IBM UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED

IBM - MQ on Cloud

IBM MQ on Cloud provides a messaging transport and delivery service for applications. It is the gold standard for enterprise messaging, providing security-rich and reliable messaging across multiple clouds. You connect applications to it, and then easily send and receive messages in real time. Messaging paradigms include point-to-point and publish-subscribe.

Features

• Application to application real-time messaging
• Assured once and once-only message delivery
• Asynchronous message processing and transfer
• Transactional messsage processing
• End-to-end message encryption and signing
• Point-to-point and publish-subscribe paradigms
• File Transfer
• Very wide range of APIs and language support

Benefits

• Transfer data in real-time between applications running anywhere
• Ensure transactional processing across multiple applications
• Optimise business processes through asynchronous processing
• Assure end-to-end security for sensitive data
• Provision the service within a matter of minutes

• Education pricing available
• Free trial 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 ukcat@uk.ibm.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

541208063031052

Contact

Anne-Marie Wheeler
0207 202 3000
ukcat@uk.ibm.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  PaaS

  Integration and Orchestration

  • Integration software

Service scope

• Service constraints: No constraints
• System requirements:
  • Web Browser connection for administration
  • Internet connection for runtime message and file transfer
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Community cloud
  • Hybrid cloud

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: 24 x 7 access to the IBM Cloud technical support team through cases (online), telephone, and instant messaging chat. Response times (on all days) is based on the issue Severity that you assign; see "Support Levels" later for details.
• 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: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: Yes
• Web chat support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web chat support is accessible: IBM Cloud includes the following major accessibility features: - Keyboard-only operation. - Operations that use a screen reader. IBM Cloud uses the latest W3C Standard, WAI-ARIA 1.0 to ensure compliance to US Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. To take advantage of accessibility features, use the latest release of your screen reader in combination with the latest Internet Explorer web browser that is supported by this product. The IBM Cloud online product documentation and the IBM Cloud user interface framework is enabled for accessibility.
• Web chat accessibility testing: Please refer to the IBM Accessibility Checklist at https://www.ibm.com/able/guidelines/ci162/accessibility_checklist.html
• Onsite support: Yes
• Support levels: IBM provides three levels of support : Basic, Advanced and Premium. Basic does not specify response objectives. Advanced and Premium specify the following objectives for initial response times: ||| Severity 1 (critical business impact or service down) : Advanced = 1 hour, Premium = 15 minutes ||| Severity 2 (significant business impact) : Advanced = 2 hours, Premium = 1 hour ||| Severity 3 (minor business impact : Advanced = 4 hours, Premium = 2 hours ||| Severity 4 (query, or minimal business impact) : Advanced = 8 hours, Premium = 4 hours ||| ||| Premium also includes an assigned Technical Account Manager, and quarterly business reviews
• Support available to third parties: Yes
• AI chatbot: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: IBM can engage with your users in a number of different ways: A free pre-sales engagement can be held with you before purchase, to help you understand the product and map out use cases. This is useful for product demonstrations and technical exploration. We have a number of Proofs of Technology and Proofs of Concept available, to help you explore. After purchase, IBM can offer a service engagement. These is a paid service, offered on a Time and Materials basis, that aims to help you plan and set up your software, both for the initial configuration and for the long-term. After purchase, as part of the support contract, IBM provides a wealth of FAQ and how-to articles at no extra charge. IBM also provides web chat and forums, thus enabling your users to engage with technical support at no extra charge.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Typically, as a messaging transport service, all user data is transient and no user data is stored within the IBM service. This means that typically there is no need for users to extract their data when the contract ends. Having said that: at any time, users can extract all message data if there is any (take them off queues) and users can extract and export the configuration of all the Queue Managers and all the artefacts inside them.
• End-of-contract process: At the end of the contract, your Queue Managers, all their artefacts and any remaining message data will be securely and permanently deleted. This is provided as part of the service, at no extra charge.
• Documentation accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the documentation is accessible: IBM Cloud includes the following major accessibility features: - Keyboard-only operation. - Operations that use a screen reader. IBM Cloud uses the latest W3C Standard, WAI-ARIA 1.0 to ensure compliance to US Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. To take advantage of accessibility features, use the latest release of your screen reader in combination with the latest Internet Explorer web browser that is supported by this product. The IBM Cloud online product documentation and the IBM Cloud user interface framework is enabled for accessibility.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: What users can do in the IBM MQ web console; Configuration & administration – create, edit and delete queues, topics, channel definitions, and listener objects; set persistence, max‑depth, message‑ordering and security (SSL/TLS, MCAUSER) attributes.; ; What users cannot do in the MQ web console; ; Write or run custom application code – the console does not provide a place to develop or deploy Java, C, or MQ‑IIB programs; any custom logic must be built outside the UI and invoked via the MQ API.; Access raw message payloads beyond the display limit – large binary payloads, encrypted messages, or messages exceeding the UI’s size cap cannot be viewed; they must be retrieved with a client program (e.g., mqsc, MQ Explorer, or a custom app).; Provision or modify underlying infrastructure – you cannot create VMs, storage volumes, or OpenShift/Kubernetes resources from the console.; Perform deep log or kernel‑level troubleshooting – system logs, core dumps, and OS‑level diagnostics are accessible only via the host’s logging stack (e.g., IBM Cloud Monitoring, OpenShift logs) not through the MQ UI.; Execute bulk data‑migration or replication – configuring MQ Mirroring, Multi‑Instance Queue Managers, or MirrorMaker‑style replication requires CLI/ scripts or IBM Integration tools; UI only shows the resulting status.
• Web interface accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Web interface accessibility testing: Please refer to the IBM Accessibility Checklist at https://www.ibm.com/able/guidelines/ci162/accessibility_checklist.html
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: The management REST API interface does not allow you to set up the service, manage the service itself, manage users or create Queue Managers. However you can use the management REST API interface to create and manage artefacts within all Queue Managers. For more details, see https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSFKSJ_9.1.0/com.ibm.mq.adm.doc/q127590_.htm
• API automation tools:
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • OpenStack
  • SaltStack
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
  • Other
• Using the command line interface: The MQ CLI gives full control over configuration, messaging, and monitoring, making it ideal for automation and DR, while any custom code execution, large‑payload inspection, infrastructure provisioning, or deep diagnostics must be handled outside the CLI.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The architecture of IBM cloud services maintains logical separation of client data. Internal rules and measures separate data processing, such as inserting, modifying, deleting, and transferring data, according to the contracted purposes. In addition, the use of dynamic and responsive scaling techniques provided by Kubernetes means that IBM can scale the service up (and down) to cater for the demand from all users of the service without affecting individual users.
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting:
  • API
  • Email
  • SMS
• Optimising consumption: Yes
• Automatic scaling: Yes

