Simpleview

E-tourism Solution

Simpleview provides destination marketing solutions including business listings, website design/development, Content Management System, digital marketing, CRM, booking, reporting, insights and analytics, SEO, consulting, and training to optimise marketing strategies.

These services empower destination and place marketing organisations to support the tourism economy by attracting visitors, investment, conferences, and events.

Features

• Destination Management System (DMS)
• Content Management System (CMS)
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Web Design
• Web Development
• Booking and Ticketing
• Reporting & Insights
• Business Extranet
• Digital Marketing

Benefits

• Provides real time insights to influence marketing campaigns
• Facilitates well structured, comprehensive business listings
• Quickly edit web content and change page layouts
• Optimises websites for maximum search engine exposure
• Online business and event data collection forms reduce workload
• Delivers user friendly, accessible and compliant websites
• Workflow permissions determine editing and publishing rights for quality control
• Manage multiple sites/campaigns from one CMS providing efficiencies
• Data sharing (pending agreement) with other organisations creates efficiencies
• Mapping and footfall solutions provide valuable intel on visitor behaviour

£200 a licence

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 lynsey.bell@simpleviewinc.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

607610058631786

Contact

Lynsey Bell
03304401828
lynsey.bell@simpleviewinc.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: Simpleview will not support the solution on any version of the Internet Explorer browser. Simpleview reserves the right to discontinue the support of older versions of any browser at the point that the supplier discontinues their support, or overall usage figures drop below 1%.
• System requirements:
  • The Simpleview solution is licenced on a SaaS module
  • Users require access to the internet
  • Users must utilise a current browser with active support

