ARROW BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED (Trading under the brand name ARO)

ARO - Managed Cloud Services

ARO’s Managed Cloud offering helps organisations modernise, secure, and optimise IT environments using Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. Delivered by certified experts, services span deployment, migration, management, and licence optimisation. Each solution is consultative and tailored, ensuring alignment with industry standards and the unique needs of every organisation.

Features

• Azure Virtual Desktop Deployment
• Managed Backup & Disaster Recovery
• Microsoft Azure Hosting
• Microsoft License Management and Support
• Secure remote access to business applications
• Flexible billing models (pay-as-you-go, reserved instances)
• Proactive and reactive support models
• Automated deployment and migration processes
• Tier 1 Microsoft Premier Support access
• License optimisation and subscription management

Benefits

• Enhanced productivity and efficiency
• Increased business resilience and continuity
• Cost management and budget optimisation
• Rapid deployment and migration capabilities
• Improved security for applications and data
• Single point of contact for cloud and license support
• Assurance of compliance with industry standards
• Scalable solutions for growing organisations
• Access to certified cloud experts
• Streamlined management of cloud services and licenses

• Education pricing 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 sds.contracts@aro.tech. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

525419262453572

Contact

John Loftus
07545 929225
sds.contracts@aro.tech

About the service

• Service categories:

  Cloud Support Services

  Managed Cloud

  Managed Public cloud

  • Managed Public IaaS
  • Managed Public SaaS/PaaS
  • Application management

  Managed Hybrid Cloud

  • Managed Hybrid IaaS
  • Managed Hybrid SaaS/PaaS
  • Application management

Service scope

• Service constraints: N/A

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support response times: Our standard response time is four working hours Monday-Friday 8 - 6pm. ; ; Standard support guarantees a response within 4 working hours to a fault properly reported to ARO’s support team. ; ; We can also supply bespoke SLA agreements.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Support levels: We provide two levels of support, Standard and Premium: Standard business hours are 8 - 6pm, Monday-Friday. ; ; Standard support guarantees a response within 4 working hours to a fault properly reported to ARO’s support team. ; ; Pricing is dependent on a number of variables such as the solution supported, and the number of users etc - pricing can be provided to the Partner on a per case basis as requested.; ; We are also able to provide technical account managers and cloud support engineers.

Supplier type

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 platforms

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Staff screening not performed
• Government security clearance: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes

Architecture roles

Data architect

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Data architect	£950.00
Senior data architect	£1,050.00
Chief data architect	£1,200.00

Enterprise architect

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Enterprise architect	£1,200.00
Senior enterprise architect	£1,100.00
Lead enterprise architect	£1,000.00
Principal enterprise architect	£900.00

Network architect

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Associate network architect	£950.00
Network architect	£950.00
Lead network architect	£1,100.00

Security architect

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Security architect	£950.00
Lead security architect	£1,100.00
Principal security architect	£1,200.00

Solution architect

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Associate solution architect	£950.00
Solution architect	£1,000.00
Senior solution architect	£1,100.00
Lead solution architect	£1,200.00
Principal solution architect	£1,250.00

Technical architect

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Associate technical architect	£950.00
Technical architect	£1,000.00
Senior technical architect	£1,100.00
Lead technical architect	£1,200.00
Principal technical architect	£1,250.00

Data roles

Data engineer

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Data engineer	£900.00
Senior data engineer	£1,000.00
Lead data engineer	£1,100.00
Head of data engineering	£1,200.00

IT operations roles

End user computing engineer

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Associate end user computing engineer	£650.00
End user computing engineer	£750.00
Senior end user computing engineer	£850.00
Lead end user computing engineer	£950.00
Principal end user computing engineer	£1,050.00

IT service manager

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
IT service analyst	£650.00
IT service manager	£750.00
Senior IT service manager	£750.00
Head of IT service management	£950.00

Incident manager

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Incident manager	£850.00
Major incident manager	£950.00

Infrastructure engineer

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Associate infrastructure engineer	£750.00
Infrastructure engineer	£850.00
Senior infrastructure engineer	£950.00
Lead infrastructure engineer	£1,050.00
Principal infrastructure engineer	£1,150.00

Infrastructure operations engineer

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Associate infrastructure operations engineer	£750.00
Infrastructure operations engineer	£850.00
Senior infrastructure operations engineer	£950.00
Lead infrastructure operations engineer	£1,050.00
Principal infrastructure operations engineer	£1,150.00

Problem manager

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Problem analyst	£750.00
Problem manager	£850.00

Service desk manager

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Service desk analyst	£650.00
Senior service desk analyst	£750.00
Service desk manager	£850.00
Head of service desk	£950.00

Service transition manager

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Service acceptance analyst	£650.00
Service readiness analyst	£750.00
Service transition manager	£850.00
Lead service transition manager	£950.00

Product and delivery roles

Delivery manager

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Associate delivery manager	£650.00
Delivery manager	£750.00
Senior delivery manager	£850.00
Head of (Agile) delivery management	£950.00

Programme delivery manager

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Programme delivery manager	£1,000.00

Service owner

Role level	UK Rate	Offshore Rate
Service owner	£1,200.00

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• ISO/IEC 27001 accredited by: DNV Business Assurance UK Limited
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Monday 1 December 2025
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: All ARO's services submitted to G-Cloud are covered, within the full scope included below. Nothing outside of the scope is covered: Provision of IT and Telecommunications Services (AV and Video Conferencing, Business Mobile, Cloud Telephony, Contact Centre, Cyber Security, Data Centre Services, Data services, IT, Software Development, Mobile Data) in accordance with the Statement of Applicability, version 1.0, plus Code of Practice ISO 27017:2015 on information security controls for cloud services and Code of Practice ISO 27018:2019 for protection of personally identifiable information (PII) in public clouds.
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: Yes
• ISO 9001 certification accredited by: DNV Business Assurance UK Limited
• ISO 9001 accreditation date: Friday 1 December 2023
• What the ISO 9001 doesn’t cover: All ARO's services submitted to G-Cloud are covered, within the full scope included below. Nothing outside of the scope is covered: Provision of IT and Telecommunications Services (AV and Video Conferencing, Business Mobile, Cloud Telephony, Contact Centre, Cyber Security, Data Centre Services, Data services, IT, Software Development, Mobile Data).
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: Bfeb01f3-8386-4dfa-b3a9-078b0111c144
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: 1b2adc2c-4104-4659-93b5-35908194c9b4
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: NHS DSP Toolkit

Social value

• 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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 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
  • 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

  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

  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 local demographics, needs and opportunities for the co-design of the goods, services and works to be delivered under the contract
• 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
• 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 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
  • Collection of the views and expertise of disabled people and their representative organisations on successfully supporting disabled employees or applicants
  • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
  • 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

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

  • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
  • Creation of outreach activities to create a pipeline of employees for the future contract delivery
  • Content of the outreach activity is designed to suit 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
  • 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

  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 sds.contracts@aro.tech. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.