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Essential Computing

HubStar Connect

HubStar Connect (formerly Smartway2) provides next-generation scheduling for booking meeting rooms, desks, parking, lockers. Boost attendance, collaboration and employee experience with hybrid working tools, including return to office (RTO), key events, visitor management, utilisation analytics, sensors and space management. Works with Outlook, mobile, Teams. ISO and WCAG 2.1AA accessibility compliant.

Features

  • Book rooms, desks, parking or any other type of space
  • Access via web portal, Outlook or mobile app.
  • Integration with M365 and Entra ID
  • Place orders for catering and services alongside bookings.
  • Locate colleagues and plan collaboration based on who is in.
  • Web-based administration console and reporting.
  • Advanced BI analytics.
  • Plug and play integrations with third party systems.
  • Advanced policies to automatically enforce booking rules.
  • Digital devices for rooms & desks.

Benefits

  • Gives staff a self-service method of booking spaces.
  • Reduce no-shows and eradicate waste.
  • Simple access to system via Entra ID credentials using SSO.
  • Two-way synchronization with Outlook calendars.
  • Automated workflow so that everyone sees latest information.
  • Full reporting suite with ability to customize to requirements.
  • Detailed management information using BI dashboards.
  • Intuitive interfaces for easy adoption.
  • Low total cost of ownership.

Pricing

£5 a licence a year

  • 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 info@essential.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

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

Contact

Essential Computing Clare Knight
Telephone: 01275 343199
Email: info@essential.co.uk

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
No
Cloud deployment model
Private cloud
Service constraints
None.
System requirements
  • Internet Access
  • Via any supported browser.
  • Any version of Outlook 2016+

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Within 1 hour, Monday to Friday UK office hours.
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
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
There are three levels of priority:

Urgent - an error that:
• Prevents the Services from processing a time-critical business process.
• Completely prevents one or more users from accessing Customer Data or putting new Customer Data into the Services.
• Causes loss or corruption of Customer Data. Examples:
• Cannot save any changes.
• Cannot open any Service Request.

Medium - an error that hinders a business process but is not necessarily time critical.
Examples:
• Unable to generate a standard report for a non-time critical business process (and Customer Data not available via other means).
• Room panel is off-line.

Low - an error that affects an important function of Services, but not vital for it to be resolved in the short term and/or where a reasonable work-around is available.
Examples:
• Unable to generate a standard report, but the Customer Data is available via another report

This is the vendor's standard SLA and it forms part of the clients normal subscription package, at no additional cost.

A Technical Account resource who has product knowledge will address the problem directly with the customer.
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Essential provide a complete onboarding service, designed to leave our customers ready and equipped to go live.

An outline of the process is below:

Planning workshop with dedicated consultant/s:
• Review requirements, priorities and scope of implemention
• Define workflow for booking process
• Identify the key users & roles
• Specify Rules and Restrictions required to meet business needs
• Discuss integration with EntraID, SSO and M365 with IT representatives.

Data Collection Phase
Templates are provided to our customers, to support capture of key information such as resource names, numbers, hours of operation, user roles and groups. We'll also discuss branding requirements to suit organisational branding.

Remote Configuration by Essential including:
• Remote configuration of database
• Population of resource data from templates
• Configuration of Business Rules & notifications
• Catering & other services
• Approval Process

Validation and Testing
• Demonstrate configured system to stakeholders
• Make final adjustments
• Gain acceptance of configured system
• Training – Admin / Users
• Plan Go-Live
• Post On-Boarding Check Up
Training Services
• Training services are provided remotely via Teams and recorded for reference.
• Customer Success will check in periodically throughout the subscription period.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
An authorised user can export all information into Excel format.

Any data remaining on the service will be deleted 30 days after subscription ends.
End-of-contract process
Customers can gain access to their data and export it via the reporting tool before the end of the subscription period. Once the subscription lapses access will be removed to the customer.

Data remains available from termination for 30 days upon which access to the client’s data can still be made available upon request. Data will be removed from the servers within 30 days.

Our support team can assist and advise during the process.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
The user experience is the same across devices.
Service interface
No
User support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
HubStar delivers a fully documented JSON Web Services API, complete with Code Examples.

