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CIPHR

CIPHR Connect - CIPHR Learning Management System (LMS) Software as a Service

Ciphr LMS enables employees access to libraries of digital content including assigned learning journeys and programmes. Track progress through online reports and customisable dashboards. Reward learners with badges and points. Share expertise across the organisation with social learning tools. Identify learning gaps using competency frameworks & Skills Analysis tools.

Features

  • Comprehensive library of off-the-shelf and bespoke learning content
  • Single hub for employee/manager learning resources via mobile access
  • Integrations with Ciphr solutions, content and third party HR solutions
  • Configurable homepages, learning journeys and programmes with customisable visual representation
  • Classroom management and calendar booking functionality for workshops
  • Leaderboards, award badges and issue certificates to gamify learning
  • Hosts multiple content types including SCORM compliant, video and documents
  • Rules engine and notification templates automate workflows
  • Competency and skills analysis, social learning and mentoring request/assignment tools
  • Reports, dashboards, and analytics available to track activity and progress

Benefits

  • Hub for employee learning and delivery via simple user experience
  • Personalise learning experience with tailored homepages and assigned learning
  • Easy and efficient scheduling and booking of classroom based training
  • Engage learners with visual learning journeys and rewards
  • Create a connected workforce with social learning tools
  • Provide real time reporting, analytics and Management Information
  • Configurable user role management and security access
  • Support talent retention via access to content via mobile devices.
  • Reduce administration time, automate workflows and notifications
  • Easily identify skills gaps to support your talent management process

Pricing

£3,950 a unit a year

  • Education pricing available
  • Free trial available

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

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

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

Contact

CIPHR Jade Trickett
Telephone: 01628814000
Email: sales@ciphr.com

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
What software services is the service an extension to
Ciphr LMS can integrate with a wide range of business systems, including Ciphr (or third party) HRIS, Content Management and Performance Tools.
Cloud deployment model
Public cloud
Service constraints
CIPHR is accessed via supported browsers, latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. Users will require access to the Internet to access the service and to be suitably trained.
System requirements
  • Access to the Internet via supported browsers
  • An appropriate account with AdobeSign or DocuSign to use e-sign

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Responses provided in line with published SLA and subject to priority from under 4 hours to 48 hours. User support is available as standard during working hours Monday to Friday, excluding Public Holidays.
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
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
Ciphr utilises Zendesk Chat. Zendesk uses the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), to publish an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), which documents an audit of our systems relative to WCAG 2.1 AA performed by a third party accessibility vendor.
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Ongoing communication and relationship management will encompass: support via allocated Ciphr Customer Success Manager through regular meetings and review, service Updates via email, Ciphr Social Media, Ciphr Customer Hub via SharePoint online, ‘update’ communication via email, Ciphr Academy – online learning materials and content, regular online webinars to customers.

Ciphr is a 24/7 available solution, subject to any planned downtime covered under the standard Ciphr SLA. Ciphr support is designed to provide clients with a variety of ways of getting the most out of their solutions and included within the annual subscription charge: Customer Care telephone support between 09:00 and 17:30. Monday to Friday (excluding UK bank holidays) , Customer Success support, regular news update bulletins, free legislative and software updates.

The Customer Care team can be contacted by telephone, online support portal and live chat. Service Requests are automatically logged and a response, including a reference number will be emailed to the requester.

As a subscription-based service, all functional and maintenance upgrades will be covered under the annual subscription fee.

