Fusion Business Solutions

BMC Helix Cloud Cost

BMC Helix Cloud Cost provides control of the costs of public cloud resources giving visibility into current and predicted spend, budget management, reporting and self service by department. Automates cost optimisation actions such as applying to power schedules. Fusion GBS is a Platinum Partner of BMC, reselling BMC Helix.

Features

  • Custom self-service views of cost, budget and resources
  • Automated optimization recommendations and actions based on machine learning
  • Identify and schedule workloads for scheduled cost efficiency
  • Predict budget over-runs and send automated alerts
  • Maximize use of Reserved Instance
  • Private and Public Cloud

Benefits

  • Eliminate wasted spend
  • Prevent budget over-runs
  • Keep budget owners and stakeholders informed

Pricing

£5.10 a unit a month

  • 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 michael.woods@fusiongbs.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

4 6 4 3 6 2 4 6 3 5 6 8 9 6 3

Contact

Fusion Business Solutions Michael Woods
Telephone: 02088 144 888
Email: michael.woods@fusiongbs.com

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
No
Cloud deployment model
Private cloud
Service constraints
None
System requirements
Supported browser version is required

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Guaranteed response times for requests based on severity: P1 - 15 mins P2 - 30 mins P3 - 4 business hours P4 - 16 Business hours Fusion provides additional support dependent on customer requirement.
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
MC worked with an independent company to formally assess support for Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 in Helix ITSM. Web Chat technology has yet to be tested.
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
BMC provides a 99.9% production availability service level agreement with service credits for breach.
Guaranteed response times for requests based on severity:
P1 - 15 mins
P2 - 30 mins
P3 - 4 business hours
P4 - 16 Business hours

Fusion provides additional support dependent on customer requirement.
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
New users of the service will engage through Fusion Account Management and CTO Office to build a statement of work to deliver any required implementation service. Throughout each project roles and escalation paths are clearly defined ensuring that the customer has full visibility of the project status. Support, where required, is accessed through our in house support function and delivered by certified consultants. A full range of services are provided including Consulting, Implementation, Training, Communication Strategy, and Support.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
HTML
End-of-contract data extraction
Upon written request by Customer made within 30 days after the effective date of termination, BMC will make the Customer Data available to Customer for retrieval in an industry standard format. After such 30-day period, BMC shall have no obligation to maintain any Customer Data and will thereafter delete Customer Data.
End-of-contract process
Upon written request by Customer made within 30 days after the effective date of termination, BMC will make the Customer Data available to Customer for retrieval in an industry standard format. After such 30-day period, BMC shall have no obligation to maintain any Customer Data and will thereafter delete Customer Data. BMC will permanently remove the customer's data by destroying the database encryption keys and overwriting the data with binary zeroes. There is no additional charge for this data extraction task.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
Both the desktop and mobile interaction is exactly the same. No administrative or configuration capabilities exist in the mobile interface. The engaging user experience is personalised to your role and device ensuring that you see the information you need to do your job more effectively. The context-aware capabilities in Helix ITSM ensure you are automatically presented with relevant information and resources that enable you to progress the process easily and efficiently, saving you time and reducing administrative overhead.
Service interface
No
User support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AAA
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
BMC provides the following API solutions for the Remedy AR platform:

REST API - the AR System server uses JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format to transmit data between a server and a web application. The advantage of REST is having a limited number of operations for the interactions between clients and services.

C API - the C API is defined by a set of functions and data structures, and is implemented as a C library that you can link into your own programs.

Java API - the Java API is a collection of classes, interfaces, and relationships that provide full client functionality in a style consistent with typical Java programming techniques. Like the C API, the Java API is forward and backward compatible with other versions of BMC Remedy AR System.
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
BMC Helix ITSM allows for customisations to the applications. Common customisations include the addition of a new field on a form, or changes to the behaviour of workflow. Customisations are performed by use of the BMC Developer Studio, an integrated development environment (IDE) for BMC Helix AR System applications. It provides application development functions with a modern, powerful, easy-to-use interface. Users with a working knowledge of the Remedy AR platform may customise the solution. BMC recommends using our published best practice guidelines when developing customisations.

Scaling

Independence of resources
Each customer has its own instances of the Helix application(s) on shared infrastructure. The Helix service is scaled to meet the needs of the individual customer, with a variety of proactive monitoring tools used by BMC to assess system performance.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
BMC provides a service status dashboard that displays real-time metrics for your production instance, available from your desktop or mobile device. This dashboard features a modern interface to provide you with a detailed view into real-time usage metrics such as transaction volumes, active and historical license consumption, application usage, login response times, support metrics, application version, broadcast messages and more, all from a single view.
Reporting types
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra features and support
Organisation whose services are being resold
BMC Software

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Other security clearance
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)
  • Other locations
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 once a year
Penetration testing approach
Another external penetration testing organisation
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Encryption of all physical media
Data sanitisation process
Yes
Data sanitisation type
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
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
The solution provides a comprehensive reporting solution which enables data to be extracted and exported to a variety of formats - e.g. CSV, XLS, DOC, PDF, RTF.
Additionally, the solution incorporates the Atrium Integrator (AI) which is an integration tool that facilitates the importing and exporting of data from/to a wide variety of external data sources. AI provides a "best of breed" ETL tool with a broad range of transformation capabilities.
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
  • XML
  • JDBC
  • JMS
  • PDF
  • DOC
  • RTF
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
  • JBDC
  • JMS
  • RDBMS Formats

