CIPHR

Ciphr Connect - Ciphr iRecruit Secure Online Recruitment Software as a Service

Provision of SaaS Online Recruitment Software, ISO27001 certified solution managing Official and Official-Sensitive data. Manage recruitment throughout the process; Vacancy Approval, Talent Attraction, Candidate Portal, Recruitment Workflow, Onboarding and documents. Business systems integration, including HR, Candidate Testing and Psychometric Testing providers. Implementation, consultancy and managed services.

Features

  • Talent engagement and hire, eRecruitment, Vacancy Publication, processing and management
  • Secure Recruiter and Candidate access via browser and mobile devices
  • Configurable Portal: Branded Candidate Portal, Customer Web Site integration
  • Recruitment Management: Manage Talent Pools, electronic Recruitment, Candidate Management
  • Configurable application forms including filter questions and document upload
  • Management Information, Standard and Bespoke Reporting, Data Analysis, Dashboard reporting
  • HR Systems integration - Ciphr HR, Self-Service, third-party HR solutions
  • Attract talent, CV Search and Talent Pool to manage candidates
  • Automated interview scheduling, publication, selection and Assessment Centre
  • Job Board and agency Integration, integration with Psychometric test providers

Benefits

  • Talent searching through traditional job boards and social media channels
  • Secure 24/7 online data access and data management
  • Candidate status tracking, message viewing and job alerts
  • Reduce recruitment costs, reduce time to hire and increase retention
  • Improve recruitment process efficiency by rapid candidate filtering
  • Real-time reporting, Management Information including agency analysis and source analysis
  • Website integration and branding deliver consistent user interface and experience
  • Enhanced CV searching to find the right skills index
  • Create schedules and publish appointments for candidates to select slots
  • Candidate questionnaire scoring to support shortlisting

Pricing

£1.32 a user a month

  • Education pricing available
  • Free trial available

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

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

2 9 4 4 7 6 3 0 4 2 9 8 2 1 1

Contact

CIPHR Jade Trickett
Telephone: 01628814000
Email: sales@ciphr.com

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
Ciphr iRecruit can integrate with a wide range of business systems, including; HR, Ciphr, Finance, Candidate Testing Providers, Psychometric Testing
Cloud deployment model
Private cloud
Service constraints
Ciphr is accessed via supported browsers, latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Edge and Safari (Mac). Users will require access to the Internet to access the service and to be suitably trained.
System requirements
  • Access to the Internet via supported browsers
  • An appropriate account with AdobeSign or DocuSign to use e-sign
  • Adobe Sign or Docu Sign must provide access API Framework.

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Responses provided in line with published SLA and subject to priority from under 4 hours to 48 hours. User support is available as standard during working hours Monday to Friday, excluding Public Holidays.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support
Web chat
Web chat support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support accessibility standard
None or don’t know
How the web chat support is accessible
Accessibility solutions such as JAWS reader will operate, however, the framework of some existing Web Pages limit the accessibility options.
Web chat accessibility testing
We utilise a 3rd party (LiveChatinc) for Live Chat and have not conducted any assistive technology tests.
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Ongoing communication and relationship management encompasses: support via allocated Ciphr Customer Success Manager through regular meetings and review, service updates via email, Ciphr Social Media, Ciphr Customer Hub via Sharepoint Online, ‘Update’ communication via email, Ciphr Training Academy, online learning materials and content and regular webinars to the customer.

As a SAAS deployed solution, Ciphr is available 24/7, subject to any planned downtime covered under the standard Ciphr SLA and support is designed to provide clients with a variety of ways of getting the most out of their solutions and included within the annual subscription charge: service desk telephone support 09:00 to 17:30. Monday to Friday (excluding UK bank holidays), customer success support, regular news update bulletins and free legislative and software updates.

The service desk can be contacted by telephone, online support portal and live chat. Service Requests are automatically logged and a response, including a reference number will be emailed to the requester. As a subscription-based service, all functional and maintenance upgrades are covered under the annual subscription fee.