Ciphr SaaS Service Levels are set out in Ciphr Terms and Conditions. Standard User Support and Technical Infrastructure Support is included as part of the Annual SaaS Subscription Fee.
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Full implementation services are available to support robust and flexible project planning, management and coordination, risk management and change control, appropriate systems consultancy, guidance and support, data migration, and comprehensive education and learning via the Ciphr Academy. All services will be delivered remotely.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
The Customer may request a copy of the customer data held by Ciphr on the SaaS Services at any time during a paid Subscription Period. Ciphr shall provide the customer with a copy of the Customer Data in the form of a standard CSV file to an SFTP site at no charge to the customer. Users with appropriate security access can export data in a variety of formats, including Excel, CSV and PDF. Provision of data extracts in any other format will require scoping and services at standard daily rate. In compliance with applicable DPL, on contract end, Ciphr will securely return and/or destroy customer data in its possession.
End-of-contract process
At the end of the contract the service will be terminated and in compliance with applicable DPL, all customer data and content will be securely returned and/or or deleted.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
Yes
Differences between the mobile and desktop service
Due to the site being mobile optimised, all features can be accessed via supported browsers on any device.
Service interface
Yes
User support accessibility
None or don’t know
Description of service interface
Intuitive UI providing access to different user roles to different areas of functionality and groups of records and data.
Accessibility standards
None or don’t know
Description of accessibility
Whilst Ciphr endeavours to ensure the LMS web application meets WCAG accessibility standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 and level AA) we cannot ensure that page content created by customers via the content management functionality and learning content added to the platform conforms to this standard. We do however provide advice on branding to help meet standards (i.e. contrast levels etc) which is then up to you to decide if you want to apply this or not.
Accessibility testing
The system has been tested with JAWS Screen Reader and has been in use successfully by organisations
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
Ciphr’s RESTful API facilitates integration with a wide range of different applications. Using industry-standard instructions (known as ‘verbs’) – GET (read data), POST (write data), PUT (update data) and DELETE (delete data) – to interact with other applications via HTTPS. API keys are unique for each client, and for each connection. Extra security can be added with domain name and IP mapping, so only certain machines and users are granted access to data held in Ciphr. API Requests returns data in two formats as required; (XML and JSON). API keys can be purchased individually or via enterprise licencing with configuration services for each key. Customers are able to manage API keys through the user interface to enable and disable as required. Deliverables and associated fees based upon standard available API endpoints only. Changes to fields made available through each key are at Ciphr's discretion, conducted by Ciphr on request and may incur service charges.
Ciphr also offers secure web services, configurable to allow authorised users to download pre-defined data queries. Changes to these queries would be made through the account manager or Customer Care team. These requests would be initiated by the customer and are conducted across port 443 (HTTPS).
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
HTML
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
As a one to many SaaS Service, Ciphr supports tailored customer led configuration vs "customisation". Ciphr is extremely flexible and can be customised through configurable options which include; adding fields, tailoring dashboards, creating learning journeys. Configurable options are unaffected by system updates.

Scaling

Independence of resources
All services are load balanced and support scaling technologies, where appropriate, to ensure that customers actions do not impact the performance of any other tenant within the environment.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
Reports on service metrics are available on request but may incur a charge, subject to the specific metric or frequency of request. Day rate listed in the SFIA.
Reporting types
Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Not a reseller

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)
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
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Other
Other data at rest protection approach
All of the customer databases are encrypted using SQL TDE and the encryption strength used is AES256. Databases can only be decrypted on the SQL servers within Ciphr’s cloud by appropriately trained Ciphr support personnel.
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
Users with appropriate security access and Report Design licence can export data in a variety of formats, including Excel, CSV and PDF.
Data export formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data export formats
  • Microsoft Excel
  • PDF
Data import formats
  • CSV
  • Other
Other data import formats
  • Microsoft Excel
  • PDF
  • Microsoft Word
  • Using CIPHR API

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
Other protection between networks
Customer data is stored in encrypted database unique to that customer. Database and service accounts that are unique to each customer. The entire service is supplied behind multiple firewalls that feature IPS/IDS. All traffic into the environment is over secure channels (Port 443, 22). An active protective monitoring solution is installed and configured to provide alerts based on suspicious activity. These alerts are appropriately actioned and responded to by the Ciphr SaaS Maintenance team.
Data protection within supplier network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Other
Other protection within supplier network
The environment is divided into different network segments that all pass through firewalls with IPS/IDS and strict access control lists. An active protective monitoring solution is installed and configured to provide alerts based on suspicious activity. These alerts are appropriately actioned and responded to by the Ciphr SaaS Maintenance team.