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: During business hours:; High Priority - 2 hrs; Medium Priority - 6 hrs ; Low Priority - 24 hrs ; ; Out of hours:; Systems are monitored and any high priority calls will be dealt with as a priority. Low priority calls will be dealt with during business hours.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: Our Liverpool-based, support team comprises of a Support Manager, 4 Support Engineers and two Infrastructure Engineers. Support is available Monday to Friday, 0800 - 1800 via the UK team then after 6pm support is handed over to colleagues in the US until 2am. There is also, 24-hour monitoring in place and any issues are responded to as a priority.; ; Each client is also assigned a dedicated Account Manager.; ; Simpleview employs over 60+ UK-based staff and over 450 staff worldwide meaning that the Support team have product specialists to liaise with.; ; Costs for support are calculated based on the number of licences that a client purchases and on the modules that they procure. Support costs start at £660 per annum.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Each new client will have a welcome meeting in which they will have the opportunity to meet the Simpleview team assigned to their project. We will establish any specific requirements related to resourcing/management on the client side. We will do a high-level run-through of the process and there will be plenty of time for questions. ; ; Our Configuration Specialist will guide the client through the setup process to ensure the system is configured to the client's requirements.; ; All new clients have training which is delivered by our Training Specialists. The training is divided into manageable sessions delivered at a time pertinent to the stage of the project. The training materials and a video of the training can be made available to the client.; ; Every client has access to a stage (non-live) and a live version of the system allowing them to train in the security of a non-live environment.; ; Simpleview also maintains a detailed knowledge base that contains articles and videos on all aspects of the Simpleview solution.; ; Each client is assigned a dedicated Account Manager who will guide them through the process and be on hand to answer any queries.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • PDF
  • Other
• Other documentation formats: Video
• End-of-contract data extraction: Users can export product, contact and visitor data from the Destination Management System. The client can chose the fields to export and the format in which the data is presented (e.g. CSV, Excel, PDF).; ; Simpleview developers can also extract imagery and content from the Content Management System (there may be a cost for this dependent on the complexity of the requirements).
• End-of-contract process: The client must notify Simpleview 90 days prior to the end of the contract. Simpleview will continue provide a full service to the client until the contract end date. ; ; The client will have access to export their business listings, event listings, contacts and visitor data from the Destination Management System. There is no cost for this.; ; The client can also request an export from the Content Management System (this may be subject to an additional cost).; ; On contract expiry we will deactivate the logins and delete any data in line with GDPR regulations. There is no cost for this.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: The websites that we build are responsive and will scale to offer the best service based on the screen size of the device that is being used to view the website.; ; Our backend systems (the DMS, CMS and Extranet) can be used on mobile devices but due to the nature of the tools and their purpose we advise that the best user experience will be on desktops or larger.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Description of service interface: There are interfaces for the Destination Management System, Content Management System, Digital Asset Management and Extranet. Users with appropriate permissions can manage web content, digital assets, business listings, contact and visitor records, run reports, access audit trails, update availability.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Accessibility testing: Simpleview has partnered with AudioEye, one of the worlds leading assistive technologies. ; ; In addition to ongoing automated monitoring of customer websites, the AudioEye team of certified accessibility experts and assistive technology users also work with customers to test key pages and workflows.; ; The testing process is:; 1) Identify key user actions and paths - a look into how users complete actions and purchases.; 2) Evaluation of the workflow pages - using screen readers and keyboard-only navigation commands, our expert testers start on the homepage and go through the workflow, testing each page for any accessibility issues missed by automated scanning.; 3) Test against WCAG - expert testers start another round of testing, this time against WCAG — the standard framework to measure a website’s level of accessibility and legal compliance — and for the general usability of the website.; 4) Log all issues; 5) Developer remediation; 6) Re-evaluation of pages
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: The Simpleview RESTful API allows 3rd parties to consume data stored in the Simpleview Destination Management System.; The data contains listings for accommodation, attractions, activities, events, eating out, shopping, conference & wedding venues, training providers, business services, towns and villages.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: Open API (also known as Swagger)
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: The Destination Management System, Content Management System, Digital Asset Management System and Extranet can all be configured to meet client requirements.; ; Our designers will liaise with the client to design the web pages to display this information in a way that best represents the destination and meets the requirements of all stakeholders.; ; Our developers will then build the site to match the designs and agreed functionality.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: We utilise Azure and Google Cloud Platforms for hosting. Both of these hosting solutions are easily scalable.; ; Our hosting environment, managed by our in-house Infrastructure team, is designed to automatically load balance and there is capacity for significant fluctuations in demand.; ; We have successfully hosted tourism and event websites for over 20yrs and are aware of the changes in demand that key events can create.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Every website is integrated with Google Analytics 4 which gives clients access to real-time reporting on their website.; ; Simpleview also offers Reporting and Insights on business listings (views, emailed, map viewed etc.), bookings and ticketing, consumers, brochures ordered.; ; Working with over 150 UK destinations means that we can provide benchmarking reports allowing destinations to evaluate their performance against similar destinations.; ; We offer an additional SEO service providing monthly reports and advice to improve the performance of the site. ; ; Simpleview is also able to provide insights into visitor behaviour using mobile location data.
• Reporting types:
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: CrowdRiff, Azira, You.Smart.Thing

Staff security

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

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: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: Data at rest is protected behind multiple state-of-the-art firewalls and intrusion detection systems. No database server is publicly accessible. Sensitive user information is stored using AES encryption (at rest).
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
• 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: The Destination Management System has an export tool that allows users to select the fields that they wish to export and the format in which to export the records (e.g. CSV, Excel, PDF).; ; There are not any restrictions on the volume or frequency of exports.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: CSV

