cloudThing Limited

Microsoft Dynamics 365 / D365 Business Central

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central provides a platform from which you can run your entire business. Accelerate your growth by leveraging rich features for financial, supply chain, sales and project. We support discovery activities, business architecture, governance set-up, DevOps/SecOps tooling, service design, experience research/design, technical architecture and all related services.

Features

• Centralised storage & reporting of functional department data
• In-build Power BI dashboards to generate powerful business insights
• Intelligent sales forecasts to optimise stock replenishment
• Capacity and resource optimisation to manage supply and demand
• Track opportunity progression and provided guided recommendations to sellers
• Quote, budget, time-sheet and invoicing management for work orders
• Resource assignment and capacity management with real-time usage reporting
• GDPR compliance, grant and restrict access to personal data
• Cloud, on-premise or hybrid hosting. Mobile friendly user experience

Benefits

• Streamline processes to optimise operational performance
• Increase sales by speeding up closure of opportunities
• Forecast more accurately using powerful analysis reports
• Maximise resource utilisation by intelligently allocating workloads
• Make data-driven decisions using real time business insights
• Get exactly what’s needed through an agile, open, approach
• Solution certainty through deep technical experience in the platform
• Access to our buildThings, powerThings and complyThings, accelerating implementation

£52.80 a user a month

• Free trial 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 frameworks@cloudthing.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

775172649003902

Contact

Mike Wrout
01212815309
frameworks@cloudthing.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: Full details of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 service can be found here - https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=30185 and https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/dynamics365/#pivot=main&panel=apps
• System requirements:
  • Processor 2.9 gigahertz (GHz) or faster x86
  • Or x64-bit dual core processor with SSE2 instruction set
  • Memory: Minimum: 2-GB RAM
  • Minimum: Super VGA with a resolution of 1024 x 768

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: P1: Critical - Response Time: 2hr ; P2: Major - Response Time: 4hr ; P3: Important - Response Time: 8hr ; P4: Minor - Response Time: Varies on request
• 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: Web chat
• Web chat support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Web chat accessibility testing: Our third party chat platform experience meets disability accessibility requirements and follows stringent industry standards, including ADA and WCAG 2.0 AA compliance. This applies to the Engagement Window, engagements and surveys for both the desktop and mobile web (iOS and Android). Detailed documentation can be found here: https://support.liveassistfor365.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006117234-Creating-Accessible-Engagements
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: CloudThing offer predefined support packages incidents as follows: (9am – 5pm), core+ (8am – 6pm), extended (6am – 10pm) with 24/7 (10am – 6am) available. support packages for core business hours (9am – 5pm). Incidents are classified as P1 (Production System Down), P2 (Production System Impaired), P3 (System Impaired), P4 (General Guidance & Requests) with associated SLA’s for response times. Response times are as follows: P1: 1 Hour Response, P2: 2 Hour Response, P3: 4 Hour Response, P4: 2 Day Response. Support for defect repair is available as a bolt on service. Support is provided directly via a team of dedicated DevOps engineers Technical support options come in various costs and benefits, depending on the needs of the customer. Further details regarding the support plans can be found here - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/support
• Support available to third parties: No