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: 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 4.0)
• 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 v4.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: MQ has encryption routines used before writing to queues
• 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: Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation / Secure Erase

Backup and recovery

• What’s backed up:
  • Object definitions queues, topics, channels, listeners, security groups.
  • Application‑specific scripts that can be version‑controlled in Git.
  • User/role mappings - IBM Cloud IAM or LDAP bindings.
  • Persistent message data. Only messages that are persisted to disk
• Backup controls: • CLI – saveqmgr -f <file> or dmpmqcfg -m <qmname> -o <file> creates a portable XML/JSON definition.; • REST API – /qmgr/config endpoint returns the same payload; users can script a curl call and store the result in a version‑controlled repo.; • Automation – Include the export command in a cron job, Ansible playbook or a CI/CD pipeline (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) to run at the desired frequency (daily, weekly, etc.).
• Datacentre setup: Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
• Scheduling backups: Users schedule backups through a web interface
• Backup recovery: Users can recover backups themselves, for example through a web interface
• Backup and recovery: Yes
• RPO/RTO: Yes

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
• Other protection between networks: All connections to the service are made using HTTPS (using TLS V1.2 and above) - this ensures encryption of all message data as well as of all administration traffic. In addition, the use of Advanced Message Security can provide end-to-end message encryption and signing - this ensures that not only are message encrypted but also only the target recipients can receive messages.
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
• Other protection within supplier network: All connections to the service are made using HTTPS (using TLS V1.2 and above) - this ensures encryption of all message data as well as of all administration traffic. In addition, the use of Advanced Message Security can provide end-to-end message encryption and signing - this ensures that not only are message encrypted but also only the target recipients can receive messages.

