Synanetics

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Specification, Supply & Support Services

Synanetics offers cloud strategy services which streamline businesses' adoption of cloud technologies, offering tailored guidance in migration, optimization, and management. By aligning with organizational objectives, these services ensure efficient utilization of cloud resources, fostering agility, innovation, and cost-effectiveness in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Features

• Cloud strategy support and production
• Cost optimisation
• Application migration
• GCP support services

Benefits

• Full service GCP partner
• Cloud strategy - from development to depolyment
• cost benefits
• performance benefits
• secure by design architecture
• Micro-services architecture

£550 to £1,400 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 paul.cook@synanetics.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

358259057026287

Contact

Paul Cook
07570576534
paul.cook@synanetics.com

Service scope

• Service constraints: Unlikely, but discovery phase will identify any constraints
• System requirements: None

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Response times depend on the priority of the request: Emergency: 1 hr anytime High: 1hr 9am-6pm weekdays Normal: 1 working day Low: 1 working day. Support is offered as a 24x7x365 service
• 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: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: We offer a fully managed service desk and ITIL service management package. All customers are assigned a technical account manager who is accountable for the delivery of the service. We offer a single standard level of support. This provides access to 24x7 using a variety of contact mechanisms. The priority of support issues is determined by our customers and we measure our response and resolution times of requests and incidents. Performance indicators are reported back to our customers through monthly service review meetings. Our standard service package can be tailored to individual requirements.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Synanetics facilitates onboarding to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) by offering a structured process to help organizations transition smoothly to GCP services and infrastructure. Initially, it begins with a thorough assessment of the organization's current IT landscape, identifying existing systems, applications, and data that will be migrated to GCP. Following this assessment, a customized migration plan is crafted, outlining the steps and timeline for the migration process.; ; Next, teams are trained on GCP tools, services, and best practices to ensure they have the necessary skills to operate within the cloud environment effectively. Hands-on workshops, online courses, and documentation help familiarize stakeholders with GCP's capabilities and how to leverage them to achieve business goals.; ; Throughout the onboarding process, close collaboration between the organization and our Google Cloud experts ensures that challenges are addressed promptly, and solutions are tailored to meet specific needs. Ongoing support and optimization services further enhance the organization's GCP experience, enabling continuous improvement and innovation within the cloud environment.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: At the end of a contract for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offered through Synanetics, extracting data is a critical step to ensure a smooth transition into another service/supplier. Organizations must carefully plan and execute data extraction processes to avoid disruptions to operations and compliance issues. This involves identifying all data stored within GCP services, including databases, storage buckets, and other repositories.; ; Organizations can utilize GCP's data export tools, such as Data Transfer Service, to extract data efficiently while maintaining data integrity and security. They should also consider data formats, transformation requirements, and destination platforms for migrated data.; ; Thorough documentation of data extraction processes and validation of extracted data ensure accuracy and completeness. Additionally, compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, such as data protection laws, must be upheld throughout the extraction process.; ; Effective communication with stakeholders and coordination with GCP support teams can mitigate risks and challenges associated with data extraction, facilitating a successful transition away from GCP services. Synanetics will support these activities at negotiated rates.
• End-of-contract process: As per description above, a plan to migrate data from the GCP platform will be developed and agreed and Synanetics will offer a scope of work, fully costed, to carry out the required services.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: The Google Cloud console provides a web-based, graphical user interface that customers can use to manage your Google Cloud projects and resources. It is a suite of cloud computing services that provides a series of modular cloud services including computing, data storage, data analytics, and machine learning, alongside a set of management tools.
• Web interface accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web interface accessibility testing: Part of Google's mission is to make products and services universally accessible to users, including 1 billion people in the world who have a disability. Detailed information can be found here: https://cloud.google.com/docs/accessibility
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Customers can access Cloud APIs from server applications with our client libraries in many popular programming languages, from mobile apps via the Firebase SDKs, or by using third-party clients. You can also access Cloud APIs with the Google Cloud CLI tools or Google Cloud console. Cloud APIs are exposed as network API services to customers, such as Cloud Pub/Sub API. Each Cloud API typically runs on one or more subdomains of googleapis.com, such as pubsub.googleapis.com, and provides both JSON HTTP and gRPC interfaces to clients over public internet and Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks. Clients can send HTTP and gRPC requests to Cloud API endpoints directly or by using client libraries. More information is avaialble here: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library/browse?filter=category:enterprise-api&_ga=2.121694603.1403550033.1714717790-1000222468.1706282885&pli=1
• API automation tools:
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
• Using the command line interface: The gcloud CLI gives users a terminal command-line method to interact with the same Google Cloud services you already manage using the Cloud console.

