PDMS Limited (Professional Data Management Services Limited)

SignedUp Skills

SignedUp Skills is an employment and skills platform that enables economic regions (e.g. Governments, Combined Authorities, Councils and LEPs) to empower citizens with an improved understanding and awareness of local jobs, apprenticeships, courses and labour market information. Customers can curate the data in the platform to focus on local priorities.

Features

• Pre-populated with real-time job vacancies, apprenticeships and courses
• Careers directory with comprehensive Labour Market Information
• Priority Sectors feature aggregates sector specific data and information
• National Apprenticeship Service data included
• Content Management System
• Ability to curate and display data around local priorities
• Employment and training data included
• Location based searching
• Notifications based on favourites and saved searches
• Additional data feeds upon request

Benefits

• Single supplier - software, hosting, support, design, marketing
• Ready to launch
• GDPR compliant
• One-stop-shop
• Minimal data entry required
• Branded according to client
• Customisation to meet needs
• Pre-populated with jobs, apprenticeships and courses
• Joined-up labour market
• Increases awareness of local opportunities

£850 an instance a month

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

• Modern Slavery statement

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

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

790588038600601

Contact

Catriona Watt
+44 (0) 1624 664000
saasenquiries@pdms.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
• Service constraints: No
• System requirements: There are no specific system requirements.

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Response times vary depending on SLA.
• 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: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Onsite support
• Support levels: As standard, PDMS provide support 09.00 - 17.00 Monday to Friday excluding UK bank holidays. The support level depends on the type and scope of the solution being supported, and the support hours required. Please see they SFIA rate card for our standard rates. Technical account management / support engineers are available where required.
• Support available to third parties: No

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Support can be offered via any of the following methods:-; - Documentation (online); - Video conferencing ; - Onsite training
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Data created during the life of the contract can be provided as a SQL Server backup or parts of the data can be extracted via the Content Management System.
• End-of-contract process: If the Service is terminated either by the Customer or by PDMS, PDMS will contact the Customer to establish your off-boarding requirements. PDMS will supply your data to you on Termination by exporting data from the Content Management System. Bespoke data extract requirements can also be provided on request, but would form part of a service request. The cost of this is not included in the subscription to the service. Other mechanisms are available and can be requested (either at Take-up or at Termination).

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: There are no functional differences between the desktop and mobile service.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: SignedUp Skills is customised according to the buyer at the outset of the project. Each implementation is branded for the buyer and their target market. The buyer has a high level of flexibility due to the Content Management System which enables them to add/amend content, layout and whole pages.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: SignedUp Skills is hosted on top of resources provisioned within the Azure public cloud and our highly resilient private cloud that uses multiple storage, memory and processing units across multiple locales in multiple data centres on the Isle of Man – an architecture aimed at achieving extremely high availability. Both Azure and our private cloud meets a broad set of international, industry and regional compliance standards including ISO 27001 and UK G-Cloud. PDMS holds ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System standard certification and Cyber Essentials Plus.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: SignedUp Skills provides service usage metrics on pertinent information. SignedUp Skills also utilises third party analytics for anonymous data.
• Reporting types: Real-time dashboards

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: European Economic Area (EEA)
• 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: Less than once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: PDMS utilise industry best practice configurations in each environment to ensure that all data is encrypted at rest.; Data persisted within the Azure is encrypted using multiple services depending on how the data is stored.; Within the PDMS private cloud data is persisted on storage devices that implement encryption of all at rest data.
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • 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: At the end of the term of the contract users can 'off-board' data using the self-serve ‘Off-board Data’ function available to the system administrator, this functionality creates and downloads a ZIP file containing:; a) the latest version of each of your documents, and;; b) an XML file for each document containing the meta-data associated with it.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats:
  • XML
  • PDF
  • MHTML (web archive)
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats: Text

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: The Service Availability is set at 99.9%; The Service Availability stated above is the percentage of the time the Service is available for use when measured over any one calendar month subject to Exceptions (see below) calculated according to the formula:; (The number of minutes the service is available to the Customer; PLUS; The number of minutes the service is unavailable to the Customer due to exceptions); DIVIDED BY; The total number of minutes in the month; ; If the Service availability over any one calendar month is less than the above defined Service Availability, the Customer may request financial recompense.; The financial recompense shall be calculated as a portion of the monthly Subscription fee to the Customer proportionate to the unavailability of the system, i.e.; {1 MINUS [(The number of minutes the service is available to the Customer; PLUS; The number of minutes the service is unavailable to the Customer due to exceptions; MINUS; The number of minutes the service is unavailable to the Customer due to other reasons); DIVIDED BY; The total number of minutes in the month]} TIMES BY The monthly Subscription fee.; Further information can be found in the Service Definition Document
• Approach to resilience: SignedUp Skills is hosted on top of resources provisioned within the Azure public cloud and our highly resilient private cloud that uses multiple storage, memory and processing units across multiple locales in multiple data centres on the Isle of Man – an architecture aimed at achieving extremely high availability. Both Azure and our private cloud meets a broad set of international, industry and regional compliance standards including ISO 27001 and UK G-Cloud. PDMS holds ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System standard certification and Cyber Essentials Plus.
• Outage reporting: In the case of an outage we will communicate via e-mail.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: No
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Access (to management interfaces and support channels) is restricted by least privilege access using accounts with strong username and password combinations.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: LRQA
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Held since 25/03/2003
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: All areas of the business and our services are in scope.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: Cyber Essentials Plus

