NEC SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS UK LIMITED

NEC Connect SaaS

NEC Connect SaaS comprises POLE(Person, Object, Location, Events data) Services with core module packages: Investigation, Intelligence, Custody, Case Preparation with optional modules; Mobile, Partner Platform, Public Engagement, Property Management, Digital Asset Management, Inform(facial recognition), Proactive Management Plan, Digital Business Services, BLADE(adaptive data migration), Management Information, Missing Persons and Digital Evidence.

Features

• A performant and extensible POLE Data Store.
• POLE Search User Interface (simple, intermediate and complex searches).
• Secure data management web services.
• Comprehensive role and data (record) level access control.
• Accessible Search web services.
• Electronic document storage.
• Digital data storage.
• Management Information (MI) and reporting facilities.
• Comprehensive functional Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and data (record) security.
• Inbuilt configuration and maintenance functionality.

Benefits

• Create, edit and submit a MOPI compliant Police Information Report.
• Record Stop, Account Stop and Search contacts.
• Attach/link documents, images and selected other file types to reports.
• Manage warrants; creation and management of Court and Police warrants.
• Create, edit and submit categories of Crime Report.
• Automated alerts so custody staff are aware of impending events.
• Interfaces national partner systems, namely PNC, Libra (Courts), TWIF (CPS).
• A whiteboard for custody cell management.
• Case preparation workflows utilising work queues reminders, escalations and reports.
• Standard MG form creation facility.

£4 a user a month

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

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

899802019200944

Contact

NEC Frameworks Team
07852 936231
frameworks@necsws.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Private cloud
• Service constraints: NEC Connect provides for the creation of user profiles and therefore the management and administration of user access. In order for those Authorised Users set up within NEC Connect to access the service, such users must have a user profile within an external directory/authentication service such as a Forces AD/FSAD or the National “IAM” (Identity Access Management) system. This facilitates a single sign on to all authorised systems associated with NEC Connect. Customisations are achieved through changes to configuration however there are application rules in place to ensure users cannot apply customisations that would result in breaches of statutory process
• System requirements: Not applicable.

