Sparta Global Limited (formerly Testing Circle Limited)

Cyber Security Capability Development

Sparta Global build specialist capability with a diverse mix of Cyber Security consultants.

Consultants are deployed as individuals or as a dedicated programme. The service is IR35 exempt and offers the ability to transfer consultants to permanent Civil Servants, helping to build diverse specialist capability in cloud-based disciplines.

Features

• Cyber Security - CIA Triad, Cyber Threats, Cyber Kill Chain
• Perform Penetration Testing
• Use Reconnaissance and Open Source Intelligence to identify potential issues
• Use DevOps tools such as AWS, Jenkins, Terraform & Ansible
• Use Cryptography to identify and mitigate Cyber threats
• Open, fair and inclusive hiring process for consultants, supports ED&I
• Dedicated Programme supports scaling up, in Security skillsets
• Consultant upskilling paths for continuous learning & development in assignments
• Ability to transfer consultants to permanent Civil Servants
• B-Corp Certified, we are held to the highest ESG standards

Benefits

• Above 95% success rate in conversions to permanent Civil Servant
• Service impacts Social Mobility, with paid training and no fees
• Our unique Women-in-Tech Athena programme, improves gender representation
• Dedicated Delivery Team for consultant care, governance and service delivery
• Achieve scale and support geographic levelling up, via Dedicated Programmes
• Ensure future workforce are equipped with contemporary and cutting-edge skills
• Service aligns with GDaD profession, and Government processes & standards
• Consultants are eligible for SC and DV clearance
• Internal training faculty, ensures contemporary skills enablement and capability development
• Consultants are unaffected by IR35

£290 to £1,100 a unit a day

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

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

248250171920382

Contact

James Greenhalgh
0208 940 2333
jgreenhalgh@spartaglobal.com

Planning

• Planning service: Yes
• How the planning service works: Sparta Global provide a range of planning services for the Buyer’s cloud projects. This includes strategy planning for short-term projects and longer-term Buyer workforce gap analysis, to augment existing permanent capability development initiatives. Sparta Global allow for transfer of consultants to Buyer’s own permanent staff after a period of time has been satisfied. Sparta Global offer transfer planning and knowledge transfer, helping consultants navigate civil service open and fair competition guidelines.
• Planning service works with specific services: No

Training

• Training service provided: Yes
• How the training service works: Sparta Global's own IT Academy provides bespoke training for not only our own IT Consultants to ensure we develop their careers but also for external clients. We provide training in core software engineering technologies, and in a range of critical methodologies and practices to develop our consultants in the skills they require in their chosen careers. We additionally provide project management training, business analysis training, software engineering training, system development training, training in DevOps practices, testing training, and load and performance testing training, all of which are essential to enable cloud hosted services to be built, deployed, managed and maintained.
• Training is tied to specific services: No

Setup and migration

• Setup or migration service available: Yes
• How the setup or migration service works: Sparta Global provide cost effective IT Consultancy and IT Resource services, which cover a comprehensive range of Project and Programme Management Services, Business Analysis Services, Security, System Development Services, DevOps Services and Testing Services. All are essential to ensure a successful deployment to cloud hosted services or migration between cloud services.
• Setup or migration service is for specific cloud services: No

Quality assurance and performance testing

• Quality assurance and performance testing service: Yes
• How the quality assurance and performance testing works: Sparta Global's is a leading independent provider of Software Testing Consultancy and IT Resource Professional Services to clients in both the Private and Public sector. Sparta Global’s consultancy services de-risk new software and systems implementations by speeding launch times, reducing overall costs and improving systems performance and service to end customers. Sparta Global can provide access to a flexible and cost effective pool of Test professionals to deliver testing services across the full life-cycle. Sparta Global are software testing specialists providing an independent, quality assurance, managed, flexible service. Provide low cost UK test teams providing an alternative to offshoring or nearshore solutions. Sparta Global provides performance testing specialists to carry out load and performance testing to determine how systems perform against specific performance needs. Sparta Global have experience with a variety of tools including HP LoadRunner, IBM Rational Performance, NeoLoad, Eggplant Performance and Open Source performance tools including JMeter, BlazeMeter, The Grinder, and Gatling. Our consultants will develop a performance testing strategy, conduct performance testing scripting and execution, conduct performance assessments, planning, advice, execution and reporting. Load test to evaluate software behaviour under a specific load and aid with performance bottleneck identification and performance tuning.

Security testing

• Security services: No

Ongoing support

• Ongoing support service: Yes
• Types of service supported:
  • Buyer hosting or software
  • Hosting or software provided by your organisation
  • Hosting or software provided by a third-party organisation
• How the support service works: Ongoing support is available to junior consultants throughout their time committed to a cloud project. Sparta Global provide set reviews on a quarterly basis for the Buyer and consultants. The purpose of reviews is to measure and track Buyer objectives, discuss issue escalation and resolution, identify areas of development and where Sparta Global can offer further value to the Buyer and consultants. Sparta Global offers funded qualification and industry certifications for consultants each year, adding IP and industry-relevant knowledge to cloud projects.

Service scope

• Service constraints: All service levels are agreed prior to commencement of a project. The option to convert from Consultant to Permanent staff can be invoked following client site placement at 18 months or 24 months if all three parties; Client, Sparta Global and Consultant, agree.

