iomart Group Plc

Public Cloud

With our Managed Azure service, Microsoft take care of the data centre, and the upkeep of the infrastructure. And we work with you to design, create and manage a public cloud service that’s right for you. With public could, you’ll have unlimited storage, and the most up-to-date technology upgrades.

Features

• Monitored, maintained and optimised by a team of Azure experts
• Azure consultants to advise you on your public cloud journey
• We'll design/manage a suitable public cloud service for you
• Support on tap from azure certified engineers and consultants
• Industry experts and 20 years of experience dedicated to you
• Reports and check ins to ensure optimal return on investment
• Collaborating with your team, taking shared responsibility for success

Benefits

• Unlimited capacity in a cloud that’s always up-to-date
• Infinitely and immediately scalable as you grow
• Easy consumption-based billing (only pay for what you use)
• Public cloud can offer a lower carbon footprint for businesses
• Incredibly powerful service that’s quick to set up
• It can integrate with other clouds (if business needs change)
• Access to new technologies as Microsoft introduces them

£0.01 a virtual machine an hour

• Education pricing available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at tenders@iomart.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

676902829641370

Contact

Seema Griffiths
0800 040 7228
tenders@iomart.com

Service scope

• Service constraints: None
• System requirements:
  • Windows OS
  • Linux OS
  • Mac OS

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Iomart support teams are available 24/7 to respond to alerts, take calls, make decisions and act to ensure that your services are operating effectively every second of the day. The support desk is accredited to ISO20000-2018 and ISO27001-2013 standards and brings together 250 technical operations staff employed to cover everything with a guaranteed qualified engineering response within 15 minutes of notice dependent on the severity of the incident.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Our support teams are available 24/7 to respond to alerts, take calls, make decisions and act to ensure that your services are delivered seamlessly. The support desk is accredited to ISO20000-2018 and ISO27001-2013 standards and brings together 250 technical operations staff equipped to ensure all of our customers’ needs are dealt with in an effective and efficient manner. As part of our on-going commitment to service excellence, iomart has introduced three different Service Management models our customers can chose from depending on specific requirements (see service definition document for more details). Some models provide a dedicated Service Manager and Technical Account Manager while others offer shared resource. Our approach to Service Management has been developed to provide a value added service to our customers. The Service Manager’s main role is to understand the core objectives of our clients’ businesses and to ensure the services we are providing continually support the achievement of those goals.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Iomart provide a full onboarding service with supported online training and supporting user documentation.
• Service documentation: No
• End-of-contract data extraction: Data can be extracted through multiple means as defined by the client.
• End-of-contract process: In the event that you wish to transition to an alternative supplier, iomart will work with you and the new supplier to ensure an efficient and seamless transition. Similar to our implementation process, our exit process will ensure that all stakeholders are engaged, risks are identified and mitigated, and that a clear programme of works is documented and communicated. ; ; Upon confirmation of transition, iomart will engage with you to create a scope of works and present a Services package that will ensure a successful move. ; ; The topics to be discussed include:; Data migration, Simultaneous use (if needed), Handover of projects in progress (if applicable), Final period report(s), Final period invoice(s).; ; You can be assured of minimal disruption during the transition, therefore allowing you to focus on business-as-usual activities.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: Iomart deliver service desk facilities primarily via the iomart customer control panel. iomart provides customers with a web-based Control Panel, which provides a broad view of information and services surrounding their solution which allows authorised users to create and manage cloud services as well as raise, track and report on support tickets.
• Web interface accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web interface is accessible: The web interface is compatible with standard Windows accessibility options
• Web interface accessibility testing: None
• API: No
• Command line interface: No

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type: Manual
• Independence of resources: As a VMWare VSPP partner, iomart recommend the use of VMware vSphere 7 Enterprise Plus, which provides a set of distributed infrastructure services to make the entire IT environment more serviceable, available and efficient. VMware allows dynamic resource allocation - with processing, RAM and disk space assigned to where most needed on the fly. This combined with the over-commit capability of VMware vSphere 7 will allow the most effective use of the compute resource of the platform.
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting: Email