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Email : 1 hour target for logging; Once logged regardless of source, response can be expected in line with response SLA target
• 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: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Service is available 24x7, except for planned/emergency maintenance. Normal Support Hours are Monday-Friday 09:00-17:30 excluding bank holidays except for P1 and P2 calls which are progressed 24x7x365. A Client Services Manager will be allocated to manage the on-going relationship. Support calls are logged via online, telephone or email. Upon receiving a support call it will be prioritised as below:; •P1 (Critical), complete live system failure.; •P2 (High), some parts of the service are non-functional.; •P3 (Medium), system is available at the expense of some inconvenience.; •P4 (Low), unavailability of system administration functions.; •P5 (Service Request), advice and guidance.; The NEC Service Desk will attempt to resolve issues at first contact. Where not possible, the issue will be escalated to the appropriate technical support team. NEC will use reasonable commercial endeavours to provide resolution, obviation and/or mitigation in relation to support calls logged by the client in accordance with following target timescales (response/resolution during Normal Support hours unless otherwise stated):; •P1 – 15 elapsed minutes / 4 elapsed hours.; •P2 – 30 elapsed minutes / 12 elapsed hours.; •P3 - 4 hours / 24 hours.; •P4 - 4 hours / 48 hours.; •P5 - 8 hours / 72 hours.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Typically NEC provides the following activities as part of on-boarding for NEC Connect:; ● Support for the initial delivery of NEC Connect, including familiarisation.; ● Configuration of NEC Connect including business area and cross function workshops.; ● Scoping study to identify Back Record Conversion (BRC) and additional local interface or other client specific technical requirements or actions.; ● Provision of training including, Training Needs Analysis, Workplace Training, Informal Training and Formal (Train the trainer) training.; ● Support for Transition Readiness, including Early Life Support Hypercare.; ● BRC and local interface integration recommendations identified via the scoping studies included in the on-boarding activity will be provided on a fixed price basis utilising the SFIA day rates.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: All data relating to the organisation, as well as any NEC Connect data, will, unless agreed otherwise with you, be permanently deleted from the live NEC Connect system in no less than 10 working days from termination or expiry and in accordance with the legal requirement for data destruction.; Throughout the duration of the contract you can extract a variety of business data by use of NEC Connect. However, if you would like to extract your data in a different manner outside of the standard reporting suite, then this must be agreed with you prior to termination or expiry so we can agree the scope of the data to be extracted together with the format and any associated costs based upon the SFIA day rates.
• End-of-contract process: All data relating to the organisation, as well as any NEC Connect data, will, unless agreed otherwise with the client, be permanently deleted from the live NEC Connect system in no less than 10 working days from termination or expiry and in accordance with the legal requirement for data destruction.; Throughout the duration of the contract the client can extract a variety of business data by use of NEC Connect. However, if the client would like to extract data in a different manner outside of the standard reporting suite, then this must be mutually agreed prior to termination or expiry so NEC can agree the scope of the data to be extracted together with the format and any associated costs based upon the SFIA day rates.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Chrome
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: NEC Connect Go allows recording, submission and updating of events (Investigations, Stop Searches, Intelligence Reports, etc.) whilst offline (no network connection available). When a connection is available, these are sent to NEC Connect POLE data store. NEC Connect Go has been designed from the outset to function whilst offline. This includes ability to allocate Crime References whilst offline. NEC Connect Go makes use of device specific features including GPS to utilise the user's current location when recording an event or searching. It includes utilising the devices camera to record photographs and video that can form part of the event submission.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: NEC Connect exposes its services and UI in standards compliant business and data APIs. Elements of the solution can be re-used by other applications or services (consumed) or exposed within user interfaces presented directly to users. The open nature of the technology and architecture allows NEC Connect to be used as a business solution and foundation components within a wider enterprise architecture vision. As an example; NEC Connect's PNC, TWIF / Libra interfaces can be reused as services by external solutions.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: PDF
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Areas of NEC Connect that are usually customised by users are:; • Units, including relations and geographical relevance.; • Constrained value lists.; • RADAR queries.; • Security role and function group mapping.; • Document production templates.; • Record viewing templates.; • HR interface.; • Workflow rules.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The solution has a fully modular design, allowing components and services to be scaled both upwards and outwards based on industry standard technologies with proven scalable architecture.; All areas can be scaled vertically and horizontally to meet user and transaction volume growth, if required, by increasing the hardware. ; The design includes components such as intelligent load balancers, which allow services to be hosted on multiple nodes represented as a pool; to increase scalability further many pools can be configured together providing silos for services if required. This in turn provides near limitless scalability for each of the components.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

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
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Supplier-defined controls
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with another standard
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
• Equipment disposal approach: In-house destruction process

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: All solution data is held in NEC Connect POLE store and all fields from that POLE store are available for use in export templates (for data extract to CSV or XML). Export templates define the fields to be used and these are made available to specific roles. ; NEC Connect also provides several options for RBAC managed bulk extraction, these are:; •Search based selection of record set where specific results can be exported direct to the users' device. ; •Batch based export, selection criteria can be specified and an export to a secure location scheduled for immediate or regular time dependent processing.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: HTML
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats: XML

