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Bud Systems

Bud Training Management Platform

Bud provides a fully integrated software solution for the management and delivery of training programmes and apprenticeships. Bud provides an end-to-end solution including programme design, enrolment, compliance, learning delivery, and funding management. All supported by a leading edge business intelligence platform.

Features

  • End-to-end management and delivery of apprenticeships and other training programmes
  • Programme design, e-learning, standards/qualifications assessment criteria mapping
  • Online enrolment, electronic paperwork, initial assessments, LRS integration, digital signatures
  • Automated learning plans, E-portfolio, VLE, web-access, mobile access, learner access
  • Built-in funding calculations and automated funding outcomes
  • Automated ESFA ILR Funding claim file
  • Built-in compliance guidance, tracking and reporting
  • Real-time reporting, workload planner and business intelligence dashboards
  • Built-in online support, user training videos and user guides
  • Single Sign On integrations to other systems

Benefits

  • Single system for the management and delivery of apprenticeships
  • Design and deliver learning programmes including resources in one system
  • Fast, simple and compliant eligibility and enrolment process
  • Simple and intuitive initial skills and LRS integration
  • Electronic paperwork, digital signatures and funding claim in one place
  • Dynamically generated learning plan with fully integrated VLE and e-portfolio
  • Intuitive, engaging platform guiding learners (and tracking progress) to EPA
  • Fully integrated learner/trainer messaging
  • Effective progress tracking against standards, qualifications and off-the-job training requirements
  • Interactive real-time reporting and business intelligence dashboards

Pricing

£6.00 to £8.00 a user a month

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@bud.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

5 1 1 7 5 9 4 0 0 1 6 3 9 3 5

Contact

Bud Systems Rhian Old
Telephone: 0117 4400 300
Email: info@bud.co.uk

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
Bud is a complete, end-to-end platform for the management and delivery of apprenticeships.
However, should transition be required or existing software systems supporting apprenticeships need to be retained, Bud can operate in a more modular format working with legacy systems and providing key elements of the overall apprenticeship delivery.
Cloud deployment model
Public cloud
Service constraints
None
System requirements
None

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
The Bud Service team categorise support requests relative to the severity of the issue. This categorisation is detailed within the SLA with agreed target response times during business hours. For P1 requests (ie major loss of functionality), for example, the target response time is within 30 minutes, for a P3 issue (ie non-critical) the target is to respond within 4 hours.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support
Web chat
Web chat support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support accessibility standard
None or don’t know
How the web chat support is accessible
Web chat is available between the user and the Client of Bud via a third party integration with Zendesk.
Web chat accessibility testing
Accessibility and assistive technology for web chat is specified within Zendesk’s information pages.
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Bud services are supported by an in-house Service Desk during business hours. Support tickets can be logged through the integrated Support portal or via email. Each customer is provided a designated Service Agent who can be contacted by the customer's nominated Service Owner by telephone. Further escalation contact numbers are also provided.

Issues are managed through ZenDesk Support, which integrates the ITIL framework, automation and service management needed to address customer requests. The Bud Service Team investigates tickets raised, and can escalate to product specialists and development (all based in the same office) to ensure accurate, helpful communications, and speedy issue resolution. Dedicated development resources are assigned to monitor services and assist with issue investigation every day.

We provide a self-service Knowledge Centre with key word search functionality to direct users to helpful information to assist with queries.

Out of hours and onsite support can be booked in advance, subject to additional costs.
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Bud implementation is planned and delivered according to each customer's scale, situation, and subsequent requirements. This is discussed and agreed in principle within the Service Agreement. This includes Setup, Training, and any additional services procured such as consultancy or project management.

We work with customer to plan and deliver the details, which may include: in-person or interactive training workshops and webinars; structured pilot testing and feedback; business process mapping; curriculum consultancy; and business change consultancy services. 

We provide a customer-specific 'Welcome to Bud' information pack to the including the agreed Plan, Setup templates, and links to further supportive resources from our online modularised Knowledge Centre - a portal of process and system user materials, including training videos.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
Bud maintains a data portability policy that provides machine readable formats for data export in .csv or .json or .xml.
End-of-contract process
At the end of the contract Bud will provide the ability for (and support for) extraction of key customer-specific data within 60 business days at no cost, prior to customer-specific data being deleted from Bud.

If it is requested that Bud archive rather than delete customer-specific data, access can be provided for a fee on an annual basis.

Additional support can be agreed according to customer requirements, subject to the rate-card for those additional services.