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Microsoft Dynamics 365 makes available comprehensive guidance, help, training and troubleshooting materials as part of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Service. Within the Administration Portal, there are links to many of the resources available, including:; Help articles for users and administrators who need to manage Microsoft Dynamics 365.; Community forums/wikis where help articles and white papers are published; Service Health dashboard for information regarding outages/issues. Microsoft offers a range of services to organisations, eg FastTrack to aid onboarding to the service, and the Dynamics Learning Portal to help partners and organisations optimise the use of the service.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • Other
• Other documentation formats:
  • Self-help resources, ebooks, training videos, E-Learning
  • Personalize the user assistance by tailoring the in-product Help
  • Learning Path is also available to speed up onboarding
• End-of-contract data extraction: At any point user can export data from Microsoft Dynamics 365. This use the Software Development Kit (SDK), manually export data using the data export functionally.
• End-of-contract process: No more than 180 days after expiration or termination of Customer’s use of an Online Service, Microsoft will disable the account and delete Customer Data from the account. ; Transfer of Customer Data. Unless Customer has opted out of the Standard Contractual Clauses, all transfers of Customer Data out of the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland shall be governed by the Standard Contractual Clauses. Microsoft will abide by the requirements of European Economic Area and Swiss data protection law regarding the collection, use, transfer, retention, and other processing of personal data from the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Dynamics 365 allows access and functionality to be provided via a mobile device, web browser or mobile application. The solution supports a model that only requires configuration to be carried once regardless of how the solution is accessed.; With Dynamics Unified Interface, someone that is using a Dynamics App (for example, Customer Service or Sales) will have the same experience on a mobile device or on a web browser on the computer or directly inside Outlook client. ; In fact, the liquid layout scales to optimize the viewing experience, adjusting for various screen shapes and resolutions.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Description of service interface: The Web API provides a development experience that can be used across a wide variety of programming languages, platforms, and devices. The Web API implements the OData (Open Data Protocol), version 4.0, an OASIS standard for building and consuming RESTful APIs over rich data sources.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Accessibility testing: Please see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/get-started/accessibility/
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Please see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customer-engagement/web-api/about?view=dynamics-ce-odata-9
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: HTML
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a highly customisable and flexible business application. The bulk of the customisations can be carried out without requiring custom development. This inclused amending and creating new entities, forms, view and workflow processes. For cases that do require custom development, Microsoft provides a software developer kit (SDK).

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The service operates multiple scale groups in each data centre and automatically provisions new customers into a scale group. The architecture of scale groups is designed to meet the many needs of operating a service at scale, including security, scalability, performance, tenant isolation, serviceability, and monitoring. Each customer has their own individual database, separate from other customers’ databases. Data processing is logically segregated through capabilities specifically developed to help build, manage, and secure multitenant environments.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Organization Insights provides quick view of key Dynamics 365 metrics such as the number of active users and page requests. The Dynamics 365 Administration Portal provides an overview of each instances 'service health' including service degradation and storage capacity.
• Reporting types: Real-time dashboards

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Microsoft

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• 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 CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: The data within the Dynamics 365 system is encrypted using a PFX or BYOK encryption key. All ; instances of Dynamics 365 use Microsoft SQL Server Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) ; to perform real-time encryption of data when written to disk, also known as encryption at rest.
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Data can be exported from Microsoft Dynamics 365 through the Export to Excel feature and using web service APIs documented in the Dynamics 365 SDK. Data can also be exported using the data export service.
• Data export formats: Other
• Other data export formats:
  • Exported from Microsoft Dynamics 365 using web service APIs
  • Files in XML Spreadsheet, TXT, CSV, XLSX
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats:
  • XML, TXT, CSV, XLSX,
  • API based import

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
  • Other
• Other protection between networks: Please see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/azure-network-security
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
• Other protection within supplier network: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/best-practices-network-security

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/Downloader.aspx?documenttype=OST&lang=English
• Approach to resilience: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/resiliency/disaster-recovery-azure-applications
• Outage reporting: Via the service status portal, Email, Alerts or Mobile Application

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
  • Other
• Other user authentication: Customer identity and access management will depend on customer licencing and policy. Dynamics 365 uses Azure Active Directory for authentication. Azure Active Directory is a comprehensive identity and access management cloud solution that provides a robust set of capabilities to manage users and groups. It helps secure access to on-premises and cloud applications, including other Microsoft online services like Office 365 and many non-Microsoft SaaS applications. The customer can enable multi-factor authentication on their AAD tenant. For details on the Dynamics 365 security architecture:; https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/unified-operations/dev-itpro/sysadmin/security-; architecture
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: "R o l e - b a s e d a c c e s s c o n t r o l ( R B A C ) enables you to grant access based on the user’s assigned role, making it easy to give users only the amount of access they need to perform their job duties. You can customize RBAC per your organization’s business model and risk tolerance.; ; https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/unified-operations/dev-itpro/sysadmin/role-based-security; ; https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/customer-engagement/developer/security-dev/how-role-based-security-control-access-entities"
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
  • Other
• Description of management access authentication: See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/develop/authentication-scenarios

