UBDS IT Consulting Ltd

Zero Trust - Secure Remote Working

UBDS assists customers in designing and deploying remote working solutions that adhere to NCSC Zero trust principles, including, integration of strong authentication, contextual authorization, secure transport and protective monitoring. We plan, design, implement and integrate leading vendor solutions into customer environments. Vendors: Zscaler, Microsoft, Cisco, Palo Alto, Check Point

Features

• Conduct assessment of existing remote working solutions
• Develop endpoint and security strategy to align with Zero Trust
• Development of business requirements to support procurement activity
• Assistance with identifying solutions which align to business requirements
• Development of a programme delivery approach to meet strategic goals
• Development of an implementation strategy to limit business impact
• Solution design by accredited experienced solution and service architects
• Technical implemention of chosen solution by experienced engineering resources

Benefits

• Drives the adoption of Zero Trust working
• Supports a Cloud first strategy and Cloud adoption
• Leads to enhanced visibility across infrastructure, apps, service and endpoints
• Home of the UK’s leading Cloud network architects and engineers
• Extensive Cloud experience working with leading vendors
• Architects and engineers plus leading subject matter network experts
• Rapid and holistic approach, developing outline cases within short timescales
• Enables you to prepare to mobilise and commence execution immediately

£595 to £1,350 a person a day

• Education pricing available

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

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

422422372370909

Contact

Ann Gaskell
03301110066
frameworks@ubds.com

Planning

• Planning service: Yes
• How the planning service works: Our initial engagement is to spend a few days together to understand your overall corporate strategy and the opportunities and threats cloud services and digitisation can bring to your organisation. We normally include some examples from previous clients undertaking similar work, where they started and where they are now, to help you visualise this exciting future. We will demonstrate the relevant services that exist in the marketplace and how your organisation may benefit from them. Our Senior Partners will then produce a Digital Strategy document, including a Roadmap to get your started. We would love to help you move to the next stage, ‘Digital Transformation’, but that is your decision.
• Planning service works with specific services: Yes
• Hosting or software services the planning service works with:
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Community Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise Hosting
  • Datacentre Infrastructure
  • Skylab / IBM Cloud
  • Cisco

Training

• Training service provided: Yes
• How the training service works: UBDS has helped major organisations to prepare for and achieve the skills, experience and credentials in Azure, AWS, GCP and Networks. We can advise of the various training paths available and the relevant skills required by existing staff and recruitment candidates. We are also able to advise organisations on the latest cutting edge cloud technologies and how to harness them to maximum effect.; We provide training, coaching and mentoring in agile delivery, cloud governance, site reliability engineering and operations. We are happy to discuss your needs and how we can help.
• Training is tied to specific services: Yes
• Services the training service works with:
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • Community Cloud
  • Private Cloud
  • On-Premise Hosting
  • Datacentre Infrastructure

Setup and migration

• Setup or migration service available: Yes
• How the setup or migration service works: There are significant benefits to organisations moving their applications to cloud. The cloud provider, e.g. Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, maintain the security, reliability and resiliency of the service; the service is elastic, i.e. can be scaled up and down based on demand and is significantly cheaper – both direct running costs and indirect support and maintenance costs. However, many organisations have ageing technology like mainframes, and pre-2000’s technology which make them unsuitable for cloud. ; UBDS has developed a robust cloud migration method and has proven this through migrating over 150 applications to cloud. These migrations have generated savings for these organisations in excess of £30 million per annum. The model works at scale and has proven it can achieve a velocity of at least 2 applications migrated per week. This includes processes, governance, technical solution (landing zone), operating models and site reliability engineering practices. Working with you we would then review the end-to-end delivery approach to enable the successful transition of services without impacting production services.
• Setup or migration service is for specific cloud services: No

Quality assurance and performance testing

• Quality assurance and performance testing service: Yes
• How the quality assurance and performance testing works: Our service includes full quality assurance and testing at every stage of the process to ensure organisations achieve maximum benefit from cloud. This includes:; ; • Strategic alignment – what is realistic for the organisation; • Financial assessment – what are the current costs, what are the desired benefits and future total cost of ownership; • Baseline testing – understanding the current as-is from a service performance and stability perspective; • Using a proven approach for migrating to cloud; • Testing at the infrastructure, platform, network and application layers; • Technical and business verification testing; • Functional and non-functional testing; • Operational support pre-, post- and during migration; • Detailed migration runbooks with checkpoints and regression go/no-go; • Post migration benefits realisation tracking; UBDS believe protecting live service is a critical priority in any cloud migration strategy and implementation.

