WHITESPACE GLOBAL LIMITED

Google Cloud Platform Services and Google Workspace

Google Cloud’s technical expertise helps unlock business value from the cloud— including infrastructure, app modernisation, data management and analytics, AI/ML, security, and more. Google Workspace provides a complete collaboration suite allowing users to work across teams and organisations with intuitive, integrated tools so collaboration tasks are available within each tool.

Features

  • Tools for document storage.
  • Data warehousing.
  • Security key enforcement.
  • App creation.
  • API management.
  • AI and machine learning.
  • Data loss prevention.
  • Self-updating apps.
  • Interoperable - Google offers maximum compatibility with office formats.
  • Information Discoverability.

Benefits

  • Allows users to easily work across teams and organisations anywhere.
  • Integrates all of the core elements of work.
  • Reduces lost productivity and security incident remediation costs.
  • Better access to data to inform decision making.
  • Runs on the cleanest and securest cloud in the industry.
  • Centralised control ensures information sharing in compliance with company directives.
  • Built with consumer-grade usability to enable adoption and accelerate digital-transformation.
  • Immersive, inclusive product experiences.
  • Easy-to-use process automation tools requiring no code experience.
  • Develop, deploy, secure and monitor your APIs.

Pricing

£43.20 to £176.64 a licence

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 frameworks@white.space. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

6 7 4 8 5 3 0 6 6 2 6 8 8 7 9

Contact

WHITESPACE GLOBAL LIMITED Maurice Brown
Telephone: 07765222615
Email: frameworks@white.space

Service scope

Service constraints
No service constraints.
System requirements
A web browser such as Chrome, Safari, and/or Firefox, etc.

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Google will provide access to Google Help Center and phone support for customers on a 24 x 7 basis. Written P1 Priority support Requests are responded to with a target initial response time of one hour and are responded to 24 x 7. Written P2, P3, and P4 Priority support Requests submitted via Online Help Center or support portal are responded to with an initial target response time of 1 business day or less. All Priority support Requests received via phone will be responded to directly by Google Support Personnel.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Onsite support
Support levels
Google provides support in line with other service providers. Further details and terms of support can be found at this address https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_ie/terms/tssg.html
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Dedicated customer success manager and interactive online on-boarding sessions, including discovery and training workshops.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
If your organisation decides to leave, users can take their Google data with them. They can export emails, contacts, calendars, videos, and more. Then, they can import the data to their new provider. More information can be found here: https://support.google.com/a/answer/100458?hl=en#all
End-of-contract process
Access to the Google products will be terminated and data will be removed from all Google systems within 180 business days.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Using the web interface
Web based access through a browser.
Web interface accessibility standard
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Web interface accessibility testing
Please see Google's guide to user accessibility for further information. https://support.google.com/a/answer/1631886?hl=en
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
The scope of capabilities via API to Google Cloud and Workspace users is very broad and includes major use cases. APIs are grouped into ten main APIs and SDKs, detailed at this address: https://developers.google.com/google-apps/
API automation tools
Other
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
Command line interface
Yes
Command line interface compatibility
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
  • Other
Using the command line interface
You can use these tools to perform many common platform tasks from the command line or through scripts and other automation. The CLI can be used to create and manage the following: Compute Engine virtual machine instances and other resources, Cloud SQL instances, Google Kubernetes Engine clusters, Dataproc clusters and jobs, Cloud DNS managed zones and record sets, and Cloud Deployment Manager deployments. You can also use the CLI to deploy App Engine applications, manage authentication, customise local configuration, and perform other tasks.

Scaling

Scaling available
No
Independence of resources
Contractually Google's Service Level is guaranteed to 99.9% availability for any calendar month and backed with service credits.
Usage notifications
No

Analytics

Infrastructure or application metrics
No

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller (no extras)
Organisation whose services are being resold
Google

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Conforms to BS7858:2019
Government security clearance
Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
User control over data storage and processing locations
No
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
In-house
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
  • Other
Other data at rest protection approach
Data is encrypted at rest using AES encryption, data sharding and key rotation. Physical access control is also compliant with SSAE-16.
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

Backup and recovery

Backup and recovery
No

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
TLS (version 1.2 or above)
Data protection within supplier network
TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
Contractually Google's Service Level is guaranteed to 99.9% availability for any calendar month and backed with service credits.
Approach to resilience
All data is redundantly stored across a minimum of 3 data centres, and all services are designed to leverage the redundant data centre infrastructure powering Google services.
Outage reporting
Google provides customer alerts and a public uptime dashboard. The dashboard advises across Google services on degradation or downtime.

