PHOENIX SOFTWARE LIMITED

Azure Communication Services

Communication APIs for voice, video, chat and SMS. Enables adding communications to apps without telecom expertise and supports integration with Microsoft Teams experiences.

Features

• Provides voice calling capabilities for applications
• Enables video calling with group support
• Supports chat messaging with threading and receipts
• Provides SMS sending and receiving capabilities
• Enables email communication through managed service
• Supports Teams interoperability for meetings
• Provides phone number provisioning for PSTN
• Enables recording for voice and video calls
• Supports push notifications for mobile apps
• Provides SDKs for multiple platforms and languages

Benefits

• Provides 5G core network functions on Azure
• Enables carrier-grade network function deployment
• Supports network slicing for service differentiation
• Provides session management function capabilities
• Enables user plane function for data handling
• Supports policy control function for network policies
• Provides integration with Azure Operator Nexus
• Enables hybrid deployment scenarios
• Supports automation through Azure management tools
• Provides monitoring through Azure Monitor integration

• 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 bids@phoenixs.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

662324682948773

Contact

Mark Pickersgill
01904 562200
bids@phoenixs.co.uk

About your service

• Service categories:

  PaaS

  Integration and Orchestration

  • Integration software

Service scope

• Service constraints: Azure subscription limits and quotas - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/azure-subscription-service-limits
• System requirements: Service selection dictates system requirements; consult online pages for details.
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: "The Initial Response Time varies with both the support plan and the Business Impact of the request (also known as Severity). For a breakdown of initial response times by several level and business impact, please visit https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/response/; Weekend support availability varies depending on your Azure support plan. For more information, please visit https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/ "
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• 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: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Web chat accessibility testing: Microsoft test all thier services and support functions extensively with our customers and partners before release.
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Microsoft provides four (4) Azure support plan options, which includes various levels of technical account management and cloud support engineering. The support options and cost include the following:; - BASIC (included for all Azure customers); - DEVELOPER ; - STANDARD ; - PROFESSIONAL DIRECT; - UNIFIED SUPPORT; For more information, visit https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/ and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/unifiedsupport/overview
• Support available to third parties: Yes
• AI chatbot: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Microsoft provides all Azure customers with 24/7 self-help resources, including Microsoft Learn, Azure Portal how-to videos, documentation, and community support. For more information, visit:; - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support; - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/; - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/videos/; - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/community/
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: As a customer, you maintain ownership of your data—the content, personal and other data you provide for storing and hosting in Azure services. Microsoft will not store or process customer data outside the geography you specify, except for certain non-regional services. You are also in control of any additional geographies where you decide to deploy your solutions or replicate your data.; Azure has established internal records-retention requirements for back-end data. You are responsible for identifying your own record retention requirements. For records that are stored in Azure, you are responsible for extracting your data and retaining your content outside of Azure for a customer-specified retention period.; Azure allows you to export data and audit reports from the product. The exports are saved locally to retain the information for a customer-defined retention time period.; For more information on protection of customer data, visit: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/fundamentals/protection-customer-data
• End-of-contract process: Microsoft is governed by strict standards and follows specific processes for removing cloud customer data from systems under our control, overwriting storage resources before reuse, and purging or destroying decommissioned hardware. In our Online Service Terms, Microsoft contractually commits to specific processes when a customer leaves a cloud service or the subscription expires. This includes deleting customer data from systems under our control.; ; Please see Data Protection Addendum for full and up to date details about how Microsoft manages your data. https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs/view/Microsoft-Products-and-Services-Data-Protection-Addendum-DPA?lang=1
• Documentation accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: A User can access Azure web chat support by signing in to the Azure Portal, opening Help + Support, and creating a support request. If eligible, the user may select Chat with a support engineer. Users can ask technical, billing, subscription, and service‑related questions in real time. They can share logs, follow troubleshooting steps, and receive guidance on Azure services. However, users cannot request Microsoft to perform direct administrative tasks in their subscription, make architectural decisions for them, or bypass support plan requirements. Chat availability also depends on your support plan, issue type, severity, and region.
• Web interface accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Web interface accessibility testing: Microsoft test all our services and support functions extensively with our customers and partners before release
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Azure users can set up services and make changes via Microsoft’s API using Azure API Management. To set up a service, users can sign in to the Azure portal, navigate to your API Management instance, and create a resource from the Azure portal menu. Detailed instructions for setting up services are available at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/get-started-create-service-instance; From the API Management section of the Azure Portal, users can make changes using by selecting ""Add API"" and following the steps listed at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/add-api-manually; There are some limitations when using Azure API Management. For instance, the maximum number of subscription (API Keys) per service instance is 500. Additional API import restrictions are available at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/api-management-api-import-restrictions.
• API automation tools:
  • Ansible
  • Terraform
  • Other
• Other API automation tools:
  • Azure Bicep
  • ARM Templates
  • Azure DevOps Pipelines
• 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: Users can deploy, configure and manage the service using standard Azure command line tooling, including:; ; Azure CLI (az); ; Azure PowerShell; ; Terraform CLI (where Infrastructure as Code is used); ; Bicep/ARM deployments (e.g., az deployment ...)

