Phoenix Software Ltd

Phoenix Managed Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) Service (formerly AVD Essentials)

Proactive management and optimisation of Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) on Azure. Operational best practice for AVD and Windows 10 / 11 image management. Focusing on cost saving and security recommendations. Cost-saving and right-sizing, incident, event and problem management as with technical support from Azure EUC specialists. Monitoring, Alerting and Patching.

Features

• AVD environment management, best practice and Windows 10/11 image support
• Reporting Dashboard for Azure spend analysis and optimisation
• AVD Right Sizing
• Proactive Optimisation of Azure spend and Azure security posture
• Event, Incident and Problem Management. Windows 10/11 OS Patching
• Technical Support from EUC and Azure Specialists
• Proactive Management, Security Incident Management
• Azure Health and Performance Monitoring
• Defined SLAs
• Logging and Alerting

Benefits

• Ensures your AVD environment is optimised for cost
• Highlights any security misconfigurations to ensure security
• Access to Azure and EUC 3rd line Tech Support Specialists
• A partnership to ensure you get the most from AVD
• Quarterly Service Reviews
• Transition to Azure knowing that you are doing it right
• Ensures your users stay working
• Advice on application placement

£1 a user

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 ccs@phoenixs.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

812453154229489

Contact

Jonny Scott
01904 562200
ccs@phoenixs.co.uk

Planning

• Planning service: Yes
• How the planning service works: As part of any customers decision to migrate desktop and applications to Azure or another cloud platform, Phoenix can add value and consultancy services to plan their route. Our expertise is based on practical, real world scenarios and we're not focused on moving customers to cloud. We're focused on moving customers to what's right for them, be that cloud, on-premise or a hybrid solution. Our Managed AVD Service is right for large Azure users or those just starting out, but before you get to that stage we can assist in advising on the right decisions for your business.
• Planning service works with specific services: No

Training

• Training service provided: Yes
• How the training service works: As part of the service, and our partnership with customer Phoenix provides training and advice in the use of Azure and our Cloud Management Platform tool
• Training is tied to specific services: No

Setup and migration

• Setup or migration service available: Yes
• How the setup or migration service works: In conjunction with our Managed AVD Service, Phoenix can assist in the creation, setup and configuration of AVD in Azure, drawing on our experience of doing this countless times for UK public sector customers. We can advise on migration planning and rollout too. The service itself is particularly useful for customers who are planning on ramping up their AVD desktop usage
• Setup or migration service is for specific cloud services: No

Quality assurance and performance testing

• Quality assurance and performance testing service: Yes
• How the quality assurance and performance testing works: Our Managed AVD Service is ISO20000 certified.

Security testing

• Security services: Yes
• Security services type:
  • Security strategy
  • Security risk management
  • Security design
  • Cyber security consultancy
  • Security testing
  • Security incident management
  • Security audit services
• Certified security testers: Yes
• Security testing certifications:
  • CHECK
  • CREST

Ongoing support

• Ongoing support service: Yes
• Types of service supported:
  • Buyer hosting or software
  • Hosting or software provided by your organisation
  • Hosting or software provided by a third-party organisation
• How the support service works: As part of this service, Phoenix provides customers with access to our own in-house developed Cloud reporting portal which provided rich information around AVD desktop workloads running on Azure, our CMP tool and various toolsets designed to help our customer support and manage their Azure environments. We also provide a 24/7 support desk service for our Azure customers on this service which is included as standard

Service scope

• Service constraints: As AVD on Azure is a cloud based service, our Managed Service including technical support, optimisation and workshops are all delivered remotely.