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • Memory
• Reporting types:
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• 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
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with another standard
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
  • Hardware containing data is completely destroyed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up:
  • Databases
  • Physical and Virtual Servers
  • Files
• Backup controls: The iomart Managed Service provides full support for backups
• Datacentre setup: Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
• Scheduling backups: Users schedule backups through a web interface
• Backup recovery: Users can recover backups themselves, for example through a web interface

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • Bonded fibre optic connections
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
• Other protection within supplier network: By default, network security is set to deny all network traffic in all directions. iomart will consult with clients to determine the most appropriate firewall configuration, enabling access to ports as required.; ; Mechanisms are in place to restrict unauthorized internal and external access to data with access to data appropriately segregated. Firewalls configured not to permit traffic from a source IP or Media Access Control (MAC) address other than its own Data in transit protection for iomart services are subject to audit at least annually under ISO 27001 and PCI-DSS certification requirements.

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: The Network will be available 100% of the time in a 30-day period provided that the Customer has the appropriate connectivity services to the iomart Network to access and utilise the Network. In the event that the Network is not available in accordance with the Network service level guarantee, iomart shall pay the Customer the following Service Credits. Between 99.5% and less than 100% is 1 day (1/30) credit, between 99% and less than 99.5% is 7 days (7/30) credit, between 97.5% and less than 99% is 12 days (12/30) credit, less than 97.5% is 30 days (30/30) credit. If the Network is available less than 97.5% during any 30-day period the Customer may terminate the Agreement in respect of the affected Services by giving at least 60 days written notice to iomart. Full details are available in our SLA document, upon request.
• Approach to resilience: Regular testing and maintenance of infrastructure and the N+1 policy applied to data centres provides the basis of continuity controls. This is enhanced by the provision of multiple communication routes and the replication of iomart’s network infrastructure across iomart sites. iomart data centres are also located outside flight paths, flood plains, have no seismic threat, and are a minimum of 3km outside sites who could pose a potential accident or hazardous threat (as governed by HSE). Therefore, in the event of any given location being lost, the primary impact to iomart would be on office facilities, but with 5 UK Offices and 13 UK Data Centres providing hosting services and support, this impact is limited and mitigated with standing arrangements to relocate staff to the nearest iomart site.
• Outage reporting: Email alerts

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Access to all service interfaces (for consumers and providers) is constrained to authenticated and authorised individuals. Remote management access is authenticated and directly associated to authorised individuals rather than group accounts All managed systems monitored and access logged and tracked for auditing purposes
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through:
  • Dedicated device on a segregated network (providers own provision)
  • Dedicated device on a government network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated device over multiple services or networks

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

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: Alcumus ISOQAR
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 18/12/2008
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Contact with special interest groups
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: One Compliance Cyber Limited
• PCI DSS accreditation date: 27/01/2022
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: 3-D Secure Hosting Provider, Terminal Management System, POS / card present, Internet / e-commerce, MOTO / Call Center, ATM
• 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: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: The iomart Group adheres to the Security Classification Definitions as described in the Government Security Classifications Policy (GSCP). This is outlined and defined in section 7.5 of the iomart management systems handbook and forms part of the groups integrated management systems, which consists of UKAS / APMG / NCSC accredited systems. Notably; ISO 27001 Information Security Management; ISO 20000 IT Service Management; ISO 9001 Quality Management; ISO 22301 Business Continuity and PCI-DSS compliance for iomarts secure cloud service. All are regularly audited for compliance by an accredited certifying body. These standards require iomart to have robust controls in place to manage data, documents and records. Showing that iomart has appropriate and measured controls in place to manage OFFICIAL information that if lost, stolen or published in the media could have more damaging consequences (for individuals, an organisation or government generally). All iomart Data Centres and have been independently assessed on a number of occasions by local authorities and UK Government Departments, Senior Information Risk Owner’s (SIRO) as suitable for holding and processing their sensitive information to OFFICIAL level.