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
System Environment Downtime (SED) is the total number of hours in a calendar month that the Environment is unavailable for the Customer’s use during System Environment Operational Hours (SEO) (0600-0900 daily) and is expressed as a percentage of SEO. SED only includes those hours of unavailability where the cause of any failure is primarily the responsibility of Ciphr or its contractors.
SED is calculated as the total hours of downtime in a
calendar month accumulated as a result of Incidents during SEO, (where those Incidents have had downtime in
excess of 5 minutes) plus (+) Planned, Unplanned or Urgent Works carried out during
SEO Hours in the same period divided by (/) SEO Hours in the same period times (x) 100%. SED so calculated shall not exceed 3% in any calendar month.
Expressly excluded from any SED calculations is
downtime due to force majeure, faults in Third Party Software, Customer Software or
any upgrade thereto, failure by the Customer to fulfil Customer Obligations or other
reasons not within the responsibility of Ciphr and its contractors, including without
limitation the Customer or Customer User’s inability to access the System
Environment due to a public communications facility or network including the
Internet
Approach to resilience
The Ciphr SaaS environment takes advantage of Azure Availability Zones (Separate datacentre within the same region that have independent power, cooling, and networking infrastructure.) In an event of a failure in a single zone all traffic is redirected to the remaining availability zones. In addition, we take regular back-up that use Geo-redundant storage (GRS) to replicate the data to a second region 100s of miles apart.
Outage reporting
The communication of any service outage would initially be handled by our Customer Care team. The method of the communication would typically be via email but dependant on the nature of the outage.

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
Integration with Active Directory and Single Sign on using Azure or Google for authentication is also possible
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Access to the Ciphr SaaS environment is only granted to certain employees based on their job role in the organisation. Those employees with access only have permissions according to the requirement of the work they will be carrying out in the Ciphr SaaS environment. All of the Ciphr employees are trained to a high standard of awareness in relation to security surrounding the information assets and
SaaS environment in general.
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
  • Other
Description of management access authentication
Integration with Active Directory and Single Sign on using Azure or Google for authentication is also possible, as is utilisation of subsequent MFA tools facilitated by Azure for example.

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 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
Between 1 month and 6 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
BSI Group
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
20/10/2023
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
The scope of Ciphr's ISO27001 certification is "The Information Security Management System in relation to the development, provision and support of software and services including all employees, assets and infrastructure in which it operates" and no part of the business is excluded from scope.
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
Our ISO27001:2013 accredited policies and procedures are enforced contractually. All security incidents are raised to Ciphr's information security team who then review and record the details of the incident. An appropriate set of actions will then be carried out in response to the incident. These incidents are regularly reviewed at Ciphr's scheduled Information Security Forum meetings which include board level attendance.

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
All changes to the environment are raised, reviewed and approved/rejected through Ciphr's change control policy. This policy has been externally reviewed and successfully accredited to ISO27001:2013.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
The vulnerability of each asset is addressed according to the effect a security incident would have on an asset or group of assets accordingly and the degree of control/assurance required reducing the vulnerability to the threat. All assets are reviewed on a regular basis to validate that they are appropriately patched and patch's are routinely applied on a weekly basis unless required more urgently. Our Information Security team are continually reviewing multiple official sources for news relating to vulnerabilities and threats.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
The SaaS environment is actively guarded 24/7 by a protective monitoring solution. This produces alerts and reports automatically, based on suspicious traffic and activity within the environment. Alerts are then actioned by our Ciphr SaaS Maintenance Team as appropriate depending on its nature. It is configured to operate at the “Deter” level of GPG13.
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
Security incident management records are centrally maintained, updated and monitored via the ISMS. All employees are aware of what constitutes an actual or potential security incident, how to report the incident and who to report the incident to. The responsibility for the oversight of breaches of technical and physical security rests with the Director of Information Security and IT.

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

Social Value

Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

Fighting climate change

Ciphr is ISO14001 accredited and operates formal policies and standards in respect of environment and sustainability. In addition to formal company commitments and policy, it is the responsibility of all employees to consider the impact of their actions on the environment and to always act in ways that minimise that impact. Ciphr does the following in order to uphold its commitment to minimising its impact on the environment.