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Support levels: Support is available to junior consultants and the Buyer between 9am – 6pm, Monday to Friday. The delivery of the service is managed by a dedicated Sparta Global Account Manager, overseeing the project to ensure quality and continuity standards are maintained. The Account Manager will be the main point of call in arranging the project initiation, specific service requirements and matters of a commercial nature. A Services Manager for each Buyer support junior consultants from a pastoral perspective, in addition to supporting the Account Manager with key project activities. In absence of the dedicated Account Manager, Services Manager will act as deputy to ensure continuity of service and delivery. Sparta Global have a dedicated Engagement Team, responsible for regular reviews for junior consultants. Sparta Global have a Learning & Development Team responsible for dealing with queries of a technical nature, for example technology or tool upskilling – this can be delivered remotely or on site of the Buyer. Sparta Global are certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 27001.

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: QMS
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 29/10/2018
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Covered up to full standard
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications:
  • ISO9001
  • ISO14001
  • ISO45001
  • ISO27701

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Sparta Global Limited holds a number of accreditations in order to actively fight climate change:; ; UN Global Compact; Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption. ; ; - Avoid environmental damage via regular maintenance of production processes and environmental protection system (air pollution control, waste, water treatment systems, etc.) in-line with our increasing focus on ESG and Zero Emission by 2050. ; ; ISO 14001; An internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system.; ; - Use less energy – through energy efficiency improvements made across business operations.; ; - Reduced environmental impact – through monitoring and controlling processes where they could affect the ecosystem.; ; - Implementing ISO 14001 means that Sparta can prove to its clients that it complies with applicable environmental legislation.; ; B-Corp; B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency. To achieve certification, a company must: ; ; • Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. ; ; • Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction. ; ; • Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.; ; EcoVadis; The EcoVadis sustainability assessment methodology is at the heart of Ratings and Scorecards and is an evaluation of how well a company has integrated the principles of Sustainability/CSR into their business and management system. It is based on seven founding principles and four themes: Environment, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, Sustainable Procurement.

  Covid-19 recovery

  Our guiding principle is that digital training and employment represent a huge opportunity to create new businesses, new jobs and new skills that fuel economic recovery. ; ; We are particularly involved in widening access to digital training and employment opportunities by working with minority groups who have disproportionally been affected by the pandemic, those who are located in deprived areas, and for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors. ; We empower young people with the digital skills they need to solve the business challenges brought on by Covid. We do this by: ; ; - Promoting the participation of disadvantaged young people in digital innovation and problem-solving industry projects post-Covid.; ; - Enabling new views, experiences, and ideas to be represented in the context of business recovery. ; ; - Democratising digital literacy and employability to uplift communities in ways that benefit both the economy and society.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Our Academy provides training and employment to under-represented and disadvantaged individuals to remove existing barriers to employment and reduce regional economic inequalities.; ; We focus on engaging: ; - Ethnic minority groups.; - Youth from low-income backgrounds and under-served geographical areas. ; - Youth from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. ; - Youth who face entry barriers to higher education and university. ; - Young migrants and expats. ; - Women from non-technical backgrounds. ; - Mothers returning to work. ; ; Our work to tackle economic inequalities among these groups entails: ; - Working with ethnic minority groups in society to provide access to role models, mentoring and training resources in technology. ; - Working with youth from low-income backgrounds to provide financial empowerment through technology careers. ; - Working with youth from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds to enable community development through digital training. ; - Working with young people who cannot afford a degree to provide an alternative route into the tech sector. ; - Working with young migrants and expats to provide access to professional technology networks. ; - Working with women from all backgrounds and age groups to address the current pay imbalance in the technology sector.

  Equal opportunity

  Through our grassroot community engagement efforts, industry partnerships, and talent services within the public sector, we are taking concrete steps in creating a more equal tech future. ; We are authentically passionate about igniting opportunities and making tech careers accessible to all. Our community includes women, men, mothers, fathers, the self-taught, the university-educated, and people of a wide variety of nationalities, ages, cultures, ethnic identities, sexual orientations, neurological profiles, and socio-economic backgrounds. Together, we bring new perspectives and problem-solving approaches that help deliver inclusive tech solutions to our clients.; ; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are more than just values and principles: they are the key operational axes on which we have built our company’s mission, culture, and long-term goals. From talent outreach to candidate recruitment, assessment, training, and placement, we celebrate diversity of thought in all its forms and oppose all visible and invisible discrimination that puts people at a disadvantage

  Wellbeing

  We consider Wellbeing and Mental Health to be key and tangible aspects of our commitment to our candidates and employees. ; ; Our HR, ED&I, Compliance and Consultant Engagement Teams work together to deliver Wellbeing structures of support that: ; - Foster employee visibility, recognition, dignity, and respect. ; - Ensure employee good health through a systematic approach to risk assessment and prevention. ; - Integrate our wellbeing priorities into our culture, leadership and people management processes.; - Conduct Spartan feedback sessions and Happiness Reviews to monitor the wellbeing of our consultants working on client site. ; - Openly communicate any important insights, warnings or recommendations to clients to promote awareness of Mental Health priorities. ; - Deliver educational programmes across the organisation to equip colleagues with the tools they need to become Wellbeing and Mental Health-conscious Allies in the workplace.

Pricing

• Price: £290 to £1,100 a unit a day
• Discount for educational organisations: 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 jgreenhalgh@spartaglobal.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.