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
  • Other
• Other protection between networks: Private MPLS circuits or equivalent
• 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: The service is available 365x24x7, except for planned and emergency maintenance. The service is typically provided at 99.5% availability.
• Approach to resilience: NEC’s hosting platform is provisioned to be highly available, using virtual servers, redundant clustered hardware, database replication and SAN SnapMirror technology to ensure all data is protected and consistent across dual data centre's. NEC has dual dataccentres in two separate geographical locations, so if one datacentre is affected we can failover to our secondary datacentre. In addition to SAN and database replication, we run a resilient backup service based HP Data Protector.; The solution includes de-duplication technology to normalise and minimise the amount of data transferred to tape. Multiple tape libraries are operated on a resilient segregated and secure VLAN. This provides backup / recovery flexibility, scalability, security and performance, supporting high levels of systems availability. HP Data Protector will be configured to complete daily incremental backups and full weekly backups of all hosted data.
• Outage reporting: Outages will be treated as a Major Incident and managed by the ISO20000:2018 certified process. A named user will receive an email and an SMS message notifiying them of the status of the MI until resolution. The incident will also be logged on the Service Desk system where the status is also visible to the user.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: We have a Secure Managed Environment which we use to manage all Secure Plus services. This environment has been independently accredited by a CESG-approved accreditor and is completely separated from the Service environment. ; Support staff access this environment through devices that have been hardened and locked down according to CESG guidance. Support staff have additional security clearance to SC MOD/NPPV Level 3.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password

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 receive audit information on a regular basis
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• 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: BSI
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 07/06/2021; valid until June 2024. Certificate IS 598449.
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: The NEC Information Security Management System (ISMS) is registered to ISO 27001:2013 and therefore audited by BSI at least annually. All NEC staff are required to comply with the ISMS.
• 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 and Cyber Essentials Plus
  • Business Continuity Management ISO22301:2019
  • Environmental Management ISO14001:2015
  • Information Security Management ISO27001:2013
  • Service Management ISO20000:2018
  • Quality Management ISO9001:2015

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: The NEC Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) operates at board level and has overall responsibility and accountability for all aspect of security governance. The SIRO is supported by an Information Security Steering Group (ISSG) which is headed by the Security Director and has representatives from all areas within the organisation. The ISSG is responsible for agreeing policies with the SIRO and ensuring they are implemented across the business. An operational Security Working Group (SWG) is responsible for managing any incidents that may occur and in an advisory capacity to provide advice and guidance to the organisation.

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: NEC is certified for ISO20000:2018 for Service Management, which covers both our Configuration Management and Change Management processes. This is audited both internally by our Data Protection Officer (DPO) and Head of the Compliance, Risk and Audit team, and externally by the UKAS accredited audit body British Standards Institute, (BSI). NEC follows an ITIL-based approach, and the NEC service desk personnel have undergone the relevant ITIL qualifications for their roles. Our CMDB is updated accordingly throughout the lifetime of the asset, up to and including decommissioning and disposal.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: NEC has entered into security knowledge sharing partnerships to react to new and increasing threat levels. NEC are members of the NCSC Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CiSP) for early identification and advice on security threats, incidents and solutions. The NEC InfoSec team subscribes to a number of key suppliers and cyber security websites, which send daily alerts on the latest vulnerabilities. NEC are members of the Cyber Network Reporting Service (CNR) that helps the NCSC to rapidly notify organisations that might be affected by malicious software.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: NEC implements a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system which provides alerts and reports that enable log sources to be processed in accordance with GPG13. Custom rules can be defined to detect and alert on suspicious behaviour. The InfoSec team reviews the SIEM alerts and reports on a daily basis to check for any anomalous behaviour. The NEC security monitoring policies and practices are aligned with incident management policies and practices. Any significant security issues identified will result in the NEC InfoSec team raising a security incident in the NEC service management system to initiate the detailed analysis process.
• 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: Incident Management is part of our ISO27001:2013 certified Information Security Management system (ISMS). All incidents are handled within the same process. Users report incidents through the Service Desk, and a Security Incident is then raised on the ISMS. This is reviewed by the Security Team and is managed in accordance with the Security Incident Management Process. The security incident is kept updated, and once the Security Incident is closed a full report is produced which is used to identify any lessons learnt.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: Yes
• Connected networks:
  • Public Services Network (PSN)
  • Other
• Other public sector networks: Public Services Network for Policing (PSNfP)