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • 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: Simpleview consistently achieves an annual uptime of 99.9% (inclusive of scheduled upgrades and maintenance).; ; Simpleview will do their best to ensure their hosting levels stay above the following:; - 99.8% availability of the service over a calendar month (excluding planned maintenance).; - no more than 6 hours of planned maintenance a month.; ; If Simpleview is unable to comply with these service levels for 7 cumulative days of a calendar month, the Client retains the right to request Simpleview move the client-hosted solutions to a new suitable third-party provider. If Simpleview continues to provide 14; cumulative days of non-compliance in 2 months the Client retains the right to cancel the hosting contract in writing within 14 working days.
• Approach to resilience: Simpleview has several measures in place to ensure that our solution is resilient including:; ; - data centres located in ‘disaster-free zones.’ ; - layers of redundancy including identical content, meaning that if one centre is unavailable, the others will continue working seamlessly. ; - firewalls assist in intrusion detection (using a Linux-based service); - automated software scans; - training staff and clients on best practices to keep their websites and computers safe; - notification on all content flagged by Google as potential malware.; - external monitoring of our internal servers by a third party, so if any unexpected logins or configuration changes are made we are informed.; ; Additional (detailed) information is available on request.
• Outage reporting: Clients will be emailed regarding any outage. Our Account Managers and support team will also contact clients who are affected.; ; We maintain a status page which allows our clients and staff to view updates.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Developer Access:; Only selected staff have access to our production environment. Staff are allocated unique user accounts for access to our production environment and these are encrypted.; ; Access to network resources is only allocated to users who have a requirement for development purposes.; ; Application user accounts log into our applications over secure socket layer (SSL/HTTPS) encrypted pages.; ; Access is controlled by Multi-Factor Authentication.; ; Work-based permissions in the Destination Management System and Content Management System determine the level of access that a user is granted.
• Access restriction testing frequency: Less than once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • 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: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: Other
• Other security governance standards: Cyber Essentials
• Information security policies and processes: The security lead is Peter Morgan | Infrastructure Manager | Simpleview Europe; Email: peter.morgan@simpleviewinc.com ; Tel: 0330 440 1825; ; All access to the DMS is controlled by Multi-Factor Authentication. All requests for logins are verified prior to access being granted. Users are assigned a set of permissions that determine what actions they can complete.; ; Simpleview has a Data Protection Policy that must be followed by all staff. All staff must complete annual data protection training and assessment - attendance is monitored by the HR team.; ; We utilise Microsoft’s Azure Platform to host DMS data. Microsoft is ISO27001 accredited. The data is stored within the UK and is compliant with GDPR legislation.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: We follow an agile scrum methodology on a 4 week sprint lifecycle. ; ; The process/tools include:; 1. Fogbugz – definition of use cases, developments required and an impact assessment. ; 2. Trello Boards for the distribution of tasks required to deliver the developments identified.; 3. Slack for efficient communication across the project team ensuring that whole team is aware of developments, potential impacts and timescales.; 4. Kiln is used as a code review system.; 5. Mercurial is our version control system.; ; Developments that pass internal QA are deployed to the stage environment for acceptance testing by the client before being made live.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Simpleview currently runs Mod_security.; ; All servers and firmware are upgraded on a regular patching cycle so that the servers are never more than 2 weeks out of date for critical updates. ; ; All vendor released patches are installed within one month of release after being thoroughly testing in our stage and development environments.; ; Antivirus software is installed on all production servers with regular scans scheduled. Antivirus definition updates are scheduled every 8 hours.; ; Our in-house Infrastructure team deploy the patches and monitor our services.
• Protective monitoring type: Undisclosed
• Protective monitoring approach: We run Security Information and Event Management to help recognise and address potential security threats and vulnerabilities. ; ; The service provides compliance reporting, incident response and forensics, database and server access monitoring, internal and external threat detection, real-time threat monitoring, correlation and analysis, intrusion detection system, IPS, firewall, event application log, application and system integrations, threat intelligence and user activity monitoring. ; ; The reports are monitored by a third party and passed to Simpleview. An engineer will raise a ticket, investigate and resolve any issues. Details of the investigation and remedial action will be recorded and communicated to relevant parties within Simpleview.
• Incident management type: Undisclosed
• Incident management approach: Simpleview has a Disaster Recovery Plan that is reviewed regularly.; ; Users can report incidents by email, phone, via portal and via links within the solution.; ; Monitoring is continually running against our service and the Infrastructure team are notified of any issues.; ; Incident reports are emailed to clients.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