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
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
Data protection within supplier network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
BMC provides a 99.9% contracted availability service level agreement, with hour for hour service credits for breach.
Approach to resilience
BMC Helix is designed from the ground up for high availability. This containerized design starts with multiple hardened data centres, followed by redundant hardware, and is completed with software that gracefully handles failures without impacting customers. Our architecture ensures that most failures within the Helix cloud are completely transparent to users. This means that our Disaster Recovery Plan is reserved for real disasters, not common failures.
Outage reporting
Any planned outage is reported in advance. A customer live dashboard is available, in addition BMC provide notifications.

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
BMC requires individuals who access management interfaces to be registered with a valid BMC-customer email address.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
  • Username or password
  • Other
Description of management access authentication
Authentication methods include:

1. Simple AR authentication (users are authenticated against usernames and passwords stored in the AR database)
2. Federated authentication (SAML)
3. LDAP pass through* (common LDAP authentication)

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
At least 12 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
At least 12 months
How long system logs are stored for
Between 6 months and 12 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
A-Line
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
23/07/2020
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
N/A
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
Yes
CSA STAR accreditation date
11/04/2017
CSA STAR certification level
Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover
None
PCI certification
No
Cyber essentials
Yes
Cyber essentials plus
Yes
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
  • SSAE 16 SOC 2 Type II
  • Binding Corporate Rules (see http://www.bmc.com/legal/data-privacy-binding-corporate-rules.html)

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
We follow NIST Standards and have a SOC2 Type II cert.
Information security policies and processes
BMC’s Helix offerings are designed based upon NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) NIST 800-53, Rev 4 controls and standards in order to provide enterprise grade security for our customers. BMC utilizes a defense in depth methodology that focuses on redundant controls to prevent and mitigate impacts to the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of customer data and services. Adherence to BMC's security policies is governed by the BMC Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO). Policies are reviewed annually with signoff required by the ISSO and the VP of SaaS Operations. Employees are required to take online training quarterly.

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
BMC's change management processes are governed by a Change Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB is a group comprised of BMC SaaS Operations representatives that advise the change management team about the risk and impact of all changes made to a customer system. Any change to the system requires a request for change (RFC) document, a formal proposal for the change that describes the details of the change, steps required to execute the change, and a backout plan.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
BMC Helix performs numerous checks against threat and vulnerability assessments, including monthly vulnerability scans against all internal systems, annual penetration tests from an authorized third-party, ongoing web application penetration tests, and application reviews for all major releases. Findings are reviewed by system owners as part of the monthly maintenance process. BMC also subscribes to the IBM X-Force Threat Assessment Service (X-FTAS) and receives daily reports of all emerging threats. This report is reviewed daily by both Information Security teams and actions are taken according to the threat they pose to our environments. Vulnerability patching is done as soon as possible.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
BMC uses specialized appliances to mitigate denial of service/distributed denial of service (DOS/DDOS) attacks. These appliances and configurations are placed based on a concise and strategic network design. Our systems are tested against DDOS resiliency by a third party. Third party perimeter, network and application penetration tests are conducted annually.

BMC responded to security incidents as soon as they are reported. Impacted customers, if any, are notified as soon as possible after the threat has been validated by BMC's Information Systems Security Officer.
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
If service is disrupted in your production environment, the BMC Helix Operations team restores service as quickly as possible. After service has been fully restored, BMC provides a Reason for Outage (RFO) document in the following situations: > the disruption resulted in an outage; or > the disruption resulted in significant service degradation. RFO reports are provided by your Business Relationship Manager. Users may report incidents via phone, email or web (via the BMC Remedy OnDemand support portal).

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

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

All customer's of Fusion's Cloud services receive additional environmental benefits, contributing towards overall achievement of net zero greenhouse gas emissions.  Our services are 'pay as you go', therefore driving efficient use of resources for customers who buy only what they need and when they need it, whilst our hosting services enable consolidation of infrastructure bringing opportunity for CPU optimisation and to drive down energy wastage.  

We seek to encourage customers to transition to a lower carbon footprint by analysing existing services to target high power-consuming services for transition to our Cloud services, so we can model costs vs cloud-tariffs to demonstrate value for money and environmental benefit.

For our customers, and our own staff and suppliers, we support environmental protection and improvement through the delivery of our Cloud services, which enable efficient working practices - such as flexible home working, with efficient remote access to critical business applications and with remote support - resulting in a smaller overall carbon footprint and a reduction in end-of-life IT waste for all.

Pricing

Price
£5.10 a unit a month
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
BMC provides a proof-of-concept (POC) system for its services. This POC instance provides access to all Helix applications from a secure data centre facility. The customer may use, configure, customise and integrate to the POC instance as required.

POCs are offered for 30 days at no cost.

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 michael.woods@fusiongbs.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.