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
Bud uses responsive web design to make our service accessible on mobiles. Bud adopts a mobile first strategy to ensure all features are available via mobile.
Service interface
Yes
User support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Description of service interface
Bud operates a fully functional user interface built with the latest in user interface technology.
Accessibility standards
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Accessibility testing
Bud has been tested using assistive technology assessment tools and Bud is actively engaging to users of assistive technology
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
Bud provides the ability to perform a number of actions via the API, e.g. add and edit applicants, retrieve learner information and update learners, employers, contacts and funding.

Service accounts can be setup and configured for each integration required.
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
Open API (also known as Swagger)
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
Bud provides the ability to customise in the following areas:
- Feature switching: customers can choose some elements of the service to utilise
- Permissions: there are fine-grained permissions that are customisable for all users of the service
- Programme Design: customers are able to design and create their own programme of learning and learning resources
- Logo: Add you own logo to Bud

Scaling

Independence of resources
Bud uses Microsoft Azure auto-scaling rules to horizontally scale the deployment when high load is placed on the system. This allows us to cope with demand and scale to ensure we provide consistently high-quality service levels to all our clients.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
Bud provides real-time dashboards within the system. These include strategic KPI information, and role-customised dashboards that link into actionable areas of the system.
Reporting types
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Not a reseller

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Other security clearance
Government security clearance
Up to Security Clearance (SC)

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
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
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Encryption of all physical media
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
Bud provides an extract in XML format for the ILR funding claim submission to the ESFA's hub.

Bud also provides export capability for applicant, employer, site, learner and funding information in .csv format. This is managed by Bud's security system so users can only export data that they are authorised to access.
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
XML
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
Bud guarantees at least 99.9% service availability during business hours. Bud provides Service Credits where we fail to deliver minimum availability during a month, proportionate to the monthly fees and discounted from monthly invoicing.
Approach to resilience
Bud utilises Azure for all production hosting. Globally redundant storage is utilised as standard as well as Bud-managed nightly and weekly backups held in separate Azure storage accounts
Outage reporting
Email alerts: Bud will email the Outage distribution list of customer contacts, and direct them to our updates dashboard. On the updates dashboard information is posted up to restoration. This is held within our online Knowledge Centre portal, hosted through an external platform that sits outside of Bud IT services.

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
All management access is controlled via Bud's Azure Active Directory. Bud utilise security groups to manage resource access.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
You control when users can access audit information
How long user audit data is stored for
At least 12 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users have access to real-time audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
At least 12 months
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
SOCOTEC Certification International
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
07/11/2019
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
None. Certification is applicable across whole business.
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
Yes
CSA STAR accreditation date
29/11/2023
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
No

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
Bud has a comprehensive set of information security policies and processes. These are owned and managed by IT and governed via IT systems (e.g. Mobile Device Management).

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Supplier-defined controls
Configuration and change management approach
Our software services are modularised, and continuously enhanced through a well-defined Change Control process. This is controlled through Product Steering meetings involving internal product development, market and customer specialists.

Requested changes are logged for analysis, decisions and prioritisation. This involves engaging internal specialists and customers for feedback. Agreed changes are then Scheduled, Developed, Quality Assured, and Released.

We have a fast-track development route to ensure speedy resolution of Emergency & High importance issues, involving subject matter experts from each Product Development function.

All code changes are pool-requested and peer-reviewed, which includes reviewing for security performance and architecture conformance.
Vulnerability management type
Supplier-defined controls
Vulnerability management approach
Bud utilises advanced threat detection on Azure, all services are managed services patched by Microsoft. All laptops are required to be on a minimum version of operating systems (enforced with Mobile Device Management). Potential threats are assessed at development time, constantly and via penetration testing.
Protective monitoring type
Supplier-defined controls
Protective monitoring approach
Bud makes use of Microsoft Azure's advanced auditing and threat detection service. Alerts from the service are automatically raised to the Bud technical team.

Suspicious activity is logged in Bud's web application firewall, this is routinely monitored and unusual behavior generates notifications for investigation.
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
Bud has a Data Breach and Incident Management policy outlining processes for managing and reporting on incidents. Compliant with ISO27001.

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

  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity

Tackling economic inequality

Bud software supports the delivery of training and education which provides valuable opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups to gain practical skills, access professional networks, and secure sustainable employment.

Equal opportunity

Bud software supports the delivery of training and education which provides practical solutions to the issue of access. The way in which the qualifications are delivered breaks down traditional barriers that might hinder diverse and underrepresented groups from entering certain industries.

Pricing

Price
£6.00 to £8.00 a user a month
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
No

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