Identity and authentication

User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Depending on administrator preference, users can be signed in via a federated identity service. 2 Factor authentication is supported and can be enforced. Administrative access privileges are granted separately to individual users.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
Devices users manage the service through
Directly from any device which may also be used for normal business (for example web browsing or viewing external email)

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
Users have access to real-time audit information
How long user audit data is stored for
Between 1 month and 6 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users have access to real-time audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
Between 1 month and 6 months
How long system logs are stored for
Between 1 month and 6 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
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
Google undergoes several independent third party audits on a regular basis to provide assurance. This means that an independent auditor has examined the controls present in their data centres, infrastructure and operations. Google infrastructure is certified for a growing number of compliance standards and controls, and undergoes several independent third party audits to test for data safety, privacy, and security.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Configuration and change management approach
In Google production environments, software updates are manually vetted to ensure the stability of the system. Changes are then tested and cautiously rolled out to systems. The details vary somewhat depending on the service being considered, but all development work is separated from the operation systems, testing occurs in a multi-staged fashion in both environments and in dedicated test settings. Google can share, under NDA, the SOC2 audit report (based on standards from the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board), which describes the change management process. Additionally, changes to code go through a process of code review involving additional engineer(s).
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
Google administrates a vulnerability management process that actively scans for security threats using a combination of commercially available and purpose-built tools, intensive automated/manual penetration efforts, quality assurance processes, software security reviews and external audits. Once a vulnerability requiring remediation has been identified, it is logged, prioritised according to severity, and assigned an owner. The vulnerability management team tracks such issues and follows up frequently until they can verify that the issues have been remediated. Google also maintains relationships and interfaces with members of the security research community.
Protective monitoring type
Supplier-defined controls
Protective monitoring approach
Focused on information gathered from network traffic, employee actions on systems and outside knowledge of vulnerabilities. Traffic is inspected at many points for suspicious behaviour. Analysis is performed using open-source and commercial tools for traffic capture and parsing, supported by a correlation system built on top of Google technology. Analysis is supplemented by examining system logs for unusual behaviour, such as attempted access of customer data. Security engineers place standing alerts on public data repositories to look for security incidents that might affect company infrastructure. They actively review inbound security reports and monitor public mailing lists, blog posts, and wikis.
Incident management type
Supplier-defined controls
Incident management approach
Google’s incident management program is structured around NIST guidance on handling incidents. Key staff are trained in forensics and handling evidence in preparation for an event, including the use of third-party and proprietary tools. Testing of incident response plans is performed for key areas, such as systems that store sensitive customer information. Tests consider a variety of scenarios, including insider threats and software vulnerabilities.

Secure development

Approach to secure software development best practice
Supplier-defined process

Separation between users

Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart
No

Energy efficiency

Energy-efficient datacentres
Yes
Description of energy efficient datacentres
Google data centres use much less energy than the typical data centre. They raise the temperature to 80°F, use outside air for cooling, and build custom servers. They also share detailed performance data to help move the entire industry forward.

They are focused on reducing their energy use while serving the explosive growth of the internet. Most data centres use almost as much non-computing or "overhead" energy (like cooling and power conversion) as they do to power their servers. At Google they have reduced this overhead to only 11%. That way, most of the energy they have been using to power their machines directly serves Google searches and products. They take detailed measurements to continually push toward doing more with less — serving more users while wasting less energy. Their fleet-wide Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) has dropped significantly since they first started reporting numbers in 2008. The TTM energy-weighted average PUE for all Google data centres shows their data centres are among the most efficient in the world. Their PUE figures are available at https://www.google.co.uk/about/datacenters/efficiency/

