VENTURE SIMULATIONS LIMITED

SimVenture Evolution

SimVenture Evolution is a cloud-based business simulation platform allowing learners to start, manage and grow a virtual company & learn about business & entrepreneurship. SimVenture Validate is an idea generation platform allowing people to create an on-line Business Model Canvas and be better prepared for business start-up.

Features

• Users start and grow a company for 10 simulated years
• Users play individually or in teams
• Users and teachers access Evolution in class or remotely
• Users manage all aspects of their virtual business
• Simulation offers real time feedback after each quarterly turn
• Evolution generates extensive financial data which can be exported
• Control Tower offers tutors comprehensive administrator functionality
• Extensive help support in the form of videos and documents
• Rewind feature allows users to learn quickly from mistakes
• Explanatory text and hot buttons support users throughout the sim

Benefits

• Experience business by making decisions & handling consequences
• Discover first-hand how all issues in business interact
• Learn authentically and develop vital employability skills
• Engage users and allow them to experience true business uncertainty
• Learn from mistakes and understand how business really works
• Allow learners to manage all business areas including sustainability
• Setup and run engaging competitions and events easily and quickly
• Save assessment time as the platform captures/analyses user data
• Bring fun and excitement into the classroom
• Use the simulation to engage & involve employers & stakeholders

£39.00 to £182.00 a licence

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

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

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

405620403837660

Contact

Peter Harrington
01757 248168
peter@simventure.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Private cloud
• Service constraints: For maintenance and backup purposes the server can be off-line for up to 15 minutes on a daily basis. Warnings are always provided on-screen to users. Maintenance and backup work is typically done at or around midnight (GMT). ; ; Evolution is a browser-based platform and works well on all established browser platforms apart from Microsoft Internet Explorer.
• System requirements: None

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: We normally respond to queries within 15 minutes of receiving the message. At weekends, response times are different (up to 90 minutes).; We strive to offer excellent technical support and whilst we know we can't be perfect, to date we have never received a formal client complaint.
• 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: All our clients are provided with a named Learning Development Manager (LDM) who supplies the software licenses that have been ordered. The LDM also offers at least an hour of free on-line product support and advice. ; ; Clients are also provided with a UK telephone number and email address for all technical support. Each client receives the same level of technical support unless a client wishes to pay for dedicated technical support cover over a standard UK non-working time such as a weekend.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: All clients are first assigned a named SimVenture Learning Development Manager (LDM). Once all licenses are supplied to the client (on-line via email) the LDM provides a free on-line session that covers the product basics and where to find all videos (including pre-recorded instructional webinars) and written documentation that support both teachers and users. ; ; On-line training is provided to tutors (paid service) on request and for larger groups we also provide on-site training. Clients can contact their LDM at any time and VSL provides free off-site technical cover for the life-time of the licenses purchased.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
• Other documentation formats:
  • Film
  • Word documents (editable)
• End-of-contract data extraction: All clients are provided with at least one free 'Administrator' account which provides them with access to the work completed by users. Whilst user contracts are typically determined by the length of the license (normally 1 - 12 months), Administrators are able to access user licenses beyond this period. When accessing user licenses, Administrators can review, analyse and export (and thus extract) the data they need at any point in time.
• End-of-contract process: By the end of the contract, each client has typically received all the following services from VSL:; ; A specified number of user accounts for all individual learners.; Up to 5 free Administrator accounts for lead tutors.; Access to free learning and teaching materials provided on-line.; A free setup orientation meeting with a named VSL Learning Manager.; Full software maintenance cover and access to technical support.; ; In addition, clients can purchase bespoke training if required. Training can be on-line or on-site and is normally charged by the hour. Most new clients purchase between 4 and 12 hours of training (if it is required) and the amount of training is proportional to the volume of people requiring support. For larger account purchases, training can be bundled as part of the overall offer.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: No
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• API: No
• Customisation available: No

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The system is designed to provide significantly more performance than is needed for normal operation given the number of users on a typical day. There may be some slow down in processing simulation runs when large numbers of users are running quarters, but this is within the bounds of reasonable performance for any single user. Where the number of users for a specific server exceed a certain limit, extra servers would be allocated to host new users on the system.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Through the Administrator functionality each client can see for themselves how each learner has accessed the platform. Metrics include amount of time spent on the platform per user, the number of times the user has logged into the system and what activities have been completed.
• Reporting types: Real-time dashboards

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Staff screening not performed
• Government security clearance: None

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 once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with another standard
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
• 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: * Data is typically exported as a CSV or spreadsheet file compatible with Excel. Users can also copy and paste data from the learning platform.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: CSV