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: Our change management processes are in line with ISO27001 control A.12.2 Controlled mechanism for making changes to the operational environment are in place.
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Iomart vulnerability management process is aligned with ISO27001:2013 control A12.6.1 which addresses 3 key areas:; ; • Timely identification of vulnerabilities; • Assessment of or exposure to a vulnerability; • Defined measures to address the risk
• Protective monitoring type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Iomart Protective Monitoring process is aligned with ISO27001:2013 control A.12.4 which details:; • Event Logging; • Protection of log information; • Admin & operator logs; • Clock synchronisation; • Incident Management
• Incident management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: Iomart incident management process is aligned with ISO27001:2013 control A.16.1 which details:; • The full incident management procedure; • Responsibilities & procedures; • Assessment of and decision on security events; • Response process; • Evidence collection; • Learning from incidents

Secure development

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

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Supplier
• Virtualisation technologies used: VMware
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: Each tenant’s servers are segregated into their own VLAN iomart consult with clients to determine if servers need configured to further split server farms over separate security zones. This ensures that uncontrolled network communications do not occur through adjacent architectural tiers Storage presentation is segregated through the use of fibre-channel zoning, prohibiting any host from accessing unauthorised storage areas

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: The iomart EnMS combines best practices in project management, energy monitoring, and energy awareness along with an energy policy that governs our approach towards energy use and performance. EnMS records and reports on energy usage and Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) for our data centre estate in the UK as well as how iomart is reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency as a Group.; ; Monitored by the Environment Agency (EA) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), iomart use our EnMS with Schneider Electric to analyse energy efficiency across our multiple UK data centres. We do this to ensure we meet our moral obligations and regulatory requirements under the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) and in accordance with the (ESOS) Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme.