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Prometheus metrics are collected from Kubernetes clusters including Azure Kubernetes service (AKS) and use industry standard tools for analyzing and alerting such as PromQL and Grafana.
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting:
  • Email
  • Other
• Other usage reporting: In-application notifications displayed within the service interface.
• Optimising consumption: Yes
• Automatic scaling: Yes

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
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: Yes

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Azure and other third party services through Azure Portal Marketplace

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• 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: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/explore/trusted-cloud/privacy/
• 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:
  • Azure Virtual Machines (VMs) via Azure Backup/Recovery Services Vault.
  • Azure Files shares using Azure Backup policies and snapshots.
  • Azure SQL Database backups (PITR and long-term retention).
  • Azure SQL Managed Instance automated backups and retention.
  • Azure Blob Storage data protection (versioning, snapshots, immutability).
  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster configs and persistent volumes.
  • Azure Key Vault secrets, keys, and certificates (backup/restore).
  • Application configuration and infrastructure-as-code deployment definitions.
  • Azure Managed Disks snapshots and restore to new disks.
  • Microsoft 365 workloads (where enabled via third-party integration).
• Backup controls: Users control backups using Azure-native policy-based configuration. Backup scope, frequency and retention are defined per workload (VMs, databases, file shares, storage) using Recovery Services Vault and Backup Policies. Users can apply different schedules per resource type, subscription, environment (prod/test), or business criticality. Backup configuration can be managed through the Azure Portal, Azure CLI/PowerShell, and Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform/Bicep), enabling consistent control, automation and auditability.
• 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: Microsoft employs robust encryption measures to safeguard customer data during transit. Here are the key aspects of data protection:; https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/explore/trusted-cloud/privacy/"; Additionally, """"encryption by default"""" using MACsec (an IEEE standard at the data-link layer) is enabled for all Azure traffic traveling between Azure datacenters to ensure confidentiality and integrity of customer data.
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
• Other protection within supplier network: Microsoft secures data in transit internally within the Azure network and externally across the Internet to the end user. These include communication through Virtual Private Networks (utilizing IPsec/IKE encryption), Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 or later (via Azure components such as Application Gateway or Azure Front Door), protocols directly on the Azure virtual machines (such as Windows IPsec or SMB), and more.; Additionally, """"encryption by default"""" using MACsec (an IEEE standard at the data-link layer) is enabled for all Azure traffic traveling between Azure datacenters to ensure confidentiality and integrity of customer data.