The company is committed to reducing and minimising waste wherever possible by evaluating its operations and ensuring they are as efficient as possible. We are committed to recycling and reuse internally, therefore reducing the impact and cost of landfill use caused by the company. The company consider environmental issues as part of its training / induction programme and enlist new recruits’ support in meeting the company’s aim. All staff will be made aware of how / where to recycle during their training / induction.

We consider environmental issues when sourcing products and supplies for the company, by choosing environmentally friendly materials for example. We comply with all relevant environmental legislation. We encourage the adoption of similar principles by our suppliers and customers. All service delivery is via remote online activity. Where any office attendance is required (by exception), we promote environmentally friendly travel to work such as car sharing, cycling and public transport. We will always ensure that business travel is necessary, and consider more environmentally friendly options first.

Tackling economic inequality

Ciphr is an accredited Living Wage Employer. Ciphr operates formal policies and procedures in respect of compliance with the Modern Slavery Act (2015) to which all employees are required to confirm understanding & acceptance. Ciphr also stipulates equivalent compliance and policies on all its suppliers, and also stipulates such compliance within its own contract with its customers.

As an HR specialist, people-centric business, Ciphr operates a comprehensive Apprenticeship Scheme, supports equality of opportunity both locally and nationally, and promotes extensive training & development schemes to facilitate career progression and opportunity. Ciphr operates formal CSR practices, backed by senior management, and supports local and national charitable causes.

All obligations relating to anti-bribery, anti-tax evasion facilitation and anti-corruption including, but not limited to, the Bribery Act 2010, the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Criminal Finances Act 2017, are covered in Clause 15 of our Ciphr SaaS Agreement which can be viewed via Ciphr’s Customer Portal.

Equal opportunity

Ciphr is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all staff and job applicants. We aim to
create a working environment in which all individuals are able to make best use of their skills, free from
discrimination or harassment, and in which all decisions are based on merit.
We do not discriminate against staff on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner
status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or
sexual orientation (protected characteristics).
The principles of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity also apply to the way in which individuals
engaged by and with Ciphr should treat visitors, clients, customers, suppliers and former staff
members.
All individuals engaged with Ciphr have a duty to act in accordance with this policy and treat colleagues
with dignity at all times, and not to discriminate against or harass other individuals, regardless of their status. In addition to policy familiarisation, acceptance and adherence, formal education and learning is provided for all employees as they on board into Ciphr, as well as on an ongoing basis, via the People Team and the online Ciphr Academy Learning platform regarding compliance with applicable law, compliance with policy and with best practice.

Wellbeing

As a people focused business, Ciphr is committed to positively supporting employee physical and mental wellbeing. Ciphr utilises its own technology to gather feedback, including but not restricted to, employee sentiment and internal NPS survey.
Ciphr supports via several channels: support work life balance via the offering of flexible working options that suit both employees and the business, gym membership loan scheme, social events, charity/volunteer leave, birthday leave and National Trust membership.

Benefits including: private medical and/or dental cover, generous annual leave allowance (plus option to buy or sell leave), automatic pension enrolment, group life assurance, personal development with skills training for the role employees are in, as well as looking at where they want to progress to in the future.

Having and promoting a strong culture of health and wellbeing is a key priority when it comes to our people, and we want employees to have access to the benefits, tools and support that are needed to be the best they can be, at home and at work. In addition to the above, as part of our ongoing wellbeing efforts, we having been exploring a range of options to keep us all fit, in mind and body, which now drives a scheduled wellbeing programme, driven by a dedicated wellbeing team. Examples of 2024 activities include regular seminars to cover all aspects of health and fitness – both physical and mental, provided by a specialist third party, plus a set of webinar sessions focused on 'cultivating a positive mindset', again, delivered by a specialist third party organisation.

Pricing

Price
£3,950 a unit a year
Discount for educational organisations
Yes
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
Pre-agreement/order, Ciphr can provide a vanilla demonstration site for evaluation at no charge, for an agreed set period.
Link to free trial
URL will be provided on request

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