The API provides a speedy method of integrating with other systems and services, such as Video Conferencing, Catering, Visitor Management , HR and Accounting systems, Sensors, and Business Intelligence Analytics.
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • HTML
  • PDF
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
HubStar Connect has an admin console allowing authorised users to Create or Modify; • Custom Fields and Custom Forms • Business rules • Email and In-app notifications • Reports • Approval Workflows • Services and Lead-times • Meeting Categories and Colours, branding and look and feel • Look and Feel (Branding) • Hierarchy • Access Rights and Group Policy • Resource Types • Floor Plans. The customer has access to all of the same configuration tools that we would use to initially configure the system. Training will be provided to make the customer as self sufficient as possible. In addition, the Customer has access to the entire data log and can extract data at anytime. Lastly the customer is in full control of their integrations, so can sever connections, or make changes as and when necessary.

Scaling

Independence of resources
The application is hosted internationally by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which provides load balancing and auto scaling services in order to compensate for variable levels of demand.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
Access to metrics is made available in two forms.
Dashboard Reporting
• ‘Just’ dashboards deliver insights on rooms, desks and parking usage, user activity and performance
• ‘Think’ dashboards provide insights on multiple space scheduling elements, focusing on occupancy and utilisation
Service Reports
• Services, Quantities and Costs
• No-Shows
• Inventory
• Requests and Approvals
• Booking requests
• Audit Log
• Attendance Report
• Live Availability
• Live Reservations
• Location Usage
• Reservations Awaiting Approval
The end user can create their own custom reports.
Reporting types
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra features and support
Organisation whose services are being resold
HubStar Systems Limited

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Conforms to BS7858:2019
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
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
User control over data storage and processing locations
Yes
Datacentre security standards
Managed by a third party
Penetration testing frequency
At least once a year
Penetration testing approach
Another external penetration testing organisation
Protecting data at rest
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Other
Other data at rest protection approach
Data is stored in an encrypted RDS instance in AWS to AES-256 standard.
Databases and PII within the data is also encrypted.
Data sanitisation process
No
Equipment disposal approach
A third-party destruction service

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
Data can be easily exported out to a standard Microsoft Excel format, provided they have the appropriate role/permissions within the system, or using the API.
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
Excel
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
Excel

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
TLS (version 1.2 or above)
Data protection within supplier network
TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
The client systems are in commercial (AWS) datacentre environments. The systems are designed to provide a high level of reliability and recoverability. This includes failover, redundant power, redundant network, data backup and disaster recovery.
Globally Amazon Web Services (AWS) are used for both production and DR.
DR testing for both environments should be performed annually.
Minimum system uptime for Production Systems is 99.5%, measured monthly.
Systems are also generally available outside business hours, with the exception of scheduled maintenance. Scheduled maintenance is carried out after giving clients at least one week’s notice.
A DR event, such as a major disaster is treated outside of the production systems availability SLA, but has a maximum outage time (RTO) of 8 hours.
Approach to resilience
We provide load balancing architecture - details can be made available upon request.
The application leverages AWS load balancing and dynamic routing components to ensure lowest latency and highest availability.
Application servers are split between two (at least) availability zones within each region to ensure continuity of service should one availability zone become unavailable.
Elastic load balancers distribute the traffic across the available servers.
Servers are grouped under auto scaling groups which allows for the increase in processing capability if the application is put under stress.
Outage reporting
Email alerts will be sent for Planned Maintenance Works. Email alerts are sent to Client Administrators and Technical contacts, to advise of plans, remedies and general communications. If the client has an outage, a ticket will be raised following an email, portal log or telephone call

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Access is controlled as follows;
• Multi-factor authentication for named admin users to the hosted environment
• Support Portal - dedicated client users with username and password
• An email alert goes to the support agent with a unique ID
• Access levels are reviewed periodically
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • 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
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
At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
British Assessment Bureau
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
07/09/2022
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
The ISO/IEC 27001 certification covers the Smartway2 by HubStar Workspace Management System.
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber essentials plus
No
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
SOC2 compliance Q2 2024

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
HubStar is committed to the establishment and maintenance of the Information Security Management System (ISMS) described in our Information Security Policy and implemented by Smartway2 to meet the requirements of ISO 27001:2022.