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Microsoft provides detailed service level agreement (SLA) metrics for all Azure components and services. To review SLAs for individual Azure services, visit https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs/view/Service-Level-Agreements-SLA-for-Online-Services
• Approach to resilience: Many Azure regions provide availability zones, which are separated groups of datacenters within a region. Availability zones are close enough to have low-latency connections to other availability zones. They're connected by a high-performance network with a round-trip latency of less than 2ms. However, availability zones are far enough apart to reduce the likelihood that more than one will be affected by local outages or weather. Availability zones have independent power, cooling, and networking infrastructure. They're designed so that if one zone experiences an outage, then regional services, capacity, and high availability are supported by the remaining zones. They help your data stay synchronized and accessible when things go wrong. Datacenter locations are selected by using rigorous vulnerability risk assessment criteria.; ; Furthermore, you have the ability to build high availability into application architecture by co-locating your computer, storage, networking, and data resources within a zone and replicating in other zones. Azure services that support availability zones fall into two categories:; - Zonal services: you pin the resource to a specific zone (e.g.,, virtual machines, managed disks, standard IP addresses), or; - Zone-redundant services: platform replicates automatically across zones (e.g., zone-redundant storage, SQL database)
• Outage reporting: Azure Service Health provides you with a customizable dashboard that tracks the health of your Azure services. In this dashboard, you can track active events like ongoing service issues, upcoming planned maintenance, or relevant health advisories. When events become inactive, they get placed in your health history for up to 90 days. Finally, you can use the Service Health dashboard to create and manage service health alerts that proactively notify you when service issues affect you. Service Health tracks four types of health events that may impact your resources:; - Service issues: Problems in the Azure services that affect you right now.; - Planned maintenance: Upcoming maintenance that can affect the availability of your services in the future.; - Health advisories: Changes in Azure services that require your attention. Examples include deprecation of Azure features or upgrade requirements (e.g., upgrade to a supported PHP framework).; - Security advisories: Security-related notifications or violations that may affect the availability of your Azure services.; ; Azure Resource Health: diagnose / get support for service problems that affect your Azure resources. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/service-health/resource-health-overview; ; Microsoft also offers public dashboards that provide service status across all Azure regions. ; - https://azure.status.microsoft/en-us/status; ; https://ms.portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Health/AzureHealthBrowseBlade/~/serviceIssues

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Azure authenticates users through Microsoft Entra ID. When a user accesses Azure, they’re redirected to Entra ID, which verifies their identity using passwords, MFA, or passwordless methods like FIDO2 or Windows Hello. Conditional Access policies may require MFA, compliant devices, or specific networks. After authentication, Entra ID issues ID, access, and refresh tokens using OAuth 2.0/OIDC. Azure services validate these tokens and then apply Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to determine what actions the user can perform. Authentication confirms who the user is; RBAC confirms what they’re allowed to do.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • 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: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 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: Polices and procedures are accredited to Cyber Essential Plus and ISO 27001.

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: Azure addresses change management practices through Microsoft's configuration management policy, which is part of the Microsoft Security Policy (MSP) and the Microsoft Security Program Policy (MSPP). Azure implements the configuration management policy and associated controls through a series of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including the Microsoft Change Management Standard, the Azure Software Change and Release Management SOP, Azure Hardware Change and Release Management SOP. The Azure SOPs cover the change management process around information system design, development, and implementation of changes and align with Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) process.; For additional details, https://servicetrust.microsoft.com/viewpage/FedRAMP
• Vulnerability management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Azure uses integrated deployment systems to manage the distribution and installation of security updates for Microsoft software. Azure is also able to draw on the resources of the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC). The MSRC identifies, monitors, responds to, and resolves security incidents and cloud vulnerabilities around-the-clock, every day of the year.; Vulnerability scanning is performed on server operating systems, databases, and network devices. The vulnerability scans are performed on a quarterly basis at a minimum. Azure contracts with independent assessors to perform penetration testing of the Azure boundary. Red-team exercises are also routinely performed.
• Protective monitoring type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Azure security has defined requirements for active monitoring. Service teams configure active monitoring tools to provide time alerts to Azure security personnel in situations that require immediate action.; Azure continuously monitors and detects risk in your organization, even when devices aren’t connected to the corporate network. ; Microsoft conducts thorough investigations examining the risky users and Azure Monitor activity logs to confirm the compromise and contain the exposure immediately, taking the required steps to identify and evict the threat actor quickly. ; The Initial Response Time varies with both the support plan and the Business Impact of the request. Please visit https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/response/
• 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: If Microsoft notices unauthorized access to customer data that's stored on its equipment or in its facilities, or it notices unauthorized access to such equipment or facilities resulting in loss, disclosure, or alteration of customer data, Microsoft takes the following actions:; - Promptly notifies the customer ; - Promptly investigates the security incident and provides customers detailed information about the security incident.; - Takes prompt steps to mitigates and minimize any damage resulting from the security incident.; The Azure security incident management team is responsible for managing security incidents and ensuring the involvement of specialist teams when necessary.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: No

