Softcat Limited

VMware Cloud on AWS

VMware Cloud on AWS delivers VMware Cloud
Foundation software on AWS bare-metal,
enabling rapid, cost-efficient vSphere migration
and AI-driven app modernization leveraging AWS
services

Features

• VMware SDDC delivered as a cloud service on AWS hardware
• On-demand capacity & flexible hourly consumption available globally
• Run on dedicated, elastic, bare-metal AWS infrastructure
• Operates in multiple Availability Zones within the UK and international
• Single user interface and API for on-prem and cloud
• vMotion between on-premises and the cloud
• Automated cluster scaling and host remediation
• Direct Connect and L2VPN connectivity and offline data transfer options
• Access AWS services (EBS, RDS, Lambda, etc..) without network charges
• Delivered as native, fully managed AWS service, operated by VMware

Benefits

• Jointly engineered to deliver the best of VMware and AWS
• Unparalleled security of combined VMware and AWS technologies and operations
• Industry leading portability enables migration to and from the cloud
• Full operational consistency with on-premises VMware technologies
• Scalable infrastructure available when and where you need it.
• Consistent infrastructure and operations makes hybrid deployments truly possible
• Disaster Recovery economics are transformed by the cloud
• Support existing and next-generation applications and services in one platform
• Enterprise grade cloud management and K8s orchestrated container service

£3.60 to £13.13 a server an hour

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 psitq@softcat.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

572756726007078

Contact

Charles Harrison
01628 403403
psitq@softcat.com

Service scope

• Service constraints: N/A
• System requirements: N/A

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Below are the response times: Critical (SaaS; Severity 1) 30 minutes or less: 24x7 Major (SaaS; Severity 2) 4 business hours Minor (SaaS; Severity 3) 8 business hours Cosmetic (SaaS; Severity 4) 12 business 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: No
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: VMware Cloud on AWS provides 24/7 Severity; 1(production down) support as part of the service; at no additional cost. Non-production down; support is 9 to 5 local working hours.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: VMware provides a range of resources to help to start using the VMware Cloud on AWS service. These include comprehensive documentation (in multiple formats), introductory videos, hands-on labs, online and in-person training, access to a large ecosystem of partners and support from the public sector account team.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Migration of data to and from VMware Cloud on AWS is fully managed by the customer. Documentation exists along with additional tools and services to facilitate the migration of data. VMware Cloud on AWS natively runs VMware vSphere which stores customer data in an industry accepted virtual machine format and VMware vSphere natively supports the Open Virtualization Format (OVF), making it simple to download, clone, migrate, copy, port or transfer workloads between environments.
• End-of-contract process: If you are using the Service Offering on an on-demand basis, you can cancel at any time by deleting your SDDC, using the VMware Cloud on AWS Console. You will be charged for all usage up to the point of termination. Unless you purchase a new subscription, upon expiration of the Subscription Term all services will continue to operate on an on-demand basis and you will be billed at the then current on-demand rate for those services until you cancel your on-demand use.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: The VMware Cloud on AWS Console enables customers to provision Software Defined Data Centers, Configure Networking, Add/Remove Hosts, Connect to the Virtual Center interface and get support. The Virtual Center Interface; enables customers to manage their entire Software Defined Data Center.
• Web interface accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web interface accessibility testing: The Virtual Center interface has undergone accessibility testing. Results of all VMware accessibility tests can be found at:; https://www.vmware.com/in/help/accessibility.html
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: After the initial creation of the organisation's account, the service can be configured and operated via the API interface. VMware Cloud on AWS Service APIs, vSphere APIs and NSX API interfaces are all supported.
• API automation tools:
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • OpenStack
  • SaltStack
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • HTML
  • Other
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
• Using the command line interface: Customers have access to all published and documented APIs through a command prompt.

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type:
  • Automatic
  • Manual
• Independence of resources: Customer environments are logically and physically segregated to prevent users and customers from accessing resources not; assigned to them. Each customer SDDC runs on dedicated hardware which eliminates the potential for other customers to affect their workloads. VMware and AWS both continuously monitor service usage to project infrastructure needs to support availability commitments/requirements.
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting:
  • API
  • Email

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
  • Other
• Other metrics:
  • VSphere provide comprehensive infrastructure logs
  • Performance logs
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller (no extras)
• Organisation whose services are being resold: VMWare

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: Less than once a year
• Penetration testing approach: In-house
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: 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

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up:
  • Account configuration information
  • SDDC Configuration information
• Backup controls: Customers retain control and ownership of their virtual machines and have the ability to use their own backup and recovery solution. VMware Cloud on AWS enables virtual machine images to be replicated to another Availability Zone or to a datacenter of the customer's choosing, which ensures that workloads would always exist in more than one physical location. There are many companies that offer backup and recovery solutions that are compatible with VMware Cloud on AWS service.
• 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

