Merkle, a trading division of Dentsu UK

Customer Data Platform (CDP)

Merkle provides CDP implementation and management services. These services are often taken up alongside our fully managed service offering, which allows clients to outsource the production of omnichannel marketing campaigns. We are agnostic on partners and have experience with Adobe, Salesforce, Bloomreach, Braze, TreasureData, Tealium, and others.

Features

• Unified customer view
• Enhanced personalisation for marketing campaigns
• Data compliance and governance
• Omni-channel orchestration
• Revenue growth
• Operational efficiency
• Actionable insights and ROI reporting
• Customer acquisition, loyalty, and retention
• Scalability - Our solutions are designed to grow with clients
• Agility - Quickly adapt to new trends and market conditions

Benefits

• Quickly access real time data
• Report on performance in real time
• Improved marketing performance
• Improved ROI
• Better understand your customer
• Improved operational efficiencies through a single portal for all marketing

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  ODT

• Terms and conditions

  ODT

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 tom.arnold@merkle.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

426636094040821

Contact

Tom Arnold
+44 (0) 330 060 1813
tom.arnold@merkle.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Systems Infrastructure Software

  Physical and virtual computing

  Software defined compute

  • Cloud System Software
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
• What software services is the service an extension to: CDP implementation can suport the full marketing solution, from driving the best creative to media campaign management, and ultimately reporting on the effectiveness of a full marketing campaign or programme.
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: We work closely with our clients to work around any constraints that are identified during the discover phase of a project.
• System requirements: Our solution offers managed service and software licenses via Merkle.

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support response times: Response times vary from client to client and based on the impact it has to our clients. Critical tickets are normally reviewed within an hour and support is available 24/7.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AAA
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: Support levels are agreed on a client-by-client basis and are subject to requirements. Some clients need 24/7 support for their solutions, as they are running critical business solutions at any point.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Merkle will provide full face to face training on the solution and offer user documentation from the chosen CDP. We often train super users, allowing them to become the internal expert and provide training to the other users in their team, allowing them to flex their team accordingly to cope up with the peaks in demand.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • ODF
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Offboarding is a critical consideration in a solution like this, and it is often defined by a new supplier as to how they would like the data to be supplied. However, we build a plan to extract all data, ingest it into a new platform, fully test if it has been loaded correctly and then delete from our solution.
• End-of-contract process: This varies from client to client, but the extraction of data and its supply to a new partner is covered under a change request at additional costs, depending on the requirements. We are flexible and allow the new supplier to take the lead on the data supply requirements to ensure a smooth handover.
• Documentation accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the documentation is accessible: Offboarding is a critical consideration in a solution like this, and it is often defined by a new supplier as to how they would like the data to be supplied. However, we build a plan to extract all data, ingest it into a new platform, fully test if it has been loaded correctly and then delete from our solution.

