Chakray UK Ltd

Azure Cloud Hosting and Consultancy

Chakray's Microsoft Cloud Hosting and Consultancy service helps clients transition their service delivery approach to a cloud-native mindset, enabling them to build, deploy and manage applications quickly and easily in a secure, highly availability and scalable environment.

Features

• Covers a wide range of Azure services and components
• iPaaS, PaaS and SaaS
• Service helps to reduce the total cost of ownership
• Azure strategy, architecture, design and deployment
• Migration of services to a cloud-native environment
• Automated development and test environments
• Azure consultancy

Benefits

• Increased agility enables faster innovation at a reduced cost
• Cloud-native security protects critical applications

£0 a virtual machine an hour

• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  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 thomasv@chakray.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

599575894541688

Contact

Thomas Valaitis
01926 298195
thomasv@chakray.co.uk

Service scope

• Service constraints: Please visit https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/ for the most up-to-date information
• System requirements:
  • To be defined by the Technical Lead during consultation
  • Please visit https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure for most up-to-date information

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support response times: We have 2 dedicated support centres worldwide and also provide onsite support for clients. We provide up to 24/7 support service offerings and have packages from ticket based incidents to fully managed services
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: Web chat
• Web chat support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web chat accessibility testing: Slack, Teams and Skype
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Microsoft Azure support can be completely bespoke on request, but our standard offerings are :- P1 Response within 30 minutes Ticket update every 1 hour Target Fix 4 hours P2 Response within 2 hours Ticket update every 4 hours Target Fix 8 hours P3 Response within 4 hours Ticket update every 1 days Target Fix 2 days P4 Response within 24 hours Ticket update every 2 days Target Fix 5 days 24/7 support is available either dedicated or on call Technical Account Manager is available on request Support can be remote or onsite if required
• Support available to third parties: No

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Chakray's Azure consultants will provide extensive support to clients during onboarding. Chakray's onboarding team typically includes a project manager, technical lead, solution architect and customer success manager, with additional resources available as required.; ; The pathway to the successful delivery of services varies from one client to the next, but will usually include discovery and requirements gathering, audit, service definition, planning, architecture, governance, implementation, documentation and support
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Tdc
• End-of-contract process: The contract terms and conditions will include details of the contract term and any required notice periods, together with any end-of-contract processes that might apply to any 3rd parties.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: All Micorsoft Azure services are accessible through the Azure Portal
• Web interface accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web interface accessibility testing: Please visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/ for the most up-to-date information
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Microsoft Azure offers a REST API to manage Azure resources and integrations. Please visit https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/azure/ for the most up-to-date information.; ; Customers can also create their own APIs using the Azure API Management service. Up-to-date information about this can be found at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/api-management/.
• API automation tools:
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • SaltStack
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: HTML
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
  • Other
• Using the command line interface: The Azure Command-Line Interface (CLI) is a cross-platform command-line tool that allows customers to execute administrative commands on Azure resources through a terminal using prompts or a script.; ; Please visit https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/ for the most up-to-date information.

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type:
  • Automatic
  • Manual
• Independence of resources: Microsoft owns and operates one of the world's largest networks. Customer data is logically separated on the Azure platform within isolated and secure virtual private environments, which can be scaled as needed without affecting other customers' resources.
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting: Email

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

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

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)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up:
  • Virtual Machines
  • Database
  • Storage
• Backup controls: Users with the appropriate permissions can manage backup schedules.
• 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: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Azure SLAs are regularly updated. The current SLAs together with archived editions can be viewed at https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs/view/Service-Level-Agreements-SLA-for-Online-Services?lang=1
• Approach to resilience: Available on request
• Outage reporting: Outages are reported by email and on a public dashboard

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Undisclosed
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • 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 have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• 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: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: BSI
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Before 29/09/2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: There are no exceptions
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• 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: All security policies, processes and controls comply with ISO 27001. These are regularly reviewed and amended as necessary by an Information Security Manager

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Configuration and change management policies and processes are developed and maintained by Microsoft.
• Vulnerability management type: Undisclosed
• Vulnerability management approach: Undisclosed
• Protective monitoring type: Undisclosed
• Protective monitoring approach: Undisclosed
• Incident management type: Undisclosed
• Incident management approach: Undisclosed

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: Hyper-V
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: Virtualisation creates a simulated, or virtual, computing environment as opposed to a physical environment. This allows organisations to partition a single physical computer or server into several virtual machines. Each virtual machine can then interact independently and run different operating systems or applications while sharing the resources of a single host machine.; ; By creating multiple resources from a single computer or server, virtualisation improves scalability and workloads while resulting in the use of fewer overall servers, less energy consumption, and less infrastructure costs and maintenance. ; ; There are four main categories virtualisation falls into: desktop, network, software and storage.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: Microsoft signed up as a participant and an endorser of the EU code of conduct for datacentre efficiency in 2009.

