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Southern Communications Corporate Solutions T/A SCG Corporate

Microsoft Office 365 Services

A complete, intelligent solution, including Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security, that empowers everyone to be creative and work together, securely. Microsoft 365 brings together productivity, security, and OS/device solutions into a single, comprehensive offering.

Features

  • Includes Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
  • Email and calendaring host email with 50GB mailbox
  • Advanced Threat Protection included with Business Premium
  • 1TB OneDrive cloud storage
  • Host online meetings and video calls with Microsoft Teams
  • Create team sites to share content and files using SharePoint
  • Windows Defender malware protection for Win10 included with Business Premium
  • Includes Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Licence
  • Use your own custom domain name
  • Security groups with custom permissions and password policies

Benefits

  • Cost efficiency using Microsoft 365
  • Microsoft 365 offers Rapid Elasticity and scalability
  • Backup and Recovery available with Office 365
  • Software updates as standard
  • Mobility, work from anywhere and with any device.
  • Collaboration and Sharing included
  • Additional High level Security available with Microsoft 365
  • Peace of mind with 99.9% uptime guaranteed

Pricing

£5.09 a user

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at rebecca.rowarth@southern-comms.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

6 0 7 2 5 9 5 1 8 3 2 8 9 2 0

Contact

Southern Communications Corporate Solutions T/A SCG Corporate Rebecca Rowarth
Telephone: 01372 385715
Email: rebecca.rowarth@southern-comms.co.uk

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
No
Cloud deployment model
Public cloud
Service constraints
Full Details https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/government
System requirements
Stable broadband connectivity

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Monday - Friday: 9am - 5pm
Saturday & Sunday: 9am - 5pm
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
No
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Billing support is provided in English from 9 AM–5 PM Monday–Friday.
Technical support is provided in English 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Unrestricted fast, effective onsite support field service technicians. At £250 for the first hour and £100 thereafter per hour.
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Standard and Premium on-board : Efficiently set up and on-board organization-wide users with guided walk through from a personal advisor, removing technical hurdles and enabling end-users to use the technology immediately.
Migration Services: Move data from one environment to MS 365 tenancy and setup data feeds such as Azure AD & Exchange Online, Our aim is to minimise customer downtime and data loss while maintaining legacy file structures.
End User Training: Instruct up to 25 remote users on the functionalities of Office 365 through a remote, web-based meeting tool, delivering a far lower cost than hiring external consultants.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
Multi tool applications can be use or Microsoft built in tools
End-of-contract process
The Agreement shall continue in force indefinitely, subject to termination in accordance with Clause 20 of our agreement.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
Application to install
Yes
Compatible operating systems
  • Android
  • IOS
  • MacOS
  • Windows
  • Windows Phone
  • Other
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
Mobile Apps offer View, edit, and create documents with the familiar Office interface optimised for mobile phones and tablets.
Service interface
Yes
User support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AAA
Description of service interface
Admin console provided through the web
Accessibility standards
WCAG 2.1 AAA
Accessibility testing
N/A
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
You can create custom solutions that access and interact with all the richness of a user’s Office 365 data—and you can build those solutions across all mobile, web, and desktop platforms. The new Office 365 APIs enable you to provide access to Office 365 data, including their mail, calendars, contacts, files, and folders. All right from within your app itself.

Whether you're building web applications using .NET, PHP, Java, Python, or Ruby on Rails, or creating apps for Windows 8, Universal Apps, iOS, Android, or on another device platform. It's your choice.
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
Admin - Customise the Office 365 theme for your organization
Integration with MS Flow
Users - Change your Office 365 start app, Limited flow integration. IE sync of Dropbox and OneDrive

Scaling

Independence of resources
Microsoft stored and process your data in various data center around the world which offer agility and prevents over subscribing to any particular region. Microsoft performs any such transfer of Customer Data to any such country and to store and process Customer Data in order to provide the Self-Service Online Services. Microsoft abides by the EU Safe Harbor and the Swiss Safe Harbor frameworks as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of data from the European Union, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
No

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra features and support
Organisation whose services are being resold
IngramMicro