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
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: VMware will use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that each component of the Service Offering ("service component") is “Available” during a given billing month (as defined in the; Service Description) equal to the “Availability Commitment” specified below: Service Component Availability Commitment SDDC Infrastructure 99.9% SDDC Management 99.9% VMware Site Recovery - Management 99.9% More information about the SLA can be found at: https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/docs/vmware-vmc-awsservice-level-agreement-april-2023.pdf
• Approach to resilience: VMware has implemented backup or redundancy mechanisms to ensure compliance with regulatory, statutory and contractual obligations. VMware has a defined Information Security Program that includes Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies for data and hardware redundancy, network configuration redundancy and backups and regular testing exercises. VMware Cloud on AWS uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) geographically resilient data hosting options. Data centers are built in clusters in various global regions. VMware provides customers the flexibility to place instances and store data within multiple geographic regions as well as across multiple Availability Zones within each regions to support their resiliency needs.
• Outage reporting: The real-time status of the VMware Cloud on AWS services along with past incidents is publicly available on; https://status.broadcom.com/; https://status.vmware-services.io/

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Management interfaces implement role-based access controls and require members to authenticate against the corporate identity provider. Access is managed through the management gateway which restricts access based on originating IP address and SSL usage. Additional security and authentication mechanisms including the use of time-based credentials are used to secure and monitor access.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through:
  • Dedicated device on a segregated network (providers own provision)
  • Dedicated device over multiple services or networks
  • Any device but through a bastion host (a bastion host is a server that provides access to a private network from an external network such as the internet)
  • 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 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 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: KPMG
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 31/12/2023
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: Yes
• CSA STAR accreditation date: 03/04/2024
• 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: Crowe LLP
• PCI DSS accreditation date: 23/01/2024
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: N/A
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications:
  • ISO 27001
  • ISO 27017
  • ISO 27018
  • SOC 2
  • HIPAA
  • PCI-DSS
  • IRAP
  • OSPAR
  • C5
  • ISMAP

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards:
  • CSA CCM version 3.0
  • ISO/IEC 27001
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: PCI-DSS SOC2 ISO 9001 ISO 27018 IRAP; ISMAP C5 OSPAR Cyber Essentials Plus
• Information security policies and processes: Security policies are documented and available to employees on an internal web site. Policies and procedures are reviewed annually, updated as needed. VMware utilizes a standard operating procedure repository to store an extensive set of documented procedures. Detailed procedures are defined for the following categories of functions: information security, physical security, network availability, HR, communications, risk/issues and service level customer service. On an annual basis, VMware Cloud on AWS is audited by third-party auditors for ISO 27001/17/18, SOC2, PCI-DSS and HIPAA. Policy adherence is included as a part of these thirdparty audits.

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: The VMware Cloud on AWS team has a comprehensive development lifecycle and and change management system in place. Continuous reviews and testing occur on the software development pipelines for individual products and components. VMware generates builds from approved components and runs these through BITs (Basic Integration Tests), PVTs (Product Validation Tests), FSLite (Feature Stress Lite Tests) and continuous Loop tests for Deployment, Upgrade and Cluster expansion/ reduction. Additionally, we run performance tests, feature stress tests, security scans, vulnerability tests and System Tests at scale for every cycle.
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: VMware has comprehensive vulnerability management program in place which includes continuous internal and regular third-party vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. VMware patches or upgrades platform systems and applications after analyzing the severity and impact of potential vulnerabilities. VMware has subscriptions to pertinent vendor security and bug-tracking notification services. Remediation efforts are prioritized and applied against critical and high-risk issues based on recognized industry standards. Patch testing and rollback procedures are completed by the QA department to ensure compatibility with and minimal impact to the production environment.
• Protective monitoring type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: The Security Operations Center monitor VMC on AWS infrastructure 24x7 and alerted on security anomalies in the VMware Cloud on AWS environment. VMware Cloud on AWS has several intrusion detection/prevention mechanisms in place and the service continuously collects and monitors the environment logs which are correlated with both public and private threat feeds to spot suspicious and unusual activities. The customer is responsible for the security of the environment over which they have administrative level control.
• 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: The process complies with industry standards for legally admissible chain-of-custody and forensicdata-collection management processes and controls. Response standards, procedures, methods are implemented based on the severity level. If VMware determines that unauthorized access to/use/disclosure of customer content, VMware will use commercially reasonable efforts to notify customers, taking into account any applicable law, regulations, governmental request. VMware will also notify customers of a suspected breach of the infrastructure if that breach occurred on a segment of the platform consumed by a customer, or in the event of Denial of Service attacks. VMware does not monitor guest workloads for such breaches.