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

  Fighting climate change

  Simpleview endeavours to continually minimise and assess the environmental impact of its services and operations globally.; We are committed to:; - Developing and introducing programmes to reduce key environmental impacts.; - Implementing procedures which reflect best environmental practices in all areas of our business.; - Maintaining awareness of environmental issues amongst our workforce.; - Working with all suppliers to take account of the environmental impact of their products in a way that satisfies our mutual standards.; ; The initiatives that Simpleview has implemented include:; - Subscription to the Ecologi carbon-offsetting programme; - Hybrid working initiatives have cut the carbon associated with commuting to work daily. ; - Flexible working hours allow our staff to avoid traveling in peak hours, thus reducing their carbon footprint.; - Investment in digital meeting technology to reduce the need for face to face meetings.; - Using public transport for travelling to meetings and conferences; - Repurposing equipment; - Recycling; - Paperless office (where possible); - Water reduction measures; - Energy efficiency measures; - Discouraged the use of single use plastics - staff are provided with re-usable mugs and water bottles.; - Bike to work scheme; - Using recognised hosting suppliers with commitments to reaching net zero.; ; Future Tourism Group; Simpleview has worked with a group of beta partners around the world to develop and test a program designed to measure the holistic digital footprint of a destination, across all stakeholders, and to develop automated tools for destination digital reputation management.; ; We have asked a series of chief executives and leaders in the industry to weigh in on the challenges we face right now and to share their thoughts on what the future holds. We facilitate thoughtful discussions about sustainable tourism, destination development, transformative placemaking, stakeholder engagement, community alignment, and more.

  Covid-19 recovery

  All of the Destination Management Organisations that we work with were significantly impacted in one way or another. As you will be aware, the lack of in-destination visitors was hugely damaging for tourism businesses, causing a knock on effect for DMOs through a reduction in membership income. ; ; During that time, DMOs largely switched their focus from destination marketing into a more destination assistance / advisory role and Simpleview staff worked with clients to help to change the messaging on sites. We supported clients with reduced resources, provided alternative payment schedules and helped clients to find innovative ways to support their local businesses and community.; ; Since the pandemic visitor behaviour has changed significantly and destination marketers have needed to change their marketing strategies. Simpleview invested significant resource in analysing data and providing insights on the developing trends. We continue to share this valuable intel with our clients via webinars, articles, workshops and conferences.; ; Simpleview acts as a conduit of best practice and knowledge sharing for DMOs worldwide, supporting COVID-19 recovery and the visitor economy.

  Equal opportunity

  Simpleview takes its responsibilities for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion very seriously and is committed to ensuring that everyone in the company does too. ; ; The company makes decisions relating to staff on the basis of their abilities and aptitude for the job. Factors such as race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief are irrelevant to decisions on recruitment, promotion, training etc. ; ; All Simpleview employees are required to complete the following training:; Global Workplace Harassment Employee Compliance; Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Employee Compliance ; Unconscious Bias: Promoting Fairness in the Workplace; ; We demonstrate our commitment to social responsibility by actively participating with a variety of industry-wide organisations. Examples include:; - Simpleview is a member of the IGLTA (The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association) ; - Our Chief of Staff is the Chair of their EDI Industry Partnerships Committee and has also completed the DI Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Masterclass.; - Simpleview's CEO is Equity Acceleration Task Force Member for the Events Industry Council Centre for Sustainability & Social Impact.; - Simpleview is a Principal Partner of Tourism Diversity Matters and our CEO is also a Board Member.; ; Through our blog, webinars, and podcasts we highlight the work of DMO partners in cultivating inclusion and diversity in their communities. Examples include:; - Women in Leadership: Breaking Barriers in the Tourism Industry; - Global Accessibility Awareness Day with AudioEye ; - It's Time to Address Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Tourism Industry ; - A Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Approach to Destination Marketing with Steven Totten from Visit Phoenix.; - How Discover Peoria Is Highlighting Local, Black-Owned Businesses; - Good Tourism balances, People, Profit & Planet with Anne de Jong from the Good Tourism Institute; - LGBTQ+ Marketing is much more than Pride Month

Pricing

• Price: £200 a licence
• 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 lynsey.bell@simpleviewinc.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.