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 v4.0)

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Third-party
• Third-party virtualisation provider: Microsoft Azure
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: Separation is enforced using Azure’s multi-tenant virtualisation layer combined with tenant and subscription isolation. Customer environments are deployed into dedicated Azure subscriptions/resource groups with strict Azure RBAC, segregation of duties, and identity boundaries via Azure AD/Entra ID. Network separation is implemented using Virtual Networks, subnets, NSGs, private endpoints and routing controls to prevent unauthorised cross-tenant access. Data is logically separated at rest and in transit using encryption and per-tenant keys where applicable. Monitoring and audit logs provide assurance that access remains restricted to authorised users only.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: As the service is hosted in Microsoft Azure, it runs in Microsoft-operated datacentres that follow recognised energy efficiency best practice frameworks, including alignment with the EU Code of Conduct for Data Centre Energy Efficiency principles. Azure datacentres are designed and operated to optimise energy performance (e.g., efficient cooling design, continuous monitoring, and power utilisation efficiency improvements) and support sustainability reporting and governance. Microsoft also provides transparency on datacentre sustainability and operational efficiency through its compliance and trust resources, supporting customers’ requirements for energy-efficient cloud hosting.

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Depending upon the service there are range of trial offerings available. There is also a free trial of Azure
• Link to free trial: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/free/search/?ef_id=_k_d00f79182b1a1d5b7a5a1f0d4a8f4aaf_k_&OCID=AIDcmm3bvqzxp1_SEM__k_d00f79182b1a1d5b7a5a1f0d4a8f4aaf_k_&msclkid=d00f79182b1a1d5b7a5a1f0d4a8f4aaf

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

  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

  Baseline pricing is derived from hyperscaler publicly published price catalogues for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), ensuring full transparency and auditability for Buyers.; ; For Amazon Web Services (AWS), baseline pricing is published at:; https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/; ; For Microsoft Azure, baseline pricing is published at:; https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/; ; These catalogues provide unit-based pricing for compute, storage, networking, and platform services, enabling Buyers to model costs accurately based on usage profiles. Baseline pricing is referenced directly within Phoenix Software’s G-Cloud service catalogue entries.

  Baseline Pricing - Web link

  https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing

  -

  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

  Additional sources of cost for Buyers contracting Public Cloud services may arise from variable consumption and optional service components. As IaaS and PaaS services are usage-based, costs can increase due to higher-than-forecast consumption of compute, storage, networking, or platform services driven by user demand, data growth, or changes in workload patterns.; ; Additional costs may also include data egress charges, cross-region or cross-availability-zone network traffic, and consumption of premium platform services such as advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, or enhanced security capabilities. Where Buyers elect higher support tiers from cloud service providers, these may incur additional charges aligned to overall usage.; ; Operational costs may increase where Buyers require optional managed services, extended monitoring, or bespoke configuration beyond standard service definitions. In some cases, onboarding activities such as environment design, landing zone deployment, security hardening, or migration support may be priced separately.; ; Phoenix Software supports Buyers in identifying, forecasting, and managing these potential cost drivers through transparent pricing structures, clear service definitions, and proactive cost governance.

  -

  Additional sources of cost reduction

  Buyers may benefit from several cost-reduction mechanisms when contracting Public Cloud services. Commitment-based pricing models such as AWS Savings Plans and Azure Reserved Instances enable Buyers to secure discounted rates by committing to predictable usage over one- or three-year terms, reducing long-term operational costs.; ; Consumption optimisation can further reduce costs through rightsizing of compute resources, removal of idle or underutilised services, and selection of appropriate storage tiers based on performance and access requirements. Platform-native recommendations and cost optimisation tools help identify these opportunities continuously.; ; Buyers may also benefit from public sector pricing arrangements, framework-aligned discounts, and sector-specific incentives made available by cloud service providers. Cost reductions can be achieved through architectural optimisation, including use of platform-managed services that reduce the need for customer-managed infrastructure and associated overheads.; ; Phoenix Software supports cost reduction through proactive cost reviews, optimisation recommendations, and governance guidance, helping Buyers align consumption with business need, avoid waste, and continuously improve value for money throughout the contract lifecycle.