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 system is taken down once every 24 hour period during UK night time hours for a complete backup of system data. This normally takes around 10 minutes. Roughly twice a year the system is taken down in order to upgrade the software, and this normally takes less than 30 minutes. There are other occasions when smaller updates are carried out, but these normally take between a few seconds to a minute to apply. Apart from these planned outages, the system has been up for 99.9% of the time since 2016. In the large majority of cases, loss of service when it occurs, is caused by a data centre wide issue or an external network issue, both of which are beyond our immediate control. In almost all such cases, the service was restored within 1-2 hours and often much sooner. Our SLA does not explicitly guarantee a level of availability or offer refunds for lack of availability.
• Approach to resilience: The system is run from a UK data centre, which features multi-level security with 24/7 monitoring, meeting full ISO 27001 compliancy and Tier 2 standard. The servers are powered by uninterrupted power supply systems and the site is designed for the maximum redundancy with remote backups and disaster recovery. The servers use Raid 1 disk redundant disk configuration to protect against disk failure. Data from the system is backed up every night to a local disk and then uploaded to Amazon Web Services S3 storage, which provides durability of 99.999999999%. Backups are also stored in a separate location every 3 days as an extra security measure. A separate server hosted using Amazon Web Services can brought online in the event of a complete system or data centre failure.
• Outage reporting: The system does not directly report outages directly to users. Outages are reported on social media platforms once we become aware of the problem.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Management interfaces are accessed with username / password, combined with 2FA where appropriate.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: Between 1 month and 6 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: No audit information available
• How long system logs are stored for: Between 1 month and 6 months

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: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: No
• Security governance approach: Security is the responsibility of the Technical Director. All staff are trained and tested in security policies.
• Information security policies and processes: All employees must adhere to the company's data security policy. All employees are trained and tested on Cyber Security and the company implements Cyber Essentials. Only the bare minimum of sensitive personal information is held within the system and the key elements of this are encrypted so that staff do not have direct access to this information. This information is never shared or used outside the system.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: All software components are managed using a cloud based software version control system combined with a prioritised ticketing system for handling change requests and issue reporting. Individual engineers work on isolated software versions before merging with other changes. All changes are subject to multiple testing levels. Any changes that could affect security are rigorously assessed.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: VSL regularly monitors security announcements and updates its servers as soon as any significant vulnerability is identified. Penetration testing is carried out for every major development cycle to identify any weaknesses and the findings are applied as a matter of priority to that version of the software.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: The data centre monitors all connections and if necessary, blacklists the IP addresses of the connections involved. Within the system, a variety of different system logs are monitored and analysed, and any anomalies are then investigated. Again, IP address ranges can be black listed if necessary. ; ; We normally investigate any incident of this type immediately and aim to have a resolution within 2 hours (normally much sooner).
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: Incidents are reported by Customers via phone or email. Each incident is logged, prioritised and a scheduled for resolution. All high priority incidents are investigated immediately and a swift resolution is normally applied within 2 hours, if not sooner. Lower priority incidents may be resolved in a future software release.; ; Should an incident potentially affect other customers, these are informed of the incident and any effects it may have on the service via email or social media platforms.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  Through use of our on-line business simulation and related on-line training services, we seek to provide teaching and learning support systems that generate minimal carbon emissions and have minimum impact on the environment. Unlike a traditional business or entrepreneurship course or module where trainers, teachers and learners travel to work or an educational institution, we provide a resource that allows people to work from any location as long as they have internet access.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  The SimVenture team continues to make significant investments (in terms of money and time) to make our on-line business simulation platform easier to access and use. As we recover from Covid, we are seeking to make it as easy as possible for both teachers and learners to engage with and enjoy our on-line platform, thus making the integration of SimVenture Evolution into any blended learning environment straightforward.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  Making SimVenture Evolution accessible to all (and thus help tackle economic inequality) has always been a part of the company strategy. Now that the business simulation platform has been adopted by universities and colleges in many countries around the world, our R&D team is working on the digital technology so that it can be used as an independent learning resource by anyone who has access to the internet. By continually investing in the technology we are not only making it a better (and easier to use) product for learners who pay for their education, but also for individuals who cannot afford to go to college or university. At the time of writing, individual institutional education Evolution licenses cost £38.00 and our goal is to make these licenses available at a fraction of this figure for individuals who cannot afford university or college fees.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  The design, development and delivery of SimVenture Evolution all accords with our published (see www.simventure.com) equal opportunities policy.

Pricing

• Price: £39.00 to £182.00 a licence
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: For all professional teachers, academics, lecturers and trainers we offer a free on-line demo of SimVenture Evolution lasting 30-60 minutes. Once the demo is complete a free, full evaluation copy of the software is made available. Evaluation copies typically work for 1 month following activation.
• Link to free trial: https://simventure.com/request-a-demo/

Service documents

• Pricing document

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