All members of Smartway2 staff within the ISMS impacted business areas shall strictly adhere to the policies and security procedures, which support the Information Security Policy.
The objectives of the ISMS are to:
• Meet legislative and regulatory requirements
• Design, develop and run secure resilient applications
• Identify and manage Information Security and Cyber Risks
• Identify and manage risks within the supply chain Smartway2

These intrinsically include:
• Continual review and improvement of the ISMS and Controls
• Comply with Customer security requirements
• Report on the effectiveness of the ISMS and controls to the CEO
• Provide assurance that Information Security is inherent within Business as usual activities

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Supplier-defined controls
Configuration and change management approach
HubStar operate a thorough Change Request Process, and once a change request has been raised, it is documented and discussed as part of weekly triage. The request is placed on our CR system. The enhancement is addressed as follows;
• Evaluation
• Development
• Code Review
• Quality Assurance
• Deploy

Security needs to be considered at various stages. This translates into security gates throughout the process, at follows;
• Secure Requirement Review
• Risk Test Planning
• Secure Design Review
• Code Review
• Penetration testing
Changes are deployed as part of our normal deployment methodology.
Vulnerability management type
Supplier-defined controls
Vulnerability management approach
Security and event monitoring is in place on the hosted environment to capture all privileged activity, in addition to the automated alerts that are configured.

When a vulnerability is identified, the issues will be weighed according to the rules outlined in the Risk test planning section.
Based on the Exposure obtained from this classification, the vulnerability or risk will be ranked.

Tests will be designed to be integrated to the regression tests (either automated or manual depending on the case) for future iterations.

Patch deployment - Not critical - within next maintenance window
Critical within 30 days following successful testing.
Protective monitoring type
Supplier-defined controls
Protective monitoring approach
Automated alerts go to relevant parties. In the case of an availability or performance metric alert, the support team will be notified. In the case of an intrusion or intrusion attempt, the security officer and team will be notified. A triage will take place to classify, prioritise and assign the incident. Classification will fall into one of four categories.
Critical, Significant, Minor, Negligible.
Checks are performed automatically on the application, and automated alerts are dispatched to the team in case of availability events.
Not critical are patched within next maintenance window. Critical within 30 days following successful testing.
Incident management type
Supplier-defined controls
Incident management approach
Application Issue -
For every incident a ticket is always raised via the Portal, Email or Telephone. These tickets are categorised – Critical, Medium or Low. The issue is addressed as per our SLA. A Root cause analysis is carried out for critical issues and communicated back to the customer

Hardware Issues -
Hardware supplied by HubStar will be covered by their subscription plan. Faulty units should be returned for assessment. Where appropriate, replacements will be returned to client within 5 working days of receipt of faulty unit, subject to availability.

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

Social Value

Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

Fighting climate change

We are committed to reducing our environmental impact as part of how we operate as a digital business.
As a digital services provider, we enable our customers to realise sustainable hybrid workplaces for positive wellbeing and environmental impact through the technology solutions we provide, and through the way we collaborate to implement the solutions for long term success.
Our focus is on reducing energy and resource usage, reducing the need to travel where possible, and enabling team communications and education to support these objectives. We proactively support our customers, and vendors to do the same by delivering projects in a way which considers environmental factors at the planning stage.
In recent years, we have reduced our office footprint to support hybrid working, minimising travel requirements for our teams. Our services are delivered fully remotely to customers, to pass on the same benefits.

Equal opportunity

We provide technology solutions which help level the playing field for people across the workforce. Accessibility is a key consideration, and we work with solutions which integrate with Microsoft’s advanced accessibility capabilities wherever possible.

Wellbeing

The solutions we provide are aimed at making day to day working life better for the people using it, by enabling them to achieve more from within their Microsoft365 applications, reducing digital friction.
Doing the right thing is a core value of our business. This starts with commitment to our team, to be a responsible, fair and supportive employer, by offering a safe and welcoming environment to do their best work and providing development pathways where possible.
Our belief is that if our people are supported well, they can do the best they can for our customers.
Underpinning all the above, is the choice to work with vendors with aligned values in terms of their positive impact on their people, teams, partners, and customers.

Pricing

Price
£5 a licence a year
Discount for educational organisations
Yes
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
We offer trials from 2 weeks to 1 month.
Access to all parts of Room and Desk Booking are provided.
Link to free trial
We offer a Proof of Concept for eligible opportunities

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 info@essential.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.