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: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AAA
• Description of service interface: The service is accessed through a secure, browser-based interface provided by the customer data platform. Users can configure data ingestion, manage customer profiles, apply identity and consent rules, and create segments for analytics and activation. Interfaces are designed for technical and analytical users and include dashboards for monitoring data flows, data quality, and processing status. Role-based access controls restrict functionality by user type. In line with Merkle’s Powering Intelligence approach, the interface supports governed access to trusted customer data, enabling insight-led analysis and activation across connected systems.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.2 AAA
• Accessibility testing: User interfaces provided through the service are delivered via established infrastructure and customer data platform software. Accessibility and assistive-technology testing for these interfaces is performed by the software vendors as part of their standard product development and assurance processes. This typically includes testing with screen readers, keyboard navigation, and high-contrast display modes, aligned to recognised accessibility standards. Our service uses these vendor interfaces as designed and does not remove accessibility features. Where configuration or dashboards are provided, we follow accessibility best practices and support buyers in validating accessibility during onboarding and acceptance.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: The service provides access to APIs that are supplied and managed by the customer data platform software vendor. These APIs allow authorised users and systems to interact programmatically with the platform in line with vendor-supported capabilities. Using the API, users can ingest data from approved source systems, retrieve customer profile and event data, manage segments or audiences, and integrate the CDP with analytics, marketing, and activation tools. APIs support secure authentication and role-based access, with permissions enforced according to the platform’s governance model.; ; Users cannot use the API to bypass platform security, consent, or access controls. The API does not allow modification of the underlying platform, infrastructure, or core processing logic, nor does it support unrestricted custom application development outside vendor-supported use cases. Platform upgrades, schema changes, and core functionality are controlled by the vendor. In line with Merkle’s Powering Intelligence approach, APIs are used to enable governed data access and integration, supporting insight-led activation while maintaining platform stability, security, and compliance.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • HTML
  • ODF
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Users can customise the service through configuration options provided by the customer data platform software vendor. Customisation is achieved by configuring standard platform features rather than modifying underlying software or infrastructure. This includes defining data sources and ingestion rules, configuring identity resolution and consent models, creating customer attributes and profiles, and building segments or audiences aligned to business needs.; ; Users can also customise access controls, roles, and permissions to ensure appropriate data visibility and governance. Integration settings can be configured to connect the platform with analytics, marketing, and activation tools using vendor-supported connectors and APIs. Where dashboards or views are available, these can be configured to display relevant metrics and operational information.; ; Customisation activities are performed within the constraints of the vendor’s supported functionality and upgrade model. Users cannot alter core platform code, underlying infrastructure, or vendor-managed services. In line with Merkle’s Powering Intelligence approach, configuration focuses on enabling trusted, governed customer data that supports insight-led decision-making and activation, while maintaining platform stability, security, and compliance.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Every installation of a CDP is implemented in a dedicated cloud environment, ensuring that each solution is protected from demand of other clients.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Metrics within our solutions are client-specific, but range from campaign results (opens, clicks, form completions, and view-throughs) to complex analytics models (churn, next best action, etc.).
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Adobe, Salesforce, Bloomreach, Braze, TreasureData, Tealium, and others.

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: 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)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 4.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: In-house
• Protecting data at rest: Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed / Cryptographic Erasure

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: This is normally managed by the development team due to the complex nature of the solution and the volume of data that is normally stored in a solution like this, alongside the GDPR risks that data extracts pose.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • ODF
  • Other
• Other data export formats: Configurable to extract data in various client-required formats efficiently.
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • ODF
  • Other
• Other data import formats: Configurable

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: Other
• Other protection between networks: Private Network VPC Peering
• Data protection within supplier network: IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Our solutions are normally available 99.9% of the time without prior warning for updates and patches. They’re all cloud-hosted, and so, they have built-in resilience for unexpected demands. We are happy to agree to service-level credits that reflect the impact on the customer due to failure to meet these expected levels.
• Approach to resilience: The cloud services we deploy support resiliency using: ; ; Regions and Availability Zones: When provisioning a service, it can be split across regions and availability zones within a region. An individual region has separate availability zones to avoid hardware issues by having separate power, cooling, and networking. This can be extended to regional replication, which provides greater fault tolerance but incurs higher latency and costs. ; ; Failover & Fault Tolerance: Resiliency can be provided for compute with failover nodes. In this instance, we mirror applications and data so that if a component becomes unavailable, another slave component takes its place. ; ; Load balancing: One of the more common issues that necessitate resiliency is load and performance management. To address this, we use elastic compute and storage and implement PaaS solutions to enable scaling. As part of delivery, we also include performance testing as an optional component. ; ; Backups: Geo-replicated backups are used to allow system restoration. It is also critical to ensure that backups are fit for purpose and can restore the entire system. Each layer of resiliency carries risks and therefore adds costs. It is essential to ensure that the requirements match the business needs.
• Outage reporting: The solution will be designed to report outages automatically to all users. This will be configured based on client needs, and in the past, we have built email alerts for users to inform them and keep them up to date on the service being reinstated. We have also integrated this solution with APIs to link to client dashboards and SMS providers.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Access to management interfaces and support channels is restricted using role-based access controls and least-privilege principles. Only authorised users are granted access based on approved roles, with authentication aligned to buyer identity standards, including multi-factor authentication where supported. Network controls, such as IP restrictions or private connectivity, are applied where required. All administrative activity is logged and auditable. Support channels are limited to named buyer contacts, and identity verification is required before sensitive actions. Access is reviewed regularly to maintain secure, reliable, and well-governed service operation.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • 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: 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: User-defined