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Chakray is committed to identifying and complying with any legal and other relevant requirements related to the environmental impacts of its operations. We seek to minimize the negative environmental impact of our business activities. These include greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption in our offices and business travel; our waste and IT asset management; and our procurement activities.; ; We establish sound environmental management by:; ; - Meeting or improving upon relevant legislative, regulatory and environmental codes of practice.; - Developing objectives that target environmental improvements and monitor performance by regular review.; - Consider any environmental issues in the decision-making process.; - Developing a relationship with suppliers and contractors so that we all recognise our environmental responsibilities; - Continuity educating our staff so that they carry out their activities in an environmentally responsible manner.; ; We provide for the effective use of resources by:; ; - Promoting waste minimisation by recycling or finding other uses of by-products whenever; economically viable.; Promoting the efficient use of resources, energy and fuel throughout the company’s operations.; ; We co-operate with:; - The communities in which we operate.; - The government, regulatory bodies and other interested parties with the shared vision of being a; good and trusted neighbour.; ; We use and adapt our capabilities and expertise to help our clients reduce their environmental impact and meet their environmental objectives.

  Covid-19 recovery

  Chakray is committed to building back from the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that prioritises the well-being of our community and fosters a more just and resilient society. We recognise the social and economic hardships caused by the pandemic, and we believe recovery efforts must address these challenges head-on. Our core social values in COVID-19 recovery are: - Inclusive Growth: We will create opportunities for everyone to participate in the economic recovery, with a focus on supporting those disproportionately affected by the pandemic, such as unemployed individuals, minority groups, and small businesses. - Mental & Physical Health: We will prioritise the mental and physical health of our community by promoting healthy workplaces, providing access to mental health resources, and supporting initiatives that reduce the burden on healthcare systems. - Building Resilience: We will invest in programs and infrastructure that strengthen our community's ability to withstand future crises. This includes fostering social cohesion, promoting sustainable practices, and creating a skilled workforce prepared for a changing world. We will achieve these goals by: - Employment and Training: Offering job training programs, creating new employment opportunities, and prioritising hiring from underrepresented communities. - Community Support: Providing resources and assistance to vulnerable populations, including mental health services, food banks, and childcare support. - Adapting Work Practices: Encouraging flexible work arrangements, promoting safe workplaces, and adopting sustainable commuting options. - Investing in Innovation: Supporting research and development initiatives that address public health needs and build a more resilient future. Chakray believes that a socially responsible approach to COVID-19 recovery is not only ethical but also good business. By prioritising social value, we can build a stronger, more equitable, and more prosperous community for all.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Chakray are national living wage employers. Chakray recognises that recompense for work should allow those working for or with Chakray to a decent standard of living without dependence on outside subsidies. Chakray recognises that payment of the living wage gives a variety of benefits which may include: - Staff retention and reduced turnover; - Increased employee engagement; - Reduced absenteeism; - Increased commitment to the organisation; - Ethical employment practices; and - A contribution to reduction in poverty affording people the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families.

  Equal opportunity

  Chakray is an equal opportunities employer. We treat our people fairly and equally and are committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment. We want you to work in an environment which embraces diversity and is free from discrimination and harassment. We believe that all our employees have something to contribute to the overall success of the business and that this can be achieved through our encouragement and support. In partnership with employees and our leaders, we will continue our journey to develop a culture that upholds the benefits of diversity and inclusion so that in years to come our business will physically reflect and represent a more diverse and inclusive workforce from the top down. Our strategy includes some amazing initiatives in respect of disability, ethnic minorities, gender, LGBT+ and mental health.

  Wellbeing

  Chakray is committed to promoting and supporting the wellbeing of all of its employees, to create an inclusive culture which focuses on prevention, and where issues are identified, minimised and managed before they have a detrimental impact on employees. Chakray's approach to employee wellbeing can help: - Raise awareness and provide guidance on issues relating to health and wellbeing in recognition of Chakray's role in improving employees health - Encourage the adoption of a proactive approach to prevent and minimize the risks associated with poor health and wellbeing within the workforce - Create a supportive environment that enables employees to be proactive in supporting their own health and wellbeing; - Support an improvement in the engagement score for Health and wellbeing in the Staff Survey. - Foster a thriving workforce, which can deliver on its objectives; - Achieve increased employee engagement, productivity, retention and recruitment; - Reduce stigma against wellbeing issues, and overall reduced sickness absence, presenteeism and leavism. All matters relating to an employee’s wellbeing will be treated in confidence, except where it may be necessary to break confidentiality to preserve the wellbeing of employees. Chakray recognises that the diversity of its workforce may give rise to different wellbeing needs. Chakray is committed to ensuring that employees have access to a variety of support services and will signpost to appropriate professional help. Chakray recognises that the environmental conditions in which employees work may have an impact on their wellbeing. Where employee wellbeing issues remain unresolved, employees are encouraged to contact HR. Chakray recognises that wellbeing issues may lead to time off from work, however it will endeavor to support employees staying in work, if it is agreed that it is in their best interests to do so.

Pricing

• Price: £0 a virtual machine an hour
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Some Azure products are free up to specified monthly amounts. Some are always free to all Azure customers, and some are free for 12 months to new customers only.
• Link to free trial: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/pricing/purchase-options/pay-as-you-go/

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

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