Ciphr SaaS Service Levels are set out in Ciphr Terms and Conditions. Standard User Support and Technical Infrastructure Support is included as part of the Annual SaaS Subscription Fee.
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Full implementation services are available to provide user training, workshop sessions to launch Self-Service and full documentation will be provided. Experienced HR Systems Consultants will provide advice and assistance in the configuration of the system in line with HR Processes.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
The Customer may request a copy of the Customer Data held by CIP on the SaaS Services at any time during a paid Subscription Period. CIP shall provide the Customer with a copy of the Customer Data in the form of a backup of the database to a SFTP site at no charge to the Customer. Users with appropriate security access can export data in a variety of formats, including Excel, CSV and PDF.
End-of-contract process
At the end of the contract the service will be terminated and all data will be deleted.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
Application to install
Yes
Compatible operating systems
  • Android
  • IOS
  • Linux or Unix
  • MacOS
  • Windows
  • Windows Phone
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
All features can be accessed via supported browsers on any device. For smaller screen devices a mobile optimised site is available for the most commonly used features such as booking time off and checking employee directory details and viewing team absence details.
Service interface
Yes
User support accessibility
None or don’t know
Description of service interface
Intuitive UI providing access to different user roles to different areas of functionality and groups of records and data.
Accessibility standards
None or don’t know
Description of accessibility
Accessibility solutions such as JAWS reader will operate, however, the framework of some existing Web Pages limit the accessibility options.
Accessibility testing
The system has been tested with JAWS Screen Reader and has been in use successfully by organisations such as Action for Blind People.
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
Ciphr’s RESTful API can facilitate integration with a wide range of different applications. Using industry-standard instructions (known as ‘verbs’) – GET (read data), POST (write data), PUT (update data) and DELETE (delete data) – to interact with other applications via HTTPS. API keys are unique for each client, and for each connection. Extra security can be added with domain name and IP mapping, so only certain machines and users are granted access to data held in Ciphr. API Requests returns data in two formats as required; (XML and JSON). The API key can grant access to almost any data in the Ciphr system.
API keys can be purchased individually or via enterprise licencing with configuration services for each key. Customers can manage API keys through the user interface to enable and disable as required. Changes to fields made available through each key are conducted by Ciphr on request and may incur service charges.
Ciphr also offers secure web services, configurable to allow authorised users to download pre-defined data queries. Changes to these queries would be made through the account manager or the Service Desk. These requests would be initiated by the customer and are conducted across port 443 (HTTPS).
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
HTML
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
Ciphr is extremely flexible and can be customised through configurable options which include; adding fields, additional pages, tabs and categories of data. Some configurable options are global and others are specific to individual users. Users can configure their own dashboards by choosing which charts and widgets to show and where on the page they are displayed. Configurable options are unaffected by system updates.

Scaling

Independence of resources
All services are load balanced, where appropriate, to ensure that customer's actions do not impact the performance of any other tenant within the environment.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
Reports on service metrics are available on request but may incur a charge, subject to the specific metric or frequency of request. Day rate listed in the SFIA.
Reporting types
Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Not a reseller

Staff security

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

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
Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
Penetration testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Other
Other data at rest protection approach
All of the customer databases are encrypted using SQL TDE and the encryption strength used is AES256. Databases can only be decrypted on the SQL servers within Ciphr’s private cloud by appropriately trained Ciphr support personnel.
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

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
The Customer may request a copy of the Customer Data held by CIP on the SaaS Services at any time during a paid Subscription Period. Users with appropriate security access can export data in a variety of formats, including Excel, CSV and PDF.
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
  • .xlsx
  • PDF
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
  • .xlsx
  • PDF
  • Microsoft Word
  • Using Ciphr API

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • Private network or public sector network
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
  • Other
Other protection between networks
Customer data is stored in encrypted database unique to that customer. Database and service accounts that are unique to each customer. The entire service is supplied behind multiple firewalls that feature IPS/IDS. All traffic into the environment is over secure channels (Port 443, 22). An active protective monitoring solution is installed and configured to provide alerts based on suspicious activity. These alerts are appropriately actioned and responded to by the Ciphr SaaS Maintenance team.
Data protection within supplier network
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
  • Other
Other protection within supplier network
The environment is divided into different network segments that all pass through firewalls with IPS/IDS and strict access control lists. An active protective monitoring solution is installed and configured to provide alerts based on suspicious activity. These alerts are appropriately actioned and responded to by the Ciphr SaaS Maintenance team.