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Conforms to BS7858:2019
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 every 6 months
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
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

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
You export items by creating a .pst file, which is an Outlook Data File that contains your messages and other Outlook items and is saved on your computer. Glemnet will assist with this services in accordance with our Services contract changes
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
  • Pst
  • Ftp
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
Pst

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
Other
Other protection between networks
Office 365 uses service-side technologies that encrypt customer data at rest and in transit. For customer data at rest, Office 365 uses volume-level and file-level encryption. For customer data in transit, Office 365 uses multiple encryption technologies for communications between datacenters and between clients and servers, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Internet Protocol Security (IPsec). Office 365 also includes customer-managed encryption features. Customer data stored within Office 365 is protected in all configurations. Validation of Microsoft cryptographic policy and its enforcement is independently verified through multiple third-party auditors.
Data protection within supplier network
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
  • Other
Other protection within supplier network
Office 365 uses service-side technologies that encrypt customer data at rest and in transit. For customer data at rest, Office 365 uses volume-level and file-level encryption. For customer data in transit, Office 365 uses multiple encryption technologies for communications between datacenters and between clients and servers, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Internet Protocol Security (IPsec). Office 365 also includes customer-managed encryption features. Customer data stored within Office 365 is protected in all configurations. Validation of Microsoft cryptographic policy and its enforcement is independently verified through multiple third-party auditors.

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
99.9% SLA
Approach to resilience
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/resiliency/
Outage reporting
Service desk notified through email alert to check tenancy service health dashboard to examine component affected by outage.

Full Details https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/enterprise/view-service-health

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Security-and-Compliance-in-Office-365-for-business-Admin-Help-7fe448f7-49bd-4d3e-919d-0a6d1cf675bb?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password

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
User-defined
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
03/07/2022
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
N/A
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
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Data-governance-in-the-Office-365-Security-Compliance-Center-5fe09846-41b6-4168-9c48-2eb491b69dc2?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Supplier-defined controls
Configuration and change management approach
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Management-tools-for-Office-365-8e715d2a-c20e-492b-a9cb-60f3708f9241?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB
Vulnerability management type
Undisclosed
Vulnerability management approach
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Management-tools-for-Office-365-8e715d2a-c20e-492b-a9cb-60f3708f9241?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB
Protective monitoring type
Undisclosed
Protective monitoring approach
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Security-and-Compliance-in-Office-365-for-business-Admin-Help-7fe448f7-49bd-4d3e-919d-0a6d1cf675bb?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB
Incident management type
Undisclosed
Incident management approach
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Security-and-Compliance-in-Office-365-for-business-Admin-Help-7fe448f7-49bd-4d3e-919d-0a6d1cf675bb?ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB

Secure development

Approach to secure software development best practice
Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Public sector networks

Connection to public sector networks
No

Social Value

Social Value

Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

Fighting climate change

SCCS has undertaken an action plan (published carbon reduction plan) on how we can reduce our environmental impact. Whilst we don’t produce any products directly, we do undertake several recycling initiatives to ensure waste products are recycled where possible: • Paper – aim to work as a paperless company, meaning any hard paper documents are scanned and then placed into the shredding bin’s located on site, shredded and disposed of securely via a third party company. • Plastic– This is collected from site and recycled. • Print Cartridges – This is collected from site and recycled. • Staff commuting – SCCS adopts a 'green travel plan' for staff commuting to work. This means that we encourage staff to use public transport, car share and walk/cycle to work schemes. SCCS do not manufacture products directly as we are a reseller, thus reducing the number of raw materials needed to produce devices. As part of environmental promise, we offer all our customers the option to recycle devices, which can be done through a selected third party. SCCS also aims towards ensuring we are always working in accordance with the procedures of ISO 14001 - Environmental Management System. SCCS operates an Environmental Management System within our office and as part of that process, SCCS is rolling out improved energy efficiency measures to reduce impact on the environment and our carbon footprint: • Lighting – moving all lighting towards LED, which if more efficient for the environment, as well as cost saving. • Implementing Smart metering into our office facility. • Air Conditioning – Units are being changed to newer, more energy efficient models. • Additional Heaters – Heaters within the office are only used in extremes of temperature to prevent large fluctuations in temperature. We also use carbon neutral couriers for all deliveries.