Security testing

• Security services: Yes
• Security services type:
  • Security strategy
  • Security risk management
  • Security design
  • Cyber security consultancy
  • Security testing
  • Security incident management
  • Security audit services
  • Other
• Other security services:
  • Cloud Security Assessment
  • Cloud Security Operations Design and Implementation
  • NIST Cyber Security Framework assessment, implementation and training
  • Data Encryption at Rest
  • Data Encryption in Transit
  • Cyber Threat and Risk Protection
  • Web and Email Security
  • Identify and Access Management
  • Security Information and Event Management
  • Intrusion Protection
• Certified security testers: Yes
• Security testing certifications:
  • GBEST
  • CHECK
  • CREST
  • Tigerscheme
  • Cyber Scheme
  • Other
• Other security testing certifications: CEH

Ongoing support

• Ongoing support service: Yes
• Types of service supported:
  • Buyer hosting or software
  • Hosting or software provided by a third-party organisation
• How the support service works: UBDS provides expertise to help enhance, streamline and optimise the full waterfall, IT Service Management and agile delivery methods from ticket / feature request, through incident management / backlog and work tracking to deployment. We have expertise in reducing resolution times from weeks and months to minutes. ; We cover the full technology stack including infrastructure, networking, compute, storage, applications and tooling. We are happy to discuss your needs and how we can help.

Service scope

• Service constraints: No constraints

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Within 2 hours between the hours of 07:00 - 00:00, 7 days a week
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AAA
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: Web chat
• Web chat support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AAA
• Web chat accessibility testing: Assistive user testing completed by web chat SAAS service provider.
• Support levels: Single support level - Platinum at no extra cost; Hours of operation: 07:00 - 00:00 - two hour response; ; Technical Account Manager provided at no extra cost

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: QMS
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 06/06/2021
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: No exceptions
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications:
  • ISO22301
  • FIPS 140-2 Level 1
  • ISO9001