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 contact the support team to get 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: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: BIS
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 27/03/2018
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Statement of applicabilty for ISO 27001 for Dynamics 365: https://servicetrust.microsoft.com/ViewPage/MSComplianceGuide?command=Download&downloadType=Document&downloadId=d383c8df-1387-4a08-8604-b3e8aa647206&docTab=4ce99610-c9c0-11e7-8c2c-f908a777fa4d_ISO_Reports
• 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
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: ISO 9001:2015; Cyber Essentials
• Information security policies and processes: ISO27001:2017

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: Change control procedure considers:; • The identification and documentation of planned change. ; • An assessment process of possible change impact. ; • Change testing in approved non-production environment. ; • Change management approval process. ; • Identification and recording significant changes. ; • Planning and testing changes. ; • Assessment of potential impacts, including security impacts, of such changes. ; • Formal approval procedure for proposed changes. ; • Communication of change details to relevant persons. ; • Fallback procedures, including procedures and responsibilities for aborting and recovering ; from unsuccessful changes and unforeseen events. ; • Validation and acceptance of each change by engineering teams.
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Dynamics 365 applications implement technologies to scan the environment for vulnerabilities. Identified vulnerabilities are tracked and verified for remediation. In addition, regular vulnerability/penetration assessments to identify vulnerabilities and determine whether key logical controls are operating effectively are performed. The Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) regularly monitors external security vulnerability awareness sites. As part of the routine vulnerability management process, the Dynamics 365 apps team evaluates our exposure to these vulnerabilities and takes action to mitigate risks when necessary. The MSRC releases security bulletins on the second Tuesday of every month (“Patch Tuesday”), or as appropriate to mitigate zero-day exploits. I
• Protective monitoring type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security/azure-threat-detection
• 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: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=55110