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: The detailed IBM availability Service Level Agreement (“SLA”) for the Cloud Service is available here : https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/overview?topic=overview-zero-downtime#SLAs . The SLA is not a warranty. The SLA applies only to use in production environments. There is compensation available for dropping under a certain availability during a contracted month, as follows: ||| If the service is under 99.5% available during a single contracted month you are entitled to claim 10% of the cost of the service as compensation. ||| If the service is under 99.0% available during a single contracted month you are entitled to claim 24% of the cost of the service as compensation.
• Approach to resilience: This information is available on request.
• Outage reporting: Email alerts are provided. Notifications of current overall status and of planned maintenance are posted on the main dashboard. More detailed dashboards are provided to provide details of all current status.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Access to the service for management and support is provided by userid-and-password privileged administration accounts, over which you have control. IBM MQ techniques can be used to fine-tune access for administration accounts - for example allowing them to access the properties of artefacts (eg message queues) but not to access the message data.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through: Directly from any device which may also be used for normal business (for example web browsing or viewing external email)

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: Between 1 month and 6 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: Between 1 month and 6 months
• How long system logs are stored for: Between 1 month and 6 months

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: CSA Cloud Controls Matrix v4.0 (including the Data‑Center Security domain for physical‑access controls); ISO/IEC 27001 ISMS – covering access control, operations security, communications security and audit‑log requirements; Mapped to NIST CSF, SOC 2 Type II, PCI‑DSS, HIPAA, and FedRAMP/STAR for customers that need those attestations. ; ; Core security controls & processes; ; Encryption – All data‑in‑flight uses TLS 1.2+ (mTLS for inter‑broker links). Data‑at‑rest on the broker’s persistent volumes is encrypted with AES‑256; key lifecycle is managed via IBM Key Protect or customer‑supplied HSMs (KMIP).; Access & identity – RBAC is enforced through IBM Cloud IAM, LDAP/Active Directory, or SAML/OIDC federation. Each queue manager has its own ACLs, and the “Advanced Message Security” (AMS) option encrypts messages end‑to‑end, preventing any intermediate system from reading payloads.; Audit & monitoring – All administrative actions generate CADF‑formatted audit records (login, queue‑manager creation, channel changes, ACL updates). These logs are immutable, time‑stamped and can be streamed to IBM Cloud Log Analytics, SIEMs or exported via the REST API.; Vulnerability & patch management – IBM follows a Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL) with regular code reviews, static analysis, and quarterly security patches delivered through the IBM Cloud Pak for Integration operator or standard MQ fix packs.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: Immutable audit log – every configuration command (runmqsc, REST PUT /qmgr/config, Operator spec change) produces a CADF‑formatted entry that can be streamed to a SIEM or exported via the API.; Configuration snapshots – before any production change, a saveqmgr export is taken and stored in encrypted IBM Cloud Object Storage, providing a point‑in‑time restore.; Change windows – customers can define maintenance windows in the IBM Cloud console; the pipeline respects these windows and will pause automatic promotion outside the allowed times.; ; Result: IBM MQ’s configuration is treated as code, with a formal change‑request workflow, automated testing, and auditable rollback capability
• Vulnerability management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: With each Cloud Service, as applicable and commercially reasonable, IBM will a) perform penetration testing and vulnerability assessments before production release and routinely thereafter, b) enlist a qualified and reputable independent third-party to perform penetration testing and ethical hacking at least annually, c) perform automated management and routine verification of underlying components’ compliance with security configuration requirements, and d) remediate any identified vulnerability or noncompliance with its security configuration requirements based on associated risk, exploitability, and impact. IBM takes reasonable care to avoid Cloud Service disruption when performing its tests, assessments, scans, and execution of remediation activities.
• Protective monitoring type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: IBM maintains and follows policies requiring administrative access and activity in its Cloud Services’ computing environments to be logged and monitored, and the logs to be archived and retained in compliance with IBM’s worldwide records management plan. IBM monitors privileged account use and maintain security information and event management policies and measures designed to a) identify unauthorized administrative access and activity, b) facilitate a timely and appropriate response, and c) enable internal and independent third party audits of compliance with such policies. IBM systematically monitors the health and availability of production Cloud Service systems and infrastructure at all times.
• Incident management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v4.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: IBM: -maintains and follows incident response policies aligned with NIST guidelines for computer security incident handling, and will comply with data breach notification requirements under applicable law. -investigates security incidents, including unauthorised access or use of content or the Cloud Service, of which IBM becomes aware, and, if warranted, define and execute an appropriate response plan. -promptly notifies Client upon determining that a security incident known or reasonably suspected by IBM to affect Client has occurred. -provides Client with reasonably requested information about such security incident and status of applicable remediation and restoration activities performed or directed by IBM.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: Yes