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type:
  • Automatic
  • Manual
• Independence of resources: As a tier 1 public cloud provider, capacity and performance (and security) are key focus areas for Google. The services are built to provide capacity to absorb any and all resource spikes.
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting:
  • API
  • Email

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Google Cloud Platform

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• 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
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
• 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 every 6 months
• 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 CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: Data at rest protection is a Google Cloud Platform core service offering
• 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: A third-party destruction service

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up: GCP natively offers myriad back up services
• Backup controls: Rich backup policy best practices are available from the GCP website and Synanetics offers an expert service to ensure policies meet customer requirements in terms of performance and cost
• Datacentre setup: Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
• Scheduling backups: Users schedule backups through a web interface
• Backup recovery: Users can recover backups themselves, for example through a web interface

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)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: GCP - 99.5% availability is guaranteed
• Approach to resilience: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) prioritizes resilience through a multi-layered approach encompassing infrastructure, networking, data management, and operational practices. At the infrastructure level, GCP's global network architecture ensures redundancy and high availability by distributing data across multiple regions and zones. This architecture minimizes the impact of outages and ensures continuous service availability.; ; GCP's networking infrastructure employs techniques like load balancing, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection, and traffic engineering to optimize performance and mitigate disruptions. Additionally, GCP offers services like Cloud CDN and Cloud DNS to further enhance resilience and improve user experience.; ; Data resilience is ensured through features like automatic replication, versioning, and backup capabilities provided by services such as Cloud Storage and Bigtable. These features safeguard data against loss or corruption and enable rapid recovery in the event of failures.; ; Operational resilience is achieved through robust monitoring, incident response, and disaster recovery practices. GCP's Stackdriver suite offers comprehensive monitoring and logging capabilities, enabling proactive detection and resolution of issues. Additionally, GCP provides tools and best practices for implementing disaster recovery strategies, such as backup and failover configurations.
• Outage reporting: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) employs a transparent and proactive approach to reporting service outages to its customers. GCP uses multiple channels to promptly communicate outage information, including the GCP Status Dashboard, incident reports, email notifications, and social media updates.; ; The GCP Status Dashboard serves as a centralized platform where users can monitor the operational status of GCP services in real-time. In the event of an outage or service disruption, GCP updates the dashboard with relevant information, including affected services, the extent of impact, and ongoing mitigation efforts. This allows customers to stay informed about the status of their services and take appropriate actions.; ; Incident reports provide detailed post-mortem analyses of service outages, outlining the root cause, impact, and remediation steps taken by GCP engineers. These reports are typically published after the incident is resolved, providing valuable insights for customers and facilitating learning and improvement.; ; Additionally, GCP sends email notifications to impacted customers, informing them about the outage, its impact on their services, and any recommended actions they should take. GCP also utilizes social media platforms such as Twitter to provide real-time updates and engage with customers during service disruptions.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) restricts access to management interfaces and support channels through role-based access control (RBAC), enforcing the principle of least privilege. Administrators can assign granular permissions to users, limiting access to specific resources and actions within the GCP console and APIs. Additionally, GCP employs identity and access management (IAM) policies to control access to support channels, ensuring that only authorized personnel can engage with GCP support for assistance and issue resolution. These access control measures help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data and configurations, bolstering the security of GCP environments.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • 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)

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 have access to real-time 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: No
• 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
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) complies with a wide range of security governance standards, including but not limited to ISO/IEC 27001, SOC 1/2/3, HIPAA, PCI DSS, FedRAMP, and GDPR. These standards ensure that GCP maintains robust security controls and practices to protect customer data and meet regulatory requirements.
• Information security policies and processes: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) implements comprehensive information security policies and processes to safeguard customer data and ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of its services. These include:; ; Access Controls: GCP enforces strict access controls, employing role-based access control (RBAC), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and least privilege principles to manage user permissions.; Encryption: GCP encrypts data at rest and in transit using industry-standard encryption algorithms, ensuring data remains secure throughout its lifecycle.; Network Security: GCP utilizes virtual private cloud (VPC) networks, firewalls, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection to defend against network-based attacks and unauthorized access.; Monitoring and Logging: GCP employs robust monitoring and logging tools, such as Stackdriver, to track system activities, detect anomalies, and facilitate incident response and forensic analysis.; Compliance and Auditing: GCP adheres to various compliance standards and undergoes regular audits to verify compliance with industry regulations, ensuring transparency and accountability in its security practices.; By implementing these policies and processes, GCP maintains a strong security posture, enabling customers to trust their data and workloads in the cloud platform.