  ---

• Total Cost: The Total Cost for a buyer's call off requirement in a Public Cloud Deployment
• Baseline Pricing: Baseline pricing is derived from hyperscaler publicly published price catalogues for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), ensuring full transparency and auditability for Buyers.; ; For Amazon Web Services (AWS), baseline pricing is published at:; https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/; ; For Microsoft Azure, baseline pricing is published at:; https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing/; ; These catalogues provide unit-based pricing for compute, storage, networking, and platform services, enabling Buyers to model costs accurately based on usage profiles. Baseline pricing is referenced directly within Phoenix Software’s G-Cloud service catalogue entries.
• Baseline Pricing - Web link: https://azure.microsoft.com/pricing
• 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: Additional sources of cost for Buyers contracting Public Cloud services may arise from variable consumption and optional service components. As IaaS and PaaS services are usage-based, costs can increase due to higher-than-forecast consumption of compute, storage, networking, or platform services driven by user demand, data growth, or changes in workload patterns.; ; Additional costs may also include data egress charges, cross-region or cross-availability-zone network traffic, and consumption of premium platform services such as advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, or enhanced security capabilities. Where Buyers elect higher support tiers from cloud service providers, these may incur additional charges aligned to overall usage.; ; Operational costs may increase where Buyers require optional managed services, extended monitoring, or bespoke configuration beyond standard service definitions. In some cases, onboarding activities such as environment design, landing zone deployment, security hardening, or migration support may be priced separately.; ; Phoenix Software supports Buyers in identifying, forecasting, and managing these potential cost drivers through transparent pricing structures, clear service definitions, and proactive cost governance.
• Additional sources of cost reduction: Buyers may benefit from several cost-reduction mechanisms when contracting Public Cloud services. Commitment-based pricing models such as AWS Savings Plans and Azure Reserved Instances enable Buyers to secure discounted rates by committing to predictable usage over one- or three-year terms, reducing long-term operational costs.; ; Consumption optimisation can further reduce costs through rightsizing of compute resources, removal of idle or underutilised services, and selection of appropriate storage tiers based on performance and access requirements. Platform-native recommendations and cost optimisation tools help identify these opportunities continuously.; ; Buyers may also benefit from public sector pricing arrangements, framework-aligned discounts, and sector-specific incentives made available by cloud service providers. Cost reductions can be achieved through architectural optimisation, including use of platform-managed services that reduce the need for customer-managed infrastructure and associated overheads.; ; Phoenix Software supports cost reduction through proactive cost reviews, optimisation recommendations, and governance guidance, helping Buyers align consumption with business need, avoid waste, and continuously improve value for money throughout the contract lifecycle.

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

  Reseller

  Cloud service suppliers you intend to resell with evidence

  Organisation 1

  Organisation name

  Microsoft Azure

  Website address/upload for organisation

  Website address

  Website address

  https://marketplace.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/partner-dir/2ec57e94-f52a-4588-b969-f463bf4ddcfc/overview

  Organisation 2

  Organisation name

  AWS

  Website address/upload for organisation

  Upload

  Upload

  Provided

  ISO 9001 certification

  Provided

  ISO 27001 certification

  Provided

  ISO 20000-1 certification

  Provided

  Are you reliant on the Cloud Service Provider for some accreditations

  Yes

Cyber Essentials

• Do you have a Cyber Essentials Plus certificate?: Yes
• Cyber Essentials Plus certificate Number: F1e26d79-c268-4d22-a3d7-01e3f4c32c92

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: Security Metric via Self Certification
• PCI DSS accreditation date: Monday 20 October 2025
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: Our certificate applies to services including software licensing, hardware, software asset management (SAM), and IT consultancy. It covers these services when delivered to public sector, charities and housing associations, education, and corporate customers by our employees, systems, and business processes.; ; All activities outside of this scope are not covered by the certification.
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: Cyber Essentials

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
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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

  • 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
    • 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
    • Measures for making facilities used in the delivery of the contract available for community groups, education or training
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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
    • 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 bids@phoenixs.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.