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: Cyber Essentials Plus
• Information security policies and processes: As part of its ISMS, PDMS have the following policies and processes; Information Security Policy, Secure Development Process, Acceptable Use Policy, Change Control Policy, Data Classification and Handling Policy, Data Protection Policy, Business Continuity Policy and an Incident Management Process, all of which are governed, managed and audited through our ISO certifications. All policies are owned and regularly reviewed by the relevant departmental manager. ; ; It is the responsibility of each departmental manager to ensure that all of their staff follow the information security policies and processes, however compliance is audited by the Quality and Standards Manager, with any issues identified reported to the relevant manager, for rectification. ; ; Operationally, Information Security is jointly managed by the Chief Security Officer and the Quality and Standards Manager, both of whom report directly to the Managing Director, who has overall ownership at Board Level for Security, allowing issues that require immediate escalation to be reported to the Directors. Operational Issues that do not require immediate escalation are discussed at the monthly management meetings, where it is a standing issue. All issues discussed during these meetings that require escalation are reported upwards to Board of Directors for it to be discussed, where appropriate.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: All changes made to PDMS systems and core infrastructure are subject to PDMS' change management processes. These are either performed through the code tools, or through services utilised by our internal departments. Where a change is identified, the staff member proposing the change must document the reason for the change, any known implications including security impacts, and any proposed times for the change to occur. ; All changes are then reviewed prior to implementation by any relevant staff to ensure their awareness of the potential change. The potential change is then approved and the change can be made.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: PDMS subscribe to a number of forums and internet based information sources, that provide information about potential vulnerabilities in the systems and services that we use. Information provided by these is analysed and, where necessary, verified by our Infrastructure Team. Once a manufacturer releases a patch for their services and systems this will be deployed to the live environment within a week. Test environments are patched first to ensure that operational issues are not caused by the patch.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: The principle method of identifying potential security issues in our systems and network is through penetration testing, which is undertaken both internally and, where appropriate, through approved third parties.; When a potential compromise in the security of our systems and network is identified a suitably qualified member of staff is tasked with investigating and providing a solution to the issue.; If as a result of the tests it is determined that an actual incident has occurred, our incident management protocols commence immediately upon discovery, to enable rectification as soon as possible.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: PDMS allow all staff the ability to report security incidents through a number of methods, including email, telephone, and system based forms. Ultimately all reported incidents are managed by the Chief Security Officer, who follows the Incident Management Process, which identifies how the incident should be managed, including when to provide updates to any customers that may be affected. Customer Incident Reports are normally provided in a written document. ; ; All incidents are reviewed following their satisfactory conclusion, in order to determine what lessons can be learned, in order to improve the process or prevent future occurrences.