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)

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Supplier
• Virtualisation technologies used: VMware
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: Each VMware Cloud on AWS Software Defined Datacenter (SDDC) is provisioned on dedicated bare-metal hardware within an AWS VPC dedicated to the customer. vSphere is installed on this dedicated hardware and customers are given access to their individual instance of Virtual Center to manage their virtual environment.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: VMware Cloud on AWS utilizes AWS datacenters and information about AWS & Sustainability can be found here: https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Softcat are dedicated to reducing our environmental impact and actively promoting sustainability. Our commitment to sustainability is a core aspect of our business strategy, driving us to innovate and lead in the creation of a more sustainable future for our company and the communities we serve. This commitment is embedded in our policies, operating procedures, and training programs.; ; We are proud to be the first FTSE 250 company to be awarded 5-star status in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. ; ; We aim to achieve a Carbon Net-Zero Value Circle by 2040 by prioritising renewable energy, reducing natural resource use, minimising waste, and safeguarding biodiversity in compliance with environmental legislation.; ; At Softcat, we have taken significant steps towards securing renewable energy across our organisation, reducing our scope 1 & 2 emissions. We had the target of using 100% Renewable Energy across all our locations by 2024. We successfully delivered against this target ~2 years early.; ; In May 2023 we took delivery of 15 electric vehicles, replacing all existing fossil-fuelled company cars used by employees for business means. The implementation of the EV pool fleet will see a saving of over 80 tons of CO2e per year. A huge impact on our Net Zero targets.

  Tackling economic inequality

  As a value-add reseller, Softcat outsources the products, services, and solutions through our extensive network of partners, to best suit the needs of our broad client base. We always consider and promote SMEs and local providers where appropriate, particularly for the products and services we offer via the G Cloud framework.; ; We remain dedicated to improving employability and educational awareness across schools, colleges, and universities to help break down the barriers to joining technology organisations.; ; We work collaboratively with many schools that are close in proximity to our offices, to ensure we are actively supporting the community as well as schools from lower socio-economic backgrounds. ; ; We visit the schools to talk about the IT sector and the roles in our organisation, as well as promoting work-experience opportunities during the summer. In particular, we actively encourage students from diverse backgrounds to engage in work experience to appreciate the roles available in our sector.; ; For ambitious school and college leavers, a Softcat Apprenticeship is a great first step into the world of work, with 94% of our apprentices offered a permanent position at Softcat post apprenticeships, which goes to show the amazing opportunity available with us.; ; We were ranked 1st in IT & Consultancy, and 10th overall in by RateMyApprenticeship.com - Best 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2023-2024 list.; ; Softcat now also offer 12 month paid internships to University students looking to complete a year in industry as part of their undergraduate studies.

  Equal opportunity

  Our approach to diversity and inclusion is introduced first during our induction training, as part of our Softcat values, outlining responsibility to uphold our principles. This message is reinforced by our process and policies, networks, Allyship Training and Inclusion Awareness campaigns.; ; Softcat supports diversity and inclusion through various networks including:; - Supporting Women in Business (SWIB); - The Ethnic and Cultural Network; - The Pride Network; - The Family Network; - The Empowering Disability and Neurodiversity Network (EDN); - The Faith at Work Network; - Armed Forces & Veterans Network; These networks aim to create a supportive and inclusive work environment for all employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or family commitments.; ; Our allyship programme, Stronger Together, is a mixture of event and workshop-based training available to all staff. Programme topics include, bias, power, privilege, and being a greater ally. ; ; Inclusion Awareness campaigns include race, disability, sexual orientation, gender, faith, and caring responsibilities. These sessions highlight and celebrate minority groups, through panel sessions, Q&A sessions and training, providing an opportunity to discuss and understand ways to be more inclusive. ; ; Our efforts to improve diversity and inclusion have been incredibly successful. Since 2020, the number of female employees below management level has increased to 35%, and the number of ethnic minority employees rose to 17%.

  Wellbeing

  At Softcat, all employees are provided with access to our multidimensional wellbeing programme which includes flexible work arrangements, free nutritious breakfast, mental health support, employee benefits scheme, health and wellbeing week activities, and online workshops.; ; Giving back to the community is an innate part of who we are as a company. All Softcat employees are therefore given two volunteer days per year to support a charitable or community cause. ; ; Each of our 10 regional offices also support local charities through fundraising, donations and events. For example, our Manchester office has raised over £30,000 for the WeLoveMCR charity. This funding has supported young, disadvantaged Manchester citizens in gaining qualifications to broaden their work opportunities and supporting local groups in delivering indispensable services that enable community cohesion.

Pricing

• Price: £3.60 to £13.13 a server an hour
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

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 psitq@softcat.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.