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Response times for support incidents raised for our customers AVD environments covered by our Managed AVD Service are defined for incident priority and range from 1 hour to 24 hours depending on incident severity
• 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
• Support levels: Each customer is assigned a dedicated Customer Success Manager who is a contact point for escalation. Phoenix have robust ticket management processes and procedures so customers should not need to escalate logged tickets, however to provide assurance there are a number of formal escalation levels from IT Service Desk up to the CTO.; ; Support for AVD and underlying Azure is included with all of our Managed AVD Service Levels

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: None

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: BSI
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 21/01/2022
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: The Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) applies to our services which include software licensing, hardware, software asset management and IT Consultancy. The sectors serviced are Public Sector, Charities and Housing Associations, Education and Corporate. Sales and services are delivered by the employees, systems, and business processes.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: Security Metrics
• PCI DSS accreditation date: 29/03/2022
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: Based on the information provided by the merchant listed below involving its security policies, procedures, and regulations,; SecurityMetrics has found the merchant to be compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), endorsed by; Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB card brands.
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: ISO 20000

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Fighting climate change ; Effective stewardship of the environment with activities that deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract including working towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions. ; We can support customers environmental goals by providing annual carbon emissions on contract and reduction plans.; ; We will run free of charge sustainability infrastructure reviews for customers to understand how they can reduce carbon emissions of their IT services. ; ; We are working towards 2040 Net-Zero GreenHouseGas emissions. ; Since 2021 we have been Carbon Neutral with Gold Standard Certified carbon credits - partner Ecologi.; By 2026 we aimed to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% from a 20/21 baseline year and which we have now achieved.; By 2030 we aim to reduce all of our emissions (including Scope 3) by 50% this is from a 22/23 baseline year.; ; Achievement of 2030 50% reduction targets (based on last FY) would mean a minimum carbon reduction of 142tCO2e per year for the public sector. ; ; We record and monitor our usage/ conversion to carbon emissions monthly and progress is published annually on the website in accordance with PPN06/21 and SECR guidelines. We are ISO14001 certified, and our targets are currently being verified by SBTi.; ; Overall, the business:; -Generates solar energy (85%) with REGO renewable purchased energy.; -Zero waste to landfill waste management; -Minimises travel emissions by 60%; -Uses water wisely – reduced by 15%; ; Influence staff, suppliers, customers and communities through the delivery of the contract to support environmental protection and improvement. ; ; We work hard to influence others and change behaviours to help fight climate change. ; ; Workforce:; -Sustainability inductions; -Sustainability training ; -Staff campaigns ; -Volunteering opportunities ; -Family woodland tree planting; ; Suppliers:; -Supply-chain reviews ; -Sustainability training; -Blogs/ media content ; -Sustainability training ; ; Customers: ; -Sustainability Infrastructure Review; -Hardware Carbon-Assessments; -Circular-Economy support; -Sustainability training

  Covid-19 recovery

  COVID-19 ; Help local communities to manage and recover from the impact of COVID-19 with activities in the delivery of the contract which: ; Create employment, re-training and other return to work opportunities for those left unemployed by COVID-19, particularly new opportunities in high growth sectors. ; - Phoenix Employability Outreach Programme - Unique access to Microsoft Career Essentials programme; Support organisations and businesses to manage and recover from the impacts of COVID-19, including where new ways of working are needed to deliver services. ; -Phoenix Small Business Digital Skills Outreach programme – webinars supporting cyber security, accessibility and licensing.; -Phoenix VCSE Digital Skills Outreach Programme – webinars supporting cyber security, accessibility and licensing.; Support the physical and mental health of people affected by COVID-19, including reducing the demand on health and care services.; -Phoenix Digital Skills Outreach Programme – Supporting people to access services services online e.g NHS app and Banking apps. ; Examples of our working with London and Quadrant Housing Association to deliver befriending calls for tenants who were lonely and isolated as a result of Covid19.; We have also worked with Liverpool City Council to promote employability courses to those left unemployed by Covid-19 and who are now in employment.; We provided free of charge IT service desk to 15 charities during the pandemic and have worked closely with them to support them with returning to full operation again.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Tackling economic inequality ; Create new businesses, new jobs and new skills with activities that, in the delivery of the contract: ; Create opportunities for entrepreneurship and help new, small organisations to grow, supporting economic growth and business creation.; -60% of our supply chain are SME’s; -We are signatories and adhere to the Prompt Payment Code; -Host Dragons Den SME supply chain sessions for new suppliers to showcase their services for our customers.; Create employment opportunities particularly for those who face barriers to employment and/or who are located in deprived areas. ; - The Phoenix Employability Outreach Programme provide unique access to Microsoft Career Essentials digital literacy programme, career talks and employability advice.; Create employment and training opportunities, particularly for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors. ; -Graduate work placements; -Phoenix Employability Outreach Programme - Unique access to Microsoft Career Essentials programme for certifications to skill up for roles in the IT sector.; -We work with our supply-chain to create job roles with shared apprenticeship heads and promotion to permanent employment.; Support educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications. ; -Apprenticeships whereby we aim for c.10 graduating apprentices and all are moved into permanent employment with Phoenix.; -Skills City Bootcamp where we deliver career talks and provide projects to 19+ year olds seeking to upskill for employment in the technology sector.; Influence staff, suppliers, customers and communities through the delivery of the contract to support employment and skills opportunities in high growth sectors.; -Our programmes are delivered in partnership with our customers, supply chain and workforce, including Career talks, mentoring and IT challenge activities.