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

  PDMS is committed to reducing our impact on the environment and has held the ISO I4001 environmental certification for over 10 years. We have reduced energy consumption and waste and have increased the amount of waste we recycle. ; We are proactively working towards net zero gas emissions and are currently implementing a monitoring plan with specific milestones. For example, we are currently replacing the roof of our head office and are incorporating solar panels so we can generate and consume our own electricity. We offset the carbon dioxide we produce by purchasing carbon credits specifically choosing projects that support clean energy in the UK and globally. ; Chris Gledhill, our CEO, is the sector lead for the Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce Climate Change Programme which enables us to share best practice across the business community.; We measure and monitor the environmental impact of the contracts we deliver. We also ensure that environmental protection and improvement is a key consideration of any partners or suppliers we work with. ; Additional environmental initiatives that PDMS can commit to as part of this contract include:; • Carbon offsetting of the carbon produced through any specific contract; • Supporting any of our customer’s initiatives which increase biodiversity or habitat creation ; • Provide volunteering opportunities for our staff to support customer’s or customer’s local community environmental initiatives where appropriate; • Supporting wildlife and environmental charities with donations or by providing services in kind; At the heart of, and embedded in its constitution, is PDMS’ commitment to social responsibility. In support of our work over the last 30 years and our ongoing commitment to social responsibility, in 2022 PDMS will be embarking on obtaining the Social Value Quality Mark Accreditation.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  By operating our SignedUp Skills employment and skills platform, which reaches 29% of the UK population, we indirectly afford a wider voice to tackling economic inequality. The work we undertake with our customers gives us an in-depth understanding of regional employment and skills issues, and employment shortages of high-growth sectors and challenges faced by rural communities.; Addressing economic inequality through skills development is one of the corner stones of our social responsibility activities. We will work closely with our customers to ensure that the maximum benefit is achieved for their local community and ensuring that our social value priorities are aligned. ; As appropriate to the contract, PDMS can offer the following:; • Work experience placements for students to provide an insight into the world of work and develop skills for the workplace.; • Longer term work placements for college/undergraduate students to help develop skills and expertise covering a range of job roles from digital (e.g. developer, analyst, designer) through to general business functions (e.g. marketing). ; • Apprenticeships through UK and Scottish Government schemes.; • Support for local schools/colleges with careers talks covering a range of in-demand digital roles. Participating in mock interviews and providing CV writing guidance. ; • Support for the Junior Achievement Company of the Year Programme which runs across the UK, helping to develop an understanding of entrepreneurship in young people. ; • Provision of mentors to help young people, particularly those in deprived areas. We are actively involved in a number of schemes e.g. Career Ready and MCR Pathways in Scotland.; • Provision of support (both financial and people) to local community initiatives to help encourage the wider engagement of young people in the tech industry e.g. CodeClubs ; • Our staff also have volunteer days which they use to support a variety of charities and community initiatives
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  PDMS is a Living Wage accredited supplier and we ensure that all our suppliers (e.g. office cleaners) also pay the minimum Living Wage. ; We have a modern slavery statement which outlines our zero-tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery and have effective controls and verifications in place to safeguard against modern slavery in our supply chain. This also applies to safeguarding against use of child labour and zero-hour contracts. ; PDMS advocates for accessibility in UX design and has hosted workshops to promote accessibility. We work with local charities who provide “experts by experience” and currently facilitating a 20-week placement for a student with disabilities who is undertaking a project investigating how User Experience and Accessibility can affect business. ; We actively support several charities whose primary aim is to help promote equality in the technology sector:; • Empowering Women to Lead Digital Transformation Programme – we sponsored the inaugural Scottish programme and graduation in 2021 and doing so again in 2022. The Programme is designed for emerging and potential women leaders in digital transformation roles in organisations across the public, private and third sectors ; • PDMS supports initiatives including LoveTech which aims to address gender inequality in the technology sector. This charity hosts events for young girls to encourage them to consider a career in STEM ; In terms of social value activities relating to equal opportunities we can provide the following as appropriate to the contract:; • Create additional placements for those facing barriers to employment using UK Government or local schemes where appropriate. ; • Support charitable organisations addressing the issue of inequality in the digital and wider STEM sector.; • Sponsor places on the Empowering Women Programme where appropriate. ; • Work with clients to support any of their chosen charities or voluntary organisations that address diversity and inclusion issues.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  At PDMS, we promote an open culture around wellbeing and mental health. We conduct regular anonymous staff surveys every six weeks to monitor how staff feel in relation to workload, stress, health and mental health issues. This helps form the support we provide to our team. ; We operate inclusive and accessible recruitment practices and have a flexible work policy where our employees decide whether they want to work from home or the office. ; We have an internal Wellbeing team and a dedicated wellbeing channel within our corporate intranet along with the following in support of the wellbeing of our staff:; · Externally trained mental health first aiders; · Access to bereavement support and counselling ; · Access to private health care including online tools to help support mental health and access to specialist one-to-one counselling covering a range of issues from money worries to a relationship breakdown ; · A regular series of talks from external experts on mental and physical health covering topics including nutrition, dealing with stress & anxiety, mindfulness, addiction and posture; · Time off to attend any medical, dentist, opticians, or health related appointments ; · Subsidised gym membership to encourage physical activity ; ; In relation to this specific contract, we can provide the following as appropriate to the contract: ; · Continue our commitment to supporting the mental health and physical wellbeing of our staff. This will include specific focused mental health campaigns to help reduce the stigma around mental health; · Endeavour to support mental health charities who have a local community focus which can be through cash donations, providing services in kind or volunteering time; · Endeavour to meet the six standards in the Mental Health at Work commitment ; · Where appropriate we can share resources with our clients e.g. access to our video library of expert talks

Pricing

• Price: £850 an instance a month
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• 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

• Modern Slavery statement

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