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  iomart want to achieve carbon neutrality and we’re focused on setting emission reduction goals and targets that are proportionate to us.; ; 97% of iomart’s energy usage comes from our 13 data centres; because we own every aspect of our technology, we have a role to play to reduce emissions and promote a healthier planet.; We partner with Schneider Electric, to source our power and restructure how we purchase energy.; ; All of our data centres are now powered 100% by REGO certified renewable energy, coming from solar, wind, and hydro.; We evaluate our sites and identify additional opportunities to reduce our impact.; In 2022, we expanded our partnership with Schneider Electric to develop a Carbon Roadmap, which will help us:; Understand our overall Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions; Establish carbon reduction targets; Identify opportunities to reduce our overall emissions; We partnered with green energy start-up Katrick Technologies on a world-first system that can help save energy on data centre cooling through waste heat repurposing.; ; The patented technology is designed to turn waste heat into power that drives the essential cooling system.; We installed this technology in our Glasgow data centre in October 2021. Results showed a potential for up to 50% reduction in electrical power consumption.; iomart and Katrick Technologies received the “Best Use of Emerging Technology” honour from Digital City Awards in March 2022 for the potential, significant impact of our program on the data centre industry’s carbon footprint.; iomart is committed to reducing our emissions while simultaneously operating at the highest standards, in compliance with ISO14001 and ISO50001.; ; We prevent pollution by disposing of waste, minimising waste to landfill. We reuse and recycle materials, and consider environmental factors when purchasing.; We are replacing old equipment with new technology and converting older light fixtures to LEDs.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  iomart recognises the significant impact that Covid-19 has had on communities, businesses, staff and the public. We worked quickly to implement a remote working policy for office staff; and teams at the data centres were given the training and guidance they needed to continue supporting our customers with a safe service delivery. ; We have also taken the following measures to help with recovery;; Supporting our customers with a financial initiative to delay invoice payments during lockdown to help with their cashflow. We offered customers the opportunity to push back payment dates by as much as 12 months whilst maintaining their services. This had a significantly positive impact, especially with small and medium enterprises, allowing them to continue trading.; Many businesses contacted iomart as they had to quickly convert to remote working and did not have the infrastructure and resources to execute this effectively; our team empowered businesses to adopt remote working and continue to operate safely.; iomart became aware that some of our suppliers were not able to continue trading. We made the decision to support employees from those organisations that had started new companies to provide the same products and services by procuring from them; providing them a head start.; We partnered with the organisation Business Volunteers to support the local community. We supported a food growing charity to encourage families to get outdoors, exercise and grow healthy food. Post pandemic, our staff volunteered to rejuvenate the site with a new seating space, new raised beds, repairing compost bins and digging up areas that had overgrown. Earlier this year, our team volunteered at a food bank warehouse, taking in food and household items and sorting these into parcels for families. We then delivered these parcels to local organisations that families relied on to help during and post the pandemic.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  iomart is a national company, recruiting staff from all four UK nations. We have also created c.100 new jobs at various levels. We recruit entry level people and train them in a multitude of technologies, giving them a foundation for their careers; this also addresses the shortage of technology and digital skills in the UK. We engage with SmartSTEMs to encourage young people (ages 10-14) from underprivileged communities to learn about STEM careers. We’ve also taken steps in our recruitment process to remove personal details and questions regarding salaries, ensuring we’re hiring based on skills and experience, and remunerating based on the role. We also engage with IT Career Switch, helping those who wish to change career and join the IT sector. We utilise the Apprenticeship Levy for staff to provide them with recognised and accredited qualifications and skills, empowering them to further develop their careers.; ; iomart has an effective Board (non-Exec included) whose role is to ensure a framework of ethical controls exist which allow for the identification, assessment and management of risk, ultimately taking collective responsibility for the success of iomart.; ; We are working with an external third party to conduct internal audits. The findings will help us take appropriate actions to make improvements and increase resiliency across our business.; ; iomart adopted the Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA) Corporate Governance Code, providing an outcome-oriented governance framework to support our business. Part of this is having a procurement process to ensure we are fair and responsible in our purchasing approach.; ; iomart became aware that some of our suppliers were not able to continue trading during the pandemic. We made the decision to support employees from those organisations that had started new companies to provide the same products and services by procuring from them; providing them a head start.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  iomart has an Equal Opportunities policy, this is reviewed annually by our SMT and updated accordingly. This is provided to staff at the start of their employment and is available on our intranet. Updates are communicated through our internal channels, such as Yammer and Town Halls.; ; iomart is implementing a diversity and inclusion strategy within recruitment. This includes removing identifying information from CV’s, removing questions relating to salaries, and we’re partnering with organisations that assist candidates from diverse backgrounds to find employment. Our new website will be WCAG compliant.; ; iomart has implemented a flexible working policy to allow staff to adopt a healthy work-life balance. Staff are encouraged to work hours that suit them. This allows them to fulfil other duties in their life such as child care, carer duties and supports working to their individual strengths. The below is part of our email signature to ensure that staff truly adopt this policy and do not feel obligated to work outside of their own hours.; ; “At iomart we work flexibly so, while it suits me to email at this time, I don't expect a response outside of your own working hours.”; ; iomart produces a gender pay gap report annually. We’re pleased to see a year on year reduction in both our mean and median gender pay gaps; and this is partly driven by the recruitment of females in senior roles. We need to focus on the number of women we hire within both the upper and upper middle quartiles. We continue to develop our recruitment strategy to focus on bringing the right people into the business to diversify further. ; ; We've also become a proud partner of the Empowering Women to Lead Digital Transformation in Scotland initiative. This programme is designed to enable confident, capable and motivated female leaders in technology.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  iomart’s aim is to enhance the health and wellbeing of our people and local communities. We will support them to proactively improve their physical and mental health – through innovative programmes and partnerships to make life straightforward.; ; As part of our values and our culture we want all our people to know that we have their best interests at heart. We want our people to feel valued and part of a business where caring and learning embeds values and also helps build foundations to our success and growth. Supporting people in all aspects of their lives not just at work. iomart has partnered with Mindapples a third-sector organisation to deliver a series of talks and activities to support the wellbeing of our staff.; ; MINDAPPLES DELIVERED IN 2021:; ; Intro to our mindapples,; Leading your teams,; Feed your mind,; Get motivated,; Supporting people,; Know yourself,; Be productive,; Handle pressure,; Keep calm.; Attendance of these session was circa 50% of staff, a great success, and following positive feedback, iomart has invested further for 2022;; ; PLANS FOR 2022:; ; Partnership sessions with mindapples,; Financial workshops,; Financial 1-2-1s,; Mindfulness sessions,; Promote our EAP to all,; Supporting our families,; Sponsor mindapples teachers for our kids,; Build on the success of 2021 to deliver more.; We collaborate with an external organisation, Business Volunteers, to identify local charities where we can make the most impact in alignment with our employees’ passions. ; ; We began hosting Volunteer Days at our Glasgow and Manchester sites in 2021. We cooked and served Christmas dinners to more than 70 vulnerable people in Manchester, volunteered at the Glasgow Community Garden Trust, and worked with FareShare UK to help deliver food that would prepare 40,000 meals for people in need.

Pricing

• Price: £0.01 a virtual machine an hour
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at tenders@iomart.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.