  Equal opportunity

  Equal opportunity ; Reduce the disability employment gap with activities that: ; Demonstrate action to increase the representation of disabled people in the contract workforce. ; -We are certified Disability Confident Employers (level 2).; -We provide Digital Accessibility training for all staff so we can communicate with each other and our customers in an inclusive manner.; -We are exploring the use of the Voluntary Reporting Framework for understanding the disability makeup of the workforce.; Tackling workforce inequalities with activities that demonstrate action to identify and tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce. ; - We focus on ensuring an inclusive and unbiased recruitment strategy, with unconscious-bias training, blind recruitment processes, and reviewing language and placement of advertisements. ; ; -All staff trained receive mandatory EDI training annually.; ; Various initiatives include ; -Signatories of the Race at Work Charter, ; -Disability Confident Committed Employer ; -Signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant; -Gender-Neutral toilets; -Prayer room; -Milk-pumping room; -Sponsor York Pride; -We have specific policies for Menopause, and LGBTQ+. ; -We have established an Accessibility-Centre-of-Excellence to display the latest technology ; -We monitor our workforce statistics and report on them:; Gender 65% male /35% female (industry-average 20%); Ethnicity 5.6% (local-area 3.9%); Staff turnover 12.3% (industry-average 13.2%); Using the Voluntary Reporting Framework, we are working on what and how we can report metrics around disabled people in the workforce, including those with hidden disabilities. ; ; We have been recertified as a Great Place to Work™ and UK's Best Workplaces™ for Women.

  Wellbeing

  Wellbeing ; The mental health and well-being (MHWB) of our staff is of the utmost importance to us and our MHWB Policy aims to provide a working environment that promotes and supports the MHWB of all employees. ; Activities that demonstrate action to support the health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce at Phoenix include: ; -We utilise different resources not least those from Mental Health at Work Commitment, NHS Every Mind Matters, and the MIND employer toolkit to improve our employee MHWB programme. ; -All our staff heavily discounted private health insurance includes mental wellness. Plan members access a range of health treatments including face to face counselling and cognitive behaviour therapy. ; -Phoenix invests in the St Johns Ambulance Mental Health First Aid training course to ensure we have MH first aiders in the business and the skills to address MH in the workplace. ; -The new challenges the pandemic has raised, on our employee’s MHWB, has led to the creation of a staff network group who meet monthly, to ensure that all we do and say truly covers all aspects of MHWB. ; -All employees are given a monthly wellbeing hour to take for their own personal time and are also supported with monthly tea and toast sessions discussing and normalising MHWB topics.; ; We influence staff, suppliers, customers and communities through the delivery of the contract to support health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health.; -We provide Digital Accessibility training for all staff so we can communicate with each other and our customers in an inclusive manner.; -We have established an Accessibility-Centre-of-Excellence to display the latest technology to the workforce, supply chain and our customers; -We deliver digital accessibility training to customers; -We are sponsors of the Neurodiversity Awards

Pricing

• Price: £1 a user
• Discount for educational organisations: 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 ccs@phoenixs.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.