Social Value

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

Whitespace offers remote working for all members of staff. By doing so we are reducing the amount of traffic on the roads across Belfast that would be caused by our workers driving into the office or travelling by carbon emitting methods of public transportation. This helps support the Belfast City Council's aim to reduce carbon emissions by 80% compared to 2005 levels of emissions as soon as possible. In 2022 the council will set a defined target for the city to reach net-zero emissions and we intend to implement measures and initiatives to assist in this goal. These measures will include, but are not limited to, producing an environmental review of our office and practices, establishing an environmental officer to produce a climate action plan, support fairtrade where possible, and purchase our electricity from renewable sources.
Covid-19 recovery

Covid-19 recovery

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to businesses suffering financially because of mandatory lockdowns, and many people being unable to work, Whitespace has developed a plan to work with local communities across Belfast as part of efforts to manage and recover from the impact of Covid-19. This includes creating new employment opportunities that utilise a hybrid model of working to allow employees to work from home as well as from our office. This way of working also ensures we are supporting opportunities for those who are not comfortable with returning to work while Covid-19 continues to circulate in the community, or for those who have health conditions that would make contracting the virus a lot worse for them than the average person. Whitespace will implement re-training courses and other return to work opportunities for those who lost their jobs due to the knock-on effects of the pandemic, particularly for those communities – such as ethnic minorities – who were disproportionately impacted by the virus and lockdown measures. We are also committed to developing innovative ways to support organisations and businesses to manage and recover from the impacts of Covid-19, including where new ways of working are needed to deliver services. We are committed to supporting the physical and mental health of people affected by Covid-19, including reducing the demand on health and care services wherever and whenever these opportunities for Whitespace to help arise.
Tackling economic inequality

Tackling economic inequality

Whitespace is committed to tackling economic inequality throughout our communities through developing ways to create new businesses, new jobs, and new skills for locals. Our objectives include creating new opportunities for entrepreneurship and helping new, smaller organisations to grow, supporting economic growth and business creation in Belfast and Northern Ireland. We will create employment opportunities particularly for those who face barriers to employment and/or who are in deprived areas of the community. Whitespace will also create employment and training opportunities, particularly for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors. We are also committed to supporting educational attainment, which includes training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications to help local residents move forward in education and/or with their careers.
Equal opportunity

Equal opportunity

At Whitespace, we believe that we will deliver bigger and better outputs with a diverse team. We’re currently working hard to recruit a wide range of talent from diverse backgrounds, and this is a big focus for our company as we continue to grow. We ensure that our recruitment and event participants include a balance of gender, race, and age where possible. We are developing a new Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity policy with inclusion at the forefront of this document. It will ensure that inclusivity and transparency are at the centre of how we describe and advertise roles, conduct our selection and interview processes, and play a part in informing our hiring criteria. We will also review leadership and progression, to promote EDI at every level of our business. We are also committed to reducing the disability employment gap and will develop a plan that demonstrates our action and priorities in increasing the representation of disabled people in our workforce. This includes supporting disabled people in developing new skills relevant to the work, notably with training schemes that result in recognised qualifications. We will also deliver actions to identify and tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce. This will include support in-work progression to help people, including those from disadvantaged or minority groups, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills. This will also include identifying and managing the risks of modern slavery in the delivery of our work and the wider supply chain.
Wellbeing

Wellbeing

Whitespace is committed to supporting the wellbeing of our staff to create a productive, healthy, and positive work environment. This includes our main wellbeing initiative that allows members of staff to apply for funds to cover the cost of activities that promote their mental wellbeing. They are also able to request this for their colleagues, such as if someone has been going above and beyond their work responsibilities for a particular project or more generally in their work attitude, working as an effective reward and showing they are highly considered by their colleagues. We also provide work related furnishings for employees working from home using a separate fund, this helps remove any financial worries White Space staff may have about needing to set up a home office. This would include furnishings such as desks, ergonomic desk chairs, computer hardware and software, and any other work-related purchases that will enable them to carry out their duties. Whitespace understands how vital mental health needs are for our staff, whether it be work related mental health issues or other issues. We raise awareness of mental health and proactively work to challenge the stigma around workplace mental health. To do so, we provide access to proactive mental health support from our HR department. This support is advertised around the workplace both physically and online and is introduced to staff in the employee handbook at the start of their employment. Staff can seek support from any member of staff they feel comfortable with, including in-line managers and our HR manager.

Pricing

Price
£43.20 to £176.64 a licence
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
No

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 frameworks@white.space. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.