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  UBDS recognises that we can make a difference through implementing environmental performance that protects and improves the communities we operate in. We are ISO14001 accredited, have an Environmental Management Scheme and we have created and published a Carbon Reduction Plan.; We track the environmental impact of our operations, ensuring that we reduce emissions in line with our carbon reduction plan during all activities, including operational delivery. We see carbon reduction as an exercise in continuous improvement and it is a key part of our work.; Our GCloud contracts enable us to fight climate change in a number of ways: ; • We engage with buyers before the contract start to discuss initiatives such as remote working to minimise emissions.; • We engage with the supply chain to see evidence of commitments to net zero and discuss initiatives to reduce a contract’s environmental impact.; • We will support and promotes local environmental projects to promote positive stewardship and sustainable practices in the communities in which we work. ; • We support and promotes environmental initiatives and projects that our customers have developed or are part of.; • We work proactively with clients throughout the contract to deliver environmental benefits, e.g.:; - Facilitating the implementation of a Cloud first approach, which can reduce a service’s energy consumption by c. 88% due to public cloud economies of scale.; - Implementing “Green by Design” services that self-optimise energy consumption, e.g. auto-scaling cloud infrastructure on demand, automatic powering-down of infrastructure not in use. ; - Partnering with technology providers with carbon emission goals e.g. AWS and Azure have commitments to achieve zero or negative carbon emissions.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  UBDS recognises the impact of Covid-19 on communities across the country and we have made efforts through our work to support local areas and help them recover. We will continue to do this through GCloud contracts, with initiatives such as:; • Providing Digital Skills Training; UBDS can provide digital skills training for disadvantaged people within the communities we work in, meaning that they have enhanced employment opportunities, something that is particularly important in areas where jobs have been lost through Covid-19. We also support digital enablement programmes and make donations of equipment to groups/charities (such as wiped equipment that we are replacing).; ; • Developing partnerships with local schools and colleges; We work with schools and colleges near our contracts to provide careers advice, curriculum and literacy support, with team members acting as Enterprise Advisors to local schools. We also develop retraining, mentoring and work placement programmes with colleges; ; • Supporting local SMEs/VCSEs; We do this by providing advice to SMEs and VCSes, as well as through inclusion in our supply chain. ; Where practical, UBDS commit to recruiting and deploying locally sourced skills and services. This is something which is important in supporting local economies affected by Covid-19, as well as the environmental benefits of minimising peoples’ daily commute. ; This is particularly evident in our sourcing activities, particularly with regards to customer engagements. We look to make use of local suppliers whenever there is a requirement outside of our own immediate expertise. ; This approach boosts innovation, brings new perspectives and unlocks potential savings through the agility and value for money SMEs offer as well as helping local economies to rebuild post-Covid-19.; • Charity work; We encourage our staff to participate in, an contribute to, charity events and community schemes in their local area, including projects to support those affected by Covid-19.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  We will seek to address economic inequality within communities we work with on GCloud contracts through activities that drive investment, stimulate the local economy. create employment and increase job security: ; • Our apprenticeship scheme; UBDS’ apprenticeship scheme is designed to offer opportunities to young people and/or those facing barriers to employment. Our Digital Academy in London and Salford hires local apprentices and graduates, including from deprived areas. We are committed to hiring new apprentices over the next year from the areas we have contracts in. Our apprentices are provided with training and mentoring to develop skills and we work closely with customers to facilitate practical work experience.; ; • Creating employment opportunities through our work; UBDS has experienced significant growth through the contracts that we have won and this has enabled us to create employment contracts in London and Salford, as well as in other areas across the UK. We believe that GCloud will lead to further opportunities and contracts. ; ; • Payment of at least the living wage at all times; ; • Supporting local companies, including SMEs and VCSEs, through the course of our contracts by bringing them into our supply chain and through the provision of advice on developing their business.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  We are fully committed to equal opportunity as an organisation and will seek to use GCloud contracts to help us to embed equality and diversity throughout our work and our partnerships. We recognise that diverse teams bring unique value to our work and we celebrate the depth, breadth and diversity of experiences and backgrounds that drive our innovation and delivery of well-rounded solutions for the public. We feed this through our supply chain, including recruitment processes and work with customers to promote inclusive working environments. We:; • Build diversity into our company policies, for example flexible working and benefits that are fair to all. ; • Recognise unconscious bias may occur and encourage staff to suggest ways to improve promotion of diversity. ; • Use hiring methods to remove bias from the process, for example evaluation without viewing information that could disclose race, gender or age.; • Ensure equality and accessibility in recruitment to attract diverse candidates, giving opportunities to those who do not fit a typical profile.; • Develop genuinely diverse teams across our business and mentor new staff.; • We report on diversity within our organisation and work with partners who commit to doing so. We can use this information when working with customers to develop KPIs around diversity and reporting on these.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  UBDS recognises the importance of the wellbeing of our staff and our suppliers and we have built a supportive, inclusive environment to support that. This supports and champions diversity as well as being sensitive to mental health related issues and mirrors our commitment to equal opportunities. Our approach is fed through all of our GCloud contracts and includes: ; • Building diversity into our company policies, for example flexible working and benefits that are fair to all. ; • Recognising unconscious bias may occur and encourage staff to suggest ways to improve promotion of diversity. ; • Use hiring methods to remove bias from the process, for example evaluation without viewing information that could disclose race, gender or age.; • Ensuring equality and accessibility in recruitment to attract diverse candidates, giving opportunities to those who do not fit a typical profile; eg, we recently recruited a team member on an asylum seeker visa.; • Developing genuinely diverse teams across our business and mentor new staff; • Providing mental health “first aiders” within our organisation ; • Ensuring that all of our buildings are fully accessible and assessing any needs new starters have in terms of equipment etc. ; • Encourage staff to take time out to volunteer within the local community and for charities, with paid time off to support this; • Encourage healthy routes to work (e.g. cycling, walking) and participation in schemes to support this.

Pricing

• Price: £595 to £1,350 a person a day
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes

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