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 are subject to project board approval and tracked using robust change management and audit process
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) follows a rigorous vulnerability management process to identify, assess, and mitigate security vulnerabilities. This process includes continuous monitoring of GCP infrastructure, regular vulnerability scanning and assessments, and proactive patch management. Vulnerabilities are prioritized based on severity and impact, with critical vulnerabilities addressed immediately through automated patching or mitigation measures. GCP also provides customers with vulnerability management tools and guidance to secure their own applications and workloads running on the platform. Regular security updates and transparent communication ensure that GCP remains resilient against emerging threats and vulnerabilities, maintaining the security and integrity of customer data and services.
• Protective monitoring type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) employs protective monitoring processes to detect and respond to security threats in real-time. This includes continuous monitoring of network traffic, system logs, and user activities using advanced threat detection tools and machine learning algorithms. Suspicious activities trigger immediate alerts, allowing security teams to investigate and mitigate potential threats promptly. GCP's Security Command Center provides centralized visibility into security posture and compliance status, enabling proactive threat hunting and incident response. Additionally, GCP conducts regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify and address vulnerabilities, ensuring a robust defensive posture against cyber threats.
• 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: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) follows a systematic incident management approach to effectively respond to security incidents. This involves incident detection through continuous monitoring, immediate containment to prevent further damage, thorough investigation to understand the root cause, and rapid resolution to restore normal operations. GCP's incident response team coordinates cross-functionally, leveraging automated tools and predefined playbooks to streamline response efforts. Post-incident analysis is conducted to identify lessons learned and implement preventive measures. Transparent communication with customers ensures timely updates and fosters trust in GCP's incident management capabilities.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

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: Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a global leader in providing Public Cloud Services and separation of organisations and their data is a core competency. GCP ensures separation of customer data through robust isolation mechanisms, including virtualized network environments, encryption-at-rest and in-transit, strict access controls, and logical separation of resources. Additionally, GCP adheres to industry-standard compliance certifications and undergoes regular audits to verify data protection measures.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: Google's datacentres adhere to the EU Code of Conduct for Energy Efficient datacentres. On average, a Google data center is one-and-a-half times as energy efficient as a typical enterprise data center. Google raises the temperature to 80°F, uses outside air for cooling, and builds custom servers. They also share detailed performance data to help move the entire industry forward.

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Tackling economic inequality

  Fighting climate change

  Google takes a multifaceted approach to combat climate change, focusing on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainability initiatives across its operations and products. One of Google's key strategies is to achieve carbon neutrality, aiming to eliminate or offset its carbon emissions. To achieve this, Google has invested heavily in renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar farms, to power its data centers and operations.; ; Google also prioritizes energy efficiency by optimizing its infrastructure and implementing innovative cooling technologies to reduce energy consumption. Data center designs incorporate advanced cooling systems and machine learning algorithms to minimize energy usage while maintaining optimal performance.; ; In addition to internal efforts, Google promotes sustainability through its products and services. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offers carbon-neutral cloud computing services, and Google Workspace encourages remote collaboration, reducing the need for travel and associated emissions. Google Maps provides tools for users to find eco-friendly transportation options, and Google Earth Engine supports research and monitoring of environmental changes.; ; Furthermore, Google supports climate science research and environmental organizations through grants, partnerships, and technology contributions. By leveraging its resources and expertise, Google aims to drive positive environmental impact and inspire broader action towards a sustainable future.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Synanetics is a Small and Medium Sized Business (SME) and we recognize that our ability to make significant contributions to the themes around Tackling Economic Inequality are necessarily constrained by our size. As a knowledge business designing and supporting solutions used across NHS customers, all job roles demand high-levels of education, knowledge and experience of programming and high levels of demonstrable problem solving abilities so that the engineering principles which deliver the company’s ongoing success are maintained as we expand. The majority of our solutions are delivered as hosted and managed services, using either Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Microsoft Azure and therefore we do benefit from the industry leading commitments and behaviours which these global corporations enshrine in their corporate ethos. However, we clearly understand that we need to be pro-active and can confirm that our business is committed to the concept of behaving as a good corporate citizen; therefore we embrace issues pertaining to social value. Synanetics continued growth and expansion by definition supports new businesses, creates new jobs and develops new skills. Our ongoing appraisal process, together with a culture of continuous professional development, means that our clear ambition is for employees to expand their knowledge and experience, which in-turn drives our ability to meet and exceed customer expectations. With regards to the Real Living Wage (as specified by Living Wage foundation) Synanetics can confirm that all of our roles pay significantly more than these rates. Because of the size and scale of Synanetics operations, it is fundamentally important that ongoing focus on the viability of our projects is maintained throughout the life of the contract. All projects are reviewed on a monthly basis and so, should the resources planned and allocated to a project fall out of expectations, it will be reported, managed and rectified.

Pricing

• Price: £550 to £1,400 a unit a day
• 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 paul.cook@synanetics.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.