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: Dentsu maintains a group-wide Security Policy aligned with the ISO27001 framework, approved, published, and reviewed by senior management. The purpose of our policy is to provide a framework, based on industry standards and best practice, for assessing security risk and deploying appropriate security measures. Dentsu’s expectations, requirements, and control objectives are defined in this policy and help ensure dentsu meets these. The scope of our Security Policy encompasses all Technology (IT) assets, data, and services that are owned, controlled, or used to conduct dentsu business.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Our service platforms fall under a standard set of IT protocols we operate under inclusive of a formal, documented change management process to assess any system level changes for both security and performance impacts.
• Vulnerability management type: Undisclosed
• Vulnerability management approach: Merkle Security maintains a threat intelligence function. On a daily basis, the Cyber Security Team reviews the threat landscape and manages security tools that protect our estate. They monitor intel and vulnerability data from multiple sources, including vendors, public domains, national organisations, and managed security service providers (MSSP).
• Protective monitoring type: Undisclosed
• Protective monitoring approach: Merkle consolidates and assesses significant system events using a managed security information and event management (SIEM) solution. The system is tuned to provide event correlation across multiple system layers and provide alerts when unexpected activities are detected.
• Incident management type: Undisclosed
• Incident management approach: Merkle has established procedures for managing security incidents (including data breaches) using a structured framework that is aligned to the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST 800-61).The Security and Data Incident Management Policy establishes notification targets associated with incident severity. As a general rule, any affected client or external party will be notified without undue delay, and where feasible, not later than 72 hours.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: No

Secure development

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

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 1%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 2%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 3%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 4%
• Over £5,000,001: 5%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: DNV
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Wednesday 28 April 2021
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Our ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification covers only the Global Operations support function at our London and Kuala Lumpur locations, as defined in the Statement of Applicability V2.1. Any services, teams, systems or locations outside this defined scope are not covered by the certification.
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: No
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: 1cbf42cc-487a-479e-ba4b-8947135a1e90
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Cyber Essentials Alternative: None of the criteria
• Other security certifications: No

Social value

• Section B - Commitment for Future: Delivery:

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 1: Fair work: That offers fair wages and good working conditions. Help people get a job, stay in work, and progress in their careers, with good employment opportunities across the country. Notes: Where there is a large proportion of labour costs in the contract, commercial teams should consider MAC in Outcome 1 as a priority

    • New or retained jobs on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b, 1c and 1d
    • Providing opportunities for, and measuring and monitoring of, staff workforce conditions over time, including employee engagement, involvement in decision-making and satisfaction and adapting to any changes in the results, with clear processes for acting on issues identified
    • Plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important workplace issues to address
    • Monitoring of employee engagement rates (by protected characteristic) and, where necessary, the development of actions to ensure all voices are heard across the diversity of the workforce
    • Employment contracts that reflect actual hours worked; steps taken to ensure employees understand their contracts and have the ability to review and adjust them if actual hours regularly exceed contracted hours
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about, and feel empowered to, address their physical wellbeing
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about and feel empowered to report and address bullying and harassment
    • Activities to cascade good practice on fair working conditions throughout the supply chain
    • Offer a pay and leave entitlement to all eligible staff who become kinship carers, ideally equivalent to statutory adoption pay and leave
    • Payment of more than the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (as appropriate) to the contract workforce
    • Monitoring and reporting of gender and ethnicity pay gaps and plans to address them where necessary
    • Entitlement to sick pay for the contract workforce, with provision in place for any staff who do not meet the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, payment of sick pay from day one of absence and payment of staff on the contract workforce who are off sick a replacement income of 100% of their usual earnings for as long as possible
    • Plans for an appropriate income replacement policy for staff who are required to spend time away from work to care for a sick dependent or close relative
    • Understanding of in-work progression issues affecting the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Measures to support in-work progression to help people in the contract workforce, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills relevant to the contract
    • Support for the contract workforce by providing career advice, and providing opportunities for staff working on the contract with in-work progression career development into known skills shortages or high growth areas
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Volunteering opportunities for staff
    • Understanding of the modern slavery risks and issues affecting the market, industry, sector or country (of origin or of source) relevant to the contract, and the workforce in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key subcontractors
    • Measures to identify, mitigate and manage modern slavery risks relating to the contract and how these will be implemented
    • Outline policies and practices to be applied to or put in place for the contract to mitigate and manage modern slavery risks, including: Pre-employment checks, recruitment practices. Workplace conditions, safeguarding plans and processes in place and regular monitoring with relevant groups considered, which may include sampling
    • How these flow down the supply chain and are monitored Illustrative examples include reporting, site visits, audits, etc.
    • How to ensure business decisions re: price/cost, short lead times, payment timescales do not create modern slavery risks in the supply chain
    • How the supplier will work with NGOs, trade unions or other businesses to address modern slavery risk
    • Means of influencing staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders with respect to modern slavery risks relating to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