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Supplier
• Virtualisation technologies used: Red Hat Virtualisation
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: IBM MQ can be deployed on shared infrastructure (cloud, Kubernetes/OpenShift, or virtual‑machine farms) while keeping each organization’s workloads completely separate. Isolation is enforced at several layers:; Separate queue managers – each tenant runs its own queue‑manager instance (or a distinct namespace in a container deployment). Queue‑manager names are unique, and objects (queues, topics, channels) exist only inside that manager.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: Energy‑efficiency metrics & reporting – All IBM Cloud sites are continuously measured for Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and must stay ≤ 1.30, the threshold set by the EU Code. The Environmental Dashboard shows real‑time kWh consumption and CO₂e emissions for each region, and quarterly reports are available for audit‑ready evidence.; Renewable‑energy sourcing & hardware design – IBM purchases 100 % renewable electricity for its hyperscale facilities and runs MQ on the same energy‑efficient platforms (z16/LinuxONE). The Telum‑based servers deliver up to 41× lower power per AI‑inferencing operation and a 75 % reduction in overall system power versus comparable x86 clusters, directly lowering the datacentre’s carbon intensity.; Operational practices – Automated workload consolidation (e.g., moving multiple MQ queue‑manager instances onto a single LinuxONE frame) reduces floor‑space and cooling demand by ≈ 50 %. Instana‑driven monitoring continuously optimises cooling set‑points and flags under‑utilised resources for de‑provisioning, ensuring the datacentre operates at peak efficiency.

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: The (free) Trial MQ on Cloud Service provides all of the chargeable features. It is restricted to 2 Queue Managers, and 1,000 messages per month per Queue Manager. The Trial Service is deleted if there has been no activity within the past 30 days, otherwise it will continue indefinitely.
• Link to free trial: https://cloud.ibm.com/catalog/services/mq

Discount

• Provide your minimum discount applicable to your baseline prices: 0%

Formula for calculating price of your services

• Formula for calculating price of your services:

  Which of the core deployment models you intend to offer

  • Public Cloud
  • Private Cloud

  Public Cloud - Formula for calculating price of your services

  ---

  Total Cost

  The Total Cost for a buyer's call off requirement in a Public Cloud Deployment

  =

  Baseline Pricing

  see link below

  Baseline Pricing - Web link

  https://cloud.ibm.com/catalog/services/partner-with-technology-expert-labs

  -

  Minimum Discounting

  0%

  +

  Onboarding Activity

  Onboarding costs may vary based on your specific requirements, please confirm with suppliers during the clarification process

  +

  Additional sources of cost

  new account, additional features, special security considerations

  -

  Additional sources of cost reduction

  where we have an existing IBM Cloud account, where we have worked before, large scale can reduce unit costs

  ---

  Private Cloud - Formula for calculating price of your services

  ---

  Total Cost

  The Total Cost for a buyer's call off requirement in a Private Cloud Deployment

  =

  Baseline Pricing

  see link below.https://cloud.ibm.com/catalog/services/partner-with-technology-expert-labs; ; please contact IBM for more details

  -

  Minimum Discounting

  0%

  +

  Onboarding Activity

  Onboarding costs may vary based on your specific requirements, please confirm with suppliers during the clarification process