Covid-19 recovery

Covid-19 had a big impact on the world and many businesses and as such, SCCS, much like everyone else, had to adapt on how we worked throughout this period. As an information technology business, we were already equipped with things such as Teams, work mobiles, work laptops etc so the transition from office to home working didn’t have a large impact on our business like it might have on other businesses. Our recovery to Covid-19 has been very smooth in the sense that we are now working as a hybrid business, meaning that staff have the flexibility to work 2 days in the office and 3 days from home. By reducing the number of staff within the office, we are able to spread desks out further and provide less contact with large numbers of people which we believe helps prevent the spread of Covid and other illnesses. We continue to provide hand sanitising stations throughout the office, and have cleaners come in on a regular basis. By implementing hybrid working as a permanent process, this also helps with the environmental aspect of the business as staff are not having to come into the office every day, meaning less travel is required, thus reducing our carbon footprint as a business. SCCS have supported hundreds of charities and voluntary organisations in recovering from the impacts of Covid but also managing and leading that response. This includes explaining and supporting the implementation of solutions in the short, medium and long term. The deployment of Microsoft Teams Voice, Cloud Telephony solutions and mobiles on a short term contract have all helped customers support the recovery from Covid and are set to support any ongoing requirements.

Equal opportunity

SCCS provides a safe environment for all staff and we ensure that equal opportunities exist throughout the company, regardless of race, religion, age, sex or physical ability. When recruiting employee’s, SCCS will first post vacancies on local job boards and with local recruitment agencies to ensure that the pool of candidates we receive are from the local community, however, we would not discriminate if a candidate came from further afield if suitable for the role. The reason for recruiting local is that 1, it contributes towards the local community, both helping towards less unemployment, and also spend in the community, and 2, we believe that by recruiting local helps with our carbon footprint as employees have the option to walk to work, and also car share where possible. SCCS contributes towards the work experience scheme. Over the past several years we have given placement to students who are looking to gain experience within the telecommunication’s sector. When employing staff at SCCS, we ensure that both men and woman feel equally empowered and as such, we have both non-discrimination and equal opportunity policies in place throughout the business. We also believe in equal pay and hold annual pay reviews to ensure that our staff fell they are being paid the correct salary based on their role and skills. SCCS have provided several local projects to support the local community to include but not limited to staff volunteering days, hardware recycling schemes to support local businesses, and consultancy time for local projects. The availability of services is based on the requirements of the customer and how best SCCS can support the request.

Wellbeing

SCCS can confirm that in 2021, amidst the presence of COVID-19, we rolled out an opportunity to our employees to become a Mental Health First Aider’s. We are pleased to say that several staff wanted to be involved with this and as such, we teamed up with St. John’s Ambulance and put selected staff members on a week’s course to become qualified FAQ Level 3 Mental Health Workplace First Aiders. Both the physical and mental health of all our employees is at the forefront of our business as we understand how important it is for our employees to be well, and to feel happy and comfortable in the workplace. Since implementing mental health workplace first aiders, we have also made several changes internally to assess and improve the mental health and well being of all staff. These changes include but not limited to: • Fresh Fruit available every morning in the office • Dedicated zone’s and times that a mental health first aider is available should anyone wish to speak with one of them. • Well-being weeks which include various activities for the staff members to enjoy. • Posters added to all the communal area’s with support numbers should someone feel the need they need to speak with someone. In addition to the above, the mental health first aiders have been trained to look out for the common signs and symptoms of someone who may be struggling with their mental health and how to deal with this situation.

Pricing

Price
£5.09 a user
Discount for educational organisations
Yes
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
M365 trial includes
Installed Office 2019 of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more. Installation on up to 5 PCs or Macs.
Office mobile apps on up to 5 tablets and 5 phones.
1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per user, for up to 5 users.
Link to free trial
https://products.office.com/en-gb/try

Service documents

Request an accessible format
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at rebecca.rowarth@southern-comms.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.