    • Understanding of employment and relevant skills issues, and of the education and training issues relating to the contract. Illustrative examples: demographics, skills shortages, new opportunities in high growth sectors, geographic/local community and skills/employment challenges
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 3: Resilient, innovative and flexible supply chains: Support economic growth through enabling resilient businesses, opportunities for small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises

    • Understanding of the types of businesses in the market and the level of participation by new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Activities to identify opportunities to open up sub-contracts under the prime contract to a diverse range of businesses, including new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Plans for engaging a diverse range of businesses in engagement activities prior to appointing subcontractors (including activities prior to award of the main contract and during the contract term)
    • Activities that demonstrate a collaborative way to work with a diverse range of businesses as part of the supply chain
    • Advertising of supply chain opportunities openly and to ensure they are accessible to a diverse range of businesses, including advertising all subcontracting opportunities on Contracts Finder
    • Ensuring accessibility to contracting and subcontracting opportunities for disabled business owners and employees
    • Structuring of the supply chain selection process to ensure fairness (e.g. anti-corruption) and encourages participation by a diverse range of businesses, including with regard to new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutual

  • Mission: Make Britain a clean energy superpower: To cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero

    Policy Outcome 4: Sustainable procurement practices: Reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

    • Understanding of opportunities for additional environmental benefits delivery in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Delivery of additional environmental benefits through the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Understanding of how to influence staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders through the delivery of the contract to support climate and nature protection and improvement
    • Activities to reconnect people with the environment and increase awareness of ways to protect and enhance it

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

    • Understanding of employment and skills issues, and of the skills and employment shortages of high growth sectors relating to the contract
    • Creation of employment opportunities particularly for those who face barriers to employment, such as prison leavers, care leavers and/or who are located in deprived areas, and for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors
    • Understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition
    • Introducing transparency to pay and reward processes
    • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
    • Other measures to provide equality of opportunity for disabled people and those with health conditions into employment, including becoming a Disability Confident employer and inclusion of supported businesses in the contract supply chain
    • Understanding of the issues affecting inequality in employment, skills and pay in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. Measures to tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce
    • Inclusive and accessible development practices, including guidance for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 7: Creating a pipeline of opportunities: For the contract workforce, reducing barriers to entry for under-represented groups.

    • Understanding of the issues affecting the development of new skills by target cohort
    • Understanding of the underlying factors affecting improvements to reduce barriers to entry and training schemes for the target cohort(s) related to the contract workforce
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort

  • Mission: Build an NHS fit for the future: That is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

    Policy Outcome 8: Increasing productivity through physical and mental wellbeing: In the supply chain and communities in the relevant area.

    • Understanding of issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce
    • Understanding barriers to access to health and social care services or employment opportunities e.g. digital inclusion
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention policies that support-focused activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing which support people with a disability or health condition
    • Actions to invest in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  ODT

• Terms and conditions

  ODT

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 tom.arnold@merkle.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.