  +

  Additional sources of cost

  new account, additional features, special security considerations

  -

  Additional sources of cost reduction

  where we have an existing IBM Cloud account, where we have worked before, large scale can reduce unit costs

  ---

• Total Cost: The Total Cost for a buyer's call off requirement in a Public Cloud Deployment
• Baseline Pricing: see link below
• Baseline Pricing - Web link: https://cloud.ibm.com/catalog/services/partner-with-technology-expert-labs
• Minimum Discounting: 0%
• Onboarding Activity: Onboarding costs may vary based on your specific requirements, please confirm with suppliers during the clarification process
• Additional sources of cost: new account, additional features, special security considerations
• Additional sources of cost reduction: where we have an existing IBM Cloud account, where we have worked before, large scale can reduce unit costs
• Total Cost: The Total Cost for a buyer's call off requirement in a Private Cloud Deployment
• Baseline Pricing: see link below.https://cloud.ibm.com/catalog/services/partner-with-technology-expert-labs; ; please contact IBM for more details
• Minimum Discounting: 0%
• Onboarding Activity: Onboarding costs may vary based on your specific requirements, please confirm with suppliers during the clarification process
• Additional sources of cost: new account, additional features, special security considerations
• Additional sources of cost reduction: where we have an existing IBM Cloud account, where we have worked before, large scale can reduce unit costs

Mandatory certifications

• Mandatory certifications:

  Are you are bidding to offer IaaS and/or PaaS as a reseller or are you in sole control of the infrastructure

  Sole Control of the Infrastructure

  ISO 9001 certification

  Provided

  ISO 14001 certification

  Provided

  ISO 27001 certification

  Provided

  ISO 20000-1 certification

  Provided

  ISO 27017 certification

  Provided

  Are you bidding to provide services under Lot 1b or both Lot 1a and Lot 1b?

  Yes

  ISO 27018 certification

  Provided

Cyber Essentials

• Do you have a Cyber Essentials Plus certificate?: Yes
• Cyber Essentials Plus certificate Number: B44f7e8e-3a9e-4634-a3f0-72c81ffc4450

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: Yes
• CSA STAR accreditation date: Monday 16 October 2017
• CSA STAR certification level: Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
• What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover: N/a
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: Schellman Compliance, LLC
• PCI DSS accreditation date: Friday 31 October 2025
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: N/A
• 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
    • New apprenticeships on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b
    • 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
    • Ensuring new workers are informed of their right to join a trade union
    • 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
    • Delivery of apprenticeships, supported internships and T Level industry placement opportunities (Level 2, 3 and 4+) in relation 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 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
    • 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
    • Understanding of local demographics, needs and opportunities for the co-design of the goods, services and works to be delivered under the contract
    • Methods for engaging with different parts of the community (including the education system and charities representing the community) and how communities come together to inform decisions, strategy and projects to leave a positive legacy for future generations
    • Measures to involve local stakeholders and/or users in design (e.g. in the design of services, systems, products or buildings)
    • Plans for positive actions with community groups.
    • Measures for making facilities used in the delivery of the contract available for community groups, education or training
    • Measures to engage users and communities and build relationships to increase community integration build trust and influence how the contract is delivered
    • Plans to respond flexibly and adapt approaches to community engagement and initiatives
    • Support for community-led initiatives relevant to the contract. Illustrative examples: improving transport links; reducing loneliness; helping with English language proficiency; and facilitating social mixing among people with different backgrounds
    • Collaborating with anchor institutions and community groups to make facilities available for education, training or community events

  • 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
    • Collaborative ways of working with the supply chain to deliver additional environmental benefits 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
    • Delivery of training schemes and programmes to address any identified skills gaps and under-representation in the workforce for the contract (e.g. prison leavers, care leavers, kinship carers, disabled people)
    • Advertising, promotional and outreach activities designed to raise awareness of the offer to reach the target cohort
    • 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
    • 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
    • Offering a range of quality opportunities with routes of progression if appropriate, e.g. T Level industry placements, students supported into higher level apprenticeships.
    • 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
    • Other measures to offer development opportunities for the target cohort(s) in 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
    • 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
    • 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

  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 ukcat@uk.ibm.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.