Wellbeing calendar that highlights awareness weeks throughout the year, such as Men’s Health Week, Stress Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day. This is accessible on our Wellbeing Teams channel.
The Board leads by example with respect to promoting a healthy corporate culture and ensuring that ethical values and behaviours are embedded in the business. The processes in place for decision making which are documented in its committee terms of reference, the Company’s share dealing code and the requirement for regular disclosure of interests are all examples of processes which require high standards of behaviour from the Board.
Employment policies adopted by the Company, such as its whistleblowing and anti-bribery policies assist in embedding a culture of ethical behaviour and the values set out in its corporate social responsibility statement.
We’ve trained over 20 Mental Health First Aiders across the business with the aim of having at least one in every team and generate continuous engagement through planned initiatives. Our ‘Let’s Talk Service’ is a designated time in the diary each week for Mental Health First Aiders to keep free.

Pricing

Price
£60 a unit a month
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
No

Service documents

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