Secure development

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

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  Cloudthing will identify opportunities to remove/reduce environmental impacts through the contract. Initially, we conduct discoveries, either as pre-sales or as part of detailed analysis/design work, during which we look at ways of incorporating energy efficiencies by:; • Designing low-carbon cloud-first services by migrating away from energy inefficient on-premise services.; • Designing energy efficient services (e.g. Remote Network Testing systems) for clients with measurable carbon reductions e.g. eliminating hardware, paper, printing toners and printers.; • Plan and agree energy efficient ways of working e.g. reducing the need for onsite meetings through collaboration tools. ; These measures are captured in the solution design and project plans and reviewed with clients through project governance. Through our Environmental policy and management system, we review operational activities to ensure compliance with legislation and identify opportunities to reduce emissions, waste, pollution and promote energy efficiency. This is reviewed bi-weekly. ; Our Carbon Reduction Plan details our objectives and associated actions over the next 5 years, to obtain ISO:14001 certification (in 2022), sign up to SBTI and offset our carbon footprint through credits/tree planting schemes.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  cloudThing did not furlough any staff during the crisis and have continued to recruit throughout. We’re actively looking at ways to support the recovery through adaptation of existing practices and introduction of new ones, such as applying for the Government Kickstart programme via a Kickstart Gateway and supporting the employment of veterans of the British Armed Forces as we have committed to do for other frameworks and partnerships. ; To support re-employment, cloudThing will work with Buyers to understand local and national priorities. Where appropriate cloudThing will support practices that identify recruitment and training opportunities, prioritising those that had become unemployed as a result of the crisis and re-training where appropriate. This may include the extension of our Academy Programme in India which supports the recruitment and training of staff who do not possess the specific skills required for the delivery of our services, this has supported over 60 staff entering the business and undertaking 6 months of training, supporting our wider Continuous Professional Development (CPD) company programme. ; Where possible, we will support developing supply chains in areas that align with the Buyers requirements whether locally or nationally. cT will continue and increase its support for SMEs and social enterprises and provide flexibility in its supply chain, where appropriate, to ensure that buyers’ requirements can be met using providers who are supporting re-employment. ; We have an externally audited governance function that is represented at Board Level and provides a framework for our processes and procedures, and it is aware of relevant government legislation and contractual commitments we make. Targets will be agreed as appropriate with Buyer’s and our ISO:9001 QMS and supporting policies will be used to ensure employment and supply chain opportunities are managed and measured effectively against targets.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  cloudThing was founded to be an ethical business with the aim of achieving positive social impact through its commercial activity in the provision of software development, digital transformation and DevOps support services. ; The ambition was encapsulated in our ‘Build Future’ mission statement to support the long-term success of our clients, employees and community. We’re dedicated to a small number of vertical markets, of which Non-profit and Government are core sectors, and actively invest to give back to our customers, an example of which is our Non-profit and Government ‘powerUps’. This IP is donated free to Non-profit and Public Sector clients to solve the ‘common but hard’ problems, reducing costs and delivery times for projects utilising the Microsoft Power Platform. ; We actively engage in such practices with Microsoft and have located our Birmingham office in Longbridge, which is ranked 1857 of 32,844 on the Index of Multiple Deprivation and is in the most challenged 5% nationally. We will continue to provide employment/training opportunities locally. ; We operate in a high-growth sector, where skills are at a premium. We will continue to invest in initiatives to provide access to digital skills. For example:; • Generation UK offers fast-track training for young people from deprived areas, leading to apprenticeships. We have taken on 4 apprentices and are seeking to expand this.; • Power Platform school – a partnership with Microsoft to provide learning opportunities to adults from the BAME community. Activities include a charity Hackathon and mentoring programme, sharing lessons and skills from industry leaders.; • We target and develop opportunities through ongoing engagement with Microsoft’s Not for Profit community and clients such as Learnlight and the Scouts Association.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  We support equal opportunities, encouraging employees to gain industry-recognised qualifications. We provide all staff fully funded Microsoft qualifications, vocational skills, leadership development, staff development and formal appraisals. cloudThing (cT) celebrates Anglo/Indian heritage, encouraging all aspects of diversity. ; In cT India, women are represented above the national average. Whilst the gender pay-gap in both countries is far better than the national average we are targeting greater female representation through gender neutral job adverts and gender balanced interview panels; To promote diversity and motivate teams, staff can work flexibly to promote a better work/life balance. Leave arrangements support religious festivals, maternity and sick leave requirements. Social channels via Teams ensure regular contact between UK and India staff, including a book club, cooking challenges, team games and a weekly ‘Icebreaker’ to introduce new staff. Benefits include an employee assistance programme, private healthcare, performance-related pay and share options. A Golden Globes-style ceremony recognises staff achievements.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  cloudThing (cT) is a socially conscious business, which services clients and projects that have a positive social impact on society. ; We’ve a strong cultural identity and mission statement that is ‘Build Future’, which means we always take the long-term view and invest in the success of our employees, local community and customers across our chosen markets of Non-profit/ membership & UK public Sector. ; We strive to operate to the highest standard and are committed to providing a positive workplace for staff and their physical and mental wellbeing. ; As a plan of action: Our policies, processes and procedures are set-out in our Business Management System and Staff Handbook that provide guidance for day-to day activities, clearly upholding best practice and employee interests as part of our conformity to our ISO:9001, ISO27001:2017 and ISO27701:2019 standards. ; Progress and output are reviewed by the Governance Team on a monthly basis and escalated to the Executive Board, as necessary.; Additionally, we’ve launched a Staff Wellness and Employee Assistance Programme called ‘healthThing’, a staff drive and company funded initiative specifically focused on promoting mental and physical wellbeing. We have a dedicated ‘healthThing’ Teams Channel and a dedicated section in the Company Newsletter to share numerous and various activities and events arranged for staff. Our success is measured by our Employee Satisfaction Survey results and our success is demonstrated by our employees voting us in 2021 as the 3rd best small company and the 7th best technology-sector company to work for in the UK.

Pricing

• Price: £52.80 a user a month
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: https://trials.dynamics.com/ - Contact: ; https://www.cloudthing.com/; email: info@cloudthing.com; tel: +44 (0) 121 393 4700
• Link to free trial: https://trials.dynamics.com/

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