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
System Environment Downtime (SED) is the total number of hours in a calendar month that the System Environment is unavailable for the Customer’s use during System Environment Operational (SEO) Hours and is expressed as a percentage of Systems Environment.
Operational Hours.
SED shall only include those hours of unavailability where the cause of any failure is primarily the responsibility of CIP or its contractors.
SED is calculated as the total hours of downtime in a calendar month that have accumulated from Incidents during SEO Hours, (where those Incidents have had downtime more than 5 minutes) plus Planned, Unplanned or Urgent Works carried out during SEO Hours in the same period divided by SEO Hours in the same period times 100%. SED so calculated shall not exceed 3% in any calendar Month.
Expressly excluded from any SED calculations is Downtime due to force majeure, faults in Third Party Software, Customer Software or any upgrade thereto, failure by the Customer to fulfil Customer Obligations or other reasons not within the responsibility of CIP and its contractors, including without limitation the Customer or Customer User’s inability to access the System Environment due to a public communications facility or network including the Internet.
Approach to resilience
The Ciphr SaaS environment operates across two active datacentres via a secure connection. In the event of failure of one of the datacentres the other will take over the services of the failed one.
Outage reporting
The communication of any service outage would initially be handled by our Service Desk. The method of the communication would typically be via email but dependant on the nature of the outage.

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
  • Other
Other user authentication
Integration with Active Directory and Single Sign on using Azure or Google for authentication is also possible
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Access to the Ciphr SaaS environment is only granted to certain employees based on their job role in the organisation. Those employees with access only have permissions according to the requirement of the work they will be carrying out in the Ciphr SaaS environment. All of the Ciphr employees are trained to a high standard of awareness in relation to security surrounding the information assets and
SaaS environment in general.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
  • Other
Description of management access authentication
Integration with Active Directory and Azure for authentication is also possible

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
Users have access to real-time 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
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
Bsi Group
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
29/10/2017
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
The scope of Ciphr's ISO27001 certification is "The Information Security Management System in relation to the development, provision and support of software and services including all employees, assets and infrastructure in which it operates" and no part of the business is excluded from scope.
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 ISO27001:2013 accredited policies and procedures are enforced contractually. All security incidents are raised to Ciphr's Information security team who then review and record the details of the incident. An appropriate set of actions will then be carried out in response to the incident. These incidents are regularly reviewed at Ciphr's scheduled Information Security Forum meetings which include board level attendance.

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
All changes to the environment are raised, reviewed and approved/rejected through Ciphr's change control policy. This policy has been externally reviewed and successfully accredited to ISO27001:2013.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
The vulnerability of each asset is addressed according to the effect a security incident would have on an asset or group of assets accordingly and the degree of control/assurance required reducing the vulnerability to the threat. All assets are reviewed on a regular basis to validate that they are appropriately patched and patches are routinely applied on a weekly basis unless required more urgently. Our Information Security team are continually reviewing multiple official sources for news relating to vulnerabilities and threats.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
A protective monitoring solution is deployed that alerts the Ciphr SaaS maintenance Team of suspicious network and file activity within the environment. These alerts are then reviewed and actioned appropriately. The Ciphr SaaS maintenance team provides 24/7 support to the Ciphr SaaS environment.
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
Security incident management records are centrally maintained, updated and monitored via the ISMS. All employees are aware of what constitutes an actual or potential security incident, how to report the incident and who to report the incident to. The responsibility for the oversight of breaches of technical and physical security rests with the Information Security Manager.

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)

Public sector networks

Connection to public sector networks
No

Social Value

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

Ciphr is ISO14001 accredited and operates formal policies and standards in respect of environment and sustainability. In addition to formal company commitments and policy, it is the responsibility of all employees to consider the impact of their actions on the environment and to always act in ways that minimise that impact.

