Influential Software

Microsoft Azure Cloud hosting

Azure = Global cloud-based products including Office365, SharePoint365, compute, storage (OneDrive etc), databases, analytics, networking, mobile, developer tools, management tools, IoT, security and enterprise applications.

Azure can power workloads including: office, web and mobile applications, data warehousing, storage, archive, etc. Offered with full managed service capability via helpdesk.

Features

• Flexible storage options
• Orchestration tools (Service Fabric)
• Platform as a service
• NoSQL database
• SQL database
• Analytics and machine learning
• Infrastructure as a service
• Web hosting
• Application hosting
• Distributed databases (RDP)

Benefits

• Extensible, elastic environment
• Fully supported by UK-based team
• Integrated HelpDesk service under ITIL-like framework
• Low cost of usage including per-transaction charging
• Service contracts include Azure options and plans
• Many datacentres across the globe
• Massively Scalable in an instant
• Wide range of tools available
• Application and first-3rd line support
• Massive range of tools available

£100 a server a month

Service documents

• Pricing document

  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 andy.richardson@influentialsoftware.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

820531858407001

Contact

Andy Richardson
02078621122‬
andy.richardson@influentialsoftware.com

Service scope

• Service constraints: None.
• System requirements: None - dependent on configuration

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Response within 2-4 hours, dependent on SLA in place. Weekend hours by specific arrangement only.
• 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: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: SLA is offered, covering 4 hour support response, Mon-Fri 08:00-18:0
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Provide consultancy to help set-up, configure and create a new service for users, with bespoke training and documentation
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
  • Other
• Other documentation formats: Microsoft Office
• End-of-contract data extraction: Customisable, according to the kind of tools deployed. Bespoke in each case.
• End-of-contract process: Any end-of-contract services can either be built into the contract or paid for as additional services.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: Full on-line portal offered. Menu based system to locate the correct service and manipulate elements of the service.
• Web interface accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web interface is accessible: Supported browsers; ; Internet Explorer 10; Internet Explorer 11; Firefox; Chrome; Safari 9+
• Web interface accessibility testing: N/A
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: All functions within Azure are fully accessible via API
• API automation tools: Puppet
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • PDF
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
• Using the command line interface: Users can use the CLI to monitor, configure, create or update their estate

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type:
  • Automatic
  • Manual
• Independence of resources: Various dependent on platform selected, from bare-metal builds to encapsulated networks
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting: Email

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

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

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:
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: In-house
• Protecting data at rest: Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: No
• Equipment disposal approach: A third-party destruction service

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up:
  • Virtual machines
  • Clustered servers (mirroring)
  • Attachable storage
  • Archiving tools
• Backup controls: Various - according to the mechanism chosen
• Datacentre setup: Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
• Scheduling backups: Users schedule backups through a web interface
• Backup recovery: Users can recover backups themselves, for example through a web interface

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Dependent on service type: 99.99% or 100% uptime is guaranteed.; ; If less than that is met, Service Credits are offered:; ; < 99.99% 10%; < 99% 25%; < 95% 100%
• Approach to resilience: This is a question for the vendor: Microsoft.; ; Please note all services available under Azure are highly resilient and have many potential strategies dependent on the type of hosting/service that is being used.
• Outage reporting: There is a public service dashboard, but APIs are also available, allowing polling of service status.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Bespoke, dependent on application/deployment
• Access restriction testing frequency: Never
• Management access authentication: Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through: Directly from any device which may also be used for normal business (for example web browsing or viewing external email)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: You control when users can access audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: You control when users can access audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: No
• Security governance approach: We have an on-going 'Security' project, led by the Operations Manager, where were constantly review policies, software, versions etc. This meets weekly and is concerned with server monitoring and security.
• Information security policies and processes: This is entirely bespoke dependent on the type of hosting agreement that is in place. Microsoft have their own policies (well documented), that govern the actual datacentres.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Components are reviewed and patched regularly according to a diarised schedule. A platform head is responsible for each key technology strand and tasked with monitoring the release cycle and vulnerabilities of each key software component.; Weekly meetings review the on-going security measures and potential threats that have been flagged.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Patches are scheduled regularly, at least weekly, but bespoke dependent upon the customer's requirement.; ; Information comes from multiple channels, including security forums, via system experts and other channels.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: Bespoke dependent on customer requirement
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: We have a helpdesk and triage process, audited to recognised standards as part of our partnership with SAP - via their PCOE (Partner Centre of Excellence) programme.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Supplier
• Virtualisation technologies used: Other
• Other virtualisation technology used: Microsoft Azure virtualisation
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: By using the virtualised environment. Can also have bare-metal (dedicated instance) if required.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  Tackling economic inequality

  Tackling economic inequality

  By providing all of our software at the very lowest price to the public sector, we are ensuring that savings are available vs. list price that can be redistributed elsewhere into areas that help to tackle economic inequality

Pricing

• Price: £100 a server a month
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  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 andy.richardson@influentialsoftware.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.