ASCENT DIGITAL SERVICES UK LIMITED

Posit Software Licenses

Ascent is a partner of Posit . Posit is an integrated development environment for R, and Python. We can provide the full suite (Posit Team) or components licences, as well as dedicated call-off consultancy packages to aid product usage.

Features

  • Environment for building and deploying R, Python applications
  • Workbench IDE used to create both R or Python code
  • API's available to connect to most supporting technologies
  • Connect allows automated publishing analytics output to the web
  • Package Manager - control use of CRAN packages
  • Offers Jupyter Notebook interface
  • Deploys on cloud service
  • Call-off data consultancy for Posit products
  • Platform trouble shooting
  • Data Science best practices using Posit suite

Benefits

  • Delivers efficiency and encourages best practice
  • Leads to significant savings in time and duplication of effort
  • Ensures automated, traceable output to build trust and integrity
  • Maximises team efficiency and project delivery
  • Most widely used interface for open source analytics development
  • Makes interoperability between R and Python very simple
  • Same interface for R and Python developers
  • Easy to build Interactive dashboards in Shiny
  • Easy to publish analytics output to wider audience via Web

Pricing

£66 a person 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 commercialops@ascent.io. 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 8 6 5 2 8 5 2 6 3 9 1 8 6

Contact

ASCENT DIGITAL SERVICES UK LIMITED George Earp
Telephone: +441189913387
Email: commercialops@ascent.io

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
No
Cloud deployment model
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
Service constraints
There are some constraints for the system configuration, the Multi-user pro versions require Linux based servers.

Our preference is to deploy RStudio on Azure.
System requirements
  • Linux Server for Pro versions
  • R or Python programming language
  • R package repository
  • Some form of Authentication scheme

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
We have four care levels:

1. URGENT
1st RESPONSE: 1hr
UPDATE: every 2hrs
TARGET FIX: 8hrs
DEFINITION: software inoperable/business critical system unusable

2. HIGH
1st RESPONSE: 4hrs
UPDATE: every 4hrs
TARGET FIX: 2 working days.
DEFINITION: significant service degradation, non-critical business function/software is unusable.

3. MEDIUM
1st RESPONSE: 8hrs
UPDATE: every 8hrs
TARGET FIX: as part of regular software release/update schedule
DEFINITION: Degradation of individual service or information issues

4. LOW
1st RESPONSE: 2 working days
UPDATE: part of release schedule discussion
TARGET FIX: as part of regular software release/update schedule
DEFINITION: Small service degradation/service request no impact
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
No
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
No
Support levels
We have four care levels, cost is negotiable depending on the project:

1. URGENT
1st RESPONSE: 1hr
UPDATE: every 2hrs
TARGET FIX: 8hrs
DEFINITION: software inoperable/business critical system unusable

2. HIGH
1st RESPONSE: 4hrs
UPDATE: every 4hrs
TARGET FIX: 2 working days.
DEFINITION: significant service degradation, non-critical business function/software is unusable.

3. MEDIUM
1st RESPONSE: 8hrs
UPDATE: every 8hrs
TARGET FIX: as part of regular software release/update schedule
DEFINITION: Degradation of individual service or information issues

4. LOW
1st RESPONSE: 2 working days
UPDATE: part of release schedule discussion
TARGET FIX: as part of regular software release/update schedule
DEFINITION: Small service degradation/service request no impact
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
We spend time with the data science team to review their workflows and use cases and then optimising the RStudio instance to conform with their requirements
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
The data is stored in a version control repository (such as GIT) and this can be accessed completely by the customer. They can download all their artefacts in a simple action at any time. We will help customers in line with this and can provide additional support at a charge (typically T&M)
End-of-contract process
It is simple a matter of downloading your data, which will be stored in the format that it was uploaded, so no de-coding. We will help customers in line with this and can provide additional support at a charge (typically T&M)

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
No
Service interface
No
User support accessibility
None or don’t know
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
There are a number of API's available for connecting to / from RStudio software products and other CRAN packages and third party tools. The way they are used are similar but depend on the type of interface that is required. Full explanation on API's can be found on the RStudio Website
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • PDF
API sandbox or test environment
No
Customisation available
No

Scaling

Independence of resources
Dedicated server environment

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
Volume tracking and User tracking. Any searchable item in the database can be reported on.
Reporting types
Real-time dashboards

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra features and support
Organisation whose services are being resold
RStudio PBC

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Other security clearance
Government security clearance
Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

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
In-house
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Encryption of all physical media
Data sanitisation process
No
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
Simple download
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
Exported as txt file
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • ODF
  • Other
Other data import formats
  • Original format
  • Microsoft Office Supported Formats
  • Any File Format

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
Data protection within supplier network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
We cannot offer a guarantee on availability and do not offer an SLA agreement to cover this. However our belief is that the system is maintainable to a level of 99.5% availability
Approach to resilience
Available on request - please see Rstudio terms - we are a reseller of the service.
Outage reporting
Outages are reported by the vendor - RStudio via a public dashboard

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Role based
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password

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
At least 12 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users have access to real-time audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
At least 12 months
How long system logs are stored for
User-defined

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
SMC
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
24/11/2017
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
Covers our whole organisation
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Cyber essentials
No
Cyber essentials plus
No
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
ISO 27001 Standard is followed. ISMS Steering Committee chaired by ISO, is responsible for overall ISMS implementation in Ascent and enforcement and compliance with policies and procedures. Ascent also annually conducts internal and external Audit.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Supplier-defined controls
Configuration and change management approach
Not applicable - we resell Rstudio licences with professional services. It is not a managed service
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
A client can report a suspected vulnerability by email and this will be investigated. The submitted report will be assigned a tracking number. We will then respond to you, acknowledging receipt of the report, and outline the next steps in the process. We use version 2.0 of the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) to evaluate potential vulnerabilities. The resulting score helps quantify the severity of the issue and to prioritize our response. A response is within 24 hours and regular updates are given. There is no guarantee on speed of patch deployment.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
Not applicable - we resell RStudio licences with professional services. It is not a managed service
Incident management type
Supplier-defined controls
Incident management approach
Not applicable - we resell RStudio licences with professional services. It is not a managed service

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

Wellbeing

Wellbeing

Ascent recognise that managing your health doesn't always fit in to the 9-5. That's why we provide unlimited access to Smart Health Services:
1. 24/7 access to an online GP with appointments bookable on an app at a time that suits the employee
2. a second opinion service on complicated medical cases, or where you are struggling to get a diagnosis
3. Mental Health Support - providing time to talk, get a diagnosis and then the right support strategy and treatment for your condition
4. Wellbeing services are also included, with access to Nutrition Plans, Fitness Programmes and an Online Health check.

This is not only available to the employee, but to their immediate family, including partner and children up to the age of 21.

Pricing

Price
£66 a person a month
Discount for educational organisations
Yes
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
The full functionality of the software is available limited to a time period of one month.

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 commercialops@ascent.io. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.