Ciphr does the following in order to uphold its commitment to minimising its impact on the environment, The company is committed to reducing and minimising waste wherever possible by evaluating its operations and ensuring they are as efficient as possible. We are committed to recycling and reuse internally, therefore reducing the impact and cost of landfill use caused by the company. The company consider environmental issues as part of its training / induction programme and enlist new recruits’ support in meeting the company’s aim. All staff will be made aware of how / where to recycle during their training / induction.

We consider environmental issues when sourcing products and supplies for the company, by choosing environmentally friendly materials for example. We comply with all relevant environmental legislation. We encourage the adoption of similar principles by our suppliers and customers. All service delivery is via remote online activity. Where any office attendance is required (by exception), we promote environmentally friendly travel to work such as car sharing, cycling and public transport. We will always ensure that business travel is necessary, and consider more environmentally friendly options first.
Tackling economic inequality

Tackling economic inequality

Ciphr is an accredited Living Wage Employer. Ciphr operates formal policies and procedures in respect of compliance with the Modern Slavery Act (2015) to which all employees are required to confirm understanding & acceptance. Ciphr also stipulates equivalent compliance and policies on all its suppliers, and also stipulates such compliance within its own contract with its customers.

As an HR specialist, people-centric business, Ciphr operates a comprehensive Apprenticeship Scheme, supports equality of opportunity both locally and nationally, and promotes extensive training & development schemes to facilitate career progression and opportunity. Ciphr operates formal CSR practices, backed by senior management, and supports local and national charitable causes. All obligations relating to anti-bribery, anti-tax evasion facilitation and anti-corruption including, but not limited to, the Bribery Act 2010, the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Criminal Finances Act 2017, are covered in Clause 15 of our Ciphr SaaS Agreement which can be viewed via Ciphr’s Customer Portal.
Equal opportunity

Equal opportunity

Ciphr is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all staff and job applicants. We aim to create a working environment in which all individuals are able to make best use of their skills, free from discrimination or harassment, and in which all decisions are based on merit.
We do not discriminate against staff on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or
sexual orientation (protected characteristics). The principles of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity also apply to the way in which individuals engaged by and with the Company should treat visitors, clients, customers, suppliers and former staff members.
All individuals engaged with the Company have a duty to act in accordance with this policy and treat colleagues with dignity at all times, and not to discriminate against or harass other individuals, regardless of their status.
Wellbeing

Wellbeing

As a people focused business, Ciphr is committed to positively supporting employee physical and mental wellbeing. Ciphr utilises its own technology to gather feedback, including but not restricted to, employee sentiment and internal NPS survey.
Ciphr supports via several channels: support work life balance via the offering of flexible working options that suit both employees and the business. Gym membership loan scheme and social events.

Benefits including; private medical and/or dental cover, generous annual leave allowance (plus option to buy or sell leave), automatic pension enrolment, group life assurance. Personal development with skills training for the role employees are in, as well as looking at where they want to progress to in the future

Having and promoting a strong culture of health and wellbeing is a key priority when it comes to our people, and we want employees to have access to the benefits, tools and support that are needed to be the best they can be, at home and at work. In addition to the above, as part of our ongoing wellbeing efforts, we having been exploring a range of options to keep us all fit, in mind and body, which now drives a scheduled wellbeing programme, driven by a dedicated wellbeing team. Examples of 2022 activities include regular seminars to cover all aspects of health and fitness – both physical and mental, provided by a specialist third party, plus a set of webinar sessions focused on 'cultivating a positive mindset', again, delivered by a specialist third party organisation.

Pricing

Price
£1.32 a user a month
Discount for educational organisations
Yes
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
Ciphr can provide test environment within the SaaS environment, for the purpose of testing configuration and/or user training and familiarisation internally so as to avoid training on a system with live data. A Test system can be made available free of charge for short periods of time for evaluating features.
Link to free trial
URL will be provided on request

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