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  NEC has committed to being Net Zero by 2030. We project our carbon emissions will reduce by 50% from our baseline by 2026. ; We have implemented a multitude of initiatives to support this:; • Appointing an Environmental Manager and Environmental Champions.; • Successfully obtaining certification for and implementing ISO14001:2015 Environmental Management System (EMS). ; • Developing a Carbon Reduction Plan, which is published on our website and an Environmental Strategy.; • Maintaining an Environmental Aspect and Impact Register (down to site level) through which to capture elements of our operating practices which could negatively impact the environment.; • Working with government accredited consultants to understand environmental impact and using outputs to inform future improvement activities.; • Collaborative activities to influence customers, supply chain partners and employees.; Specific initiatives applicable to our contract delivery approach include:; • Energy used on the contract will be from green energy sources.; Business travel will reduce where possible through utilisation of technology such as:; • Video conferencing.; • Sharing documents.; • Conference call facilities.; • Working from home/flexible working arrangements.; • Approval controls in place for commercial flights.; • Use of environmentally friendly data centres.; Our Environmental Policy objectives, relevant to the contract include:; • Meeting all relevant legal requirements and monitoring our compliance.; • Minimising our environmental impacts for the life cycle (including disposal) of work equipment and other physical assets under our control.; • Demonstrating efficient use of energy, water, and other natural resources.; • Maximising opportunities to minimise our waste by reusing or recycling waste, where practical.; • Ensuring our supply chain is aware of our environmental policy and our commitment to ensuring its effective implementation.; • Increasing environmental awareness and commitment amongst colleagues through training and briefings.; Continuing to identify opportunities to improve our environmental performance through clear objectives, plans and targets.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  Since the emergence of Covid-19 as a global health crisis, we have supported our customers and the local communities they serve to adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic. As a supplier of software and services to the public sector, this has included rapid development and deployment of software solutions to enable the efficient and effective delivery of new government schemes and changes in legislation, such as provision of Test and Trace Support Payments and new hospitality sector licensing requirements. ; Initiatives we have implemented to support the policy outcomes include:; • Increasing our pre-pandemic workforce numbers through recruitment of an additional 250 UK based roles, many of whom were unemployed following redundancy from other sectors such as hospitality.; • Re-training and redeploying temporarily displaced colleagues rather than imposing redundancies or taking advantage of the furlough scheme.; • Commitment to investing over £400,000 in training and apprenticeships.; • Working collaboratively with customers to introduce new ways of working.; • Delivering community based social value through donations in kind to voluntary sector organisations impacted by the pandemic. ; As part of our response to the pandemic we invested in and introduced several initiatives and workplace adaptations to protect employee health and safety, including:; • Introducing wider use of remote and flexible working, including making additional allowances for those caring for young children.; • Enhancing office safety, including installing sanitising stations, hygiene screens and digital thermometers.; • Increasing the frequency of colleague communications, with a focus on provision of mental health support and reducing the risks of isolation/loneliness.; • Providing all employees with free access to additional specialist resources, including 24x7 counselling and mental health services.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  We recognise the expertise, innovation and value that can be gained from having a diverse supply chain and providing all suppliers with a fair and equal opportunity to become suppliers to us and our customers. We operate openly and transparently to enable this collaboration with third-party suppliers including large enterprises, sub-contractors, SMEs, VCSEs, mutuals and social enterprise organisations. ; Additionally, we are committed to nurturing new and existing talent and creating a sustainable learning and development culture, equipping our staff with the appropriate skills, knowledge and processes so the company continues to deliver innovative, industry leading solutions.; Processes and practices we have adopted to tackle economic inequality include:; • Using outcome-based specifications and co-design methods to encourage suppliers, communities, users and third sector organisations to collaborate and propose solutions based upon end user requirements, rather than being prescriptive.; • Advertising supply chain opportunities openly and always operating transparently. ; • Including modules covering anti-bribery and corruption, whistleblowing, equality and diversity in our all-colleague compulsory Annual Compliance Training.; • Having policies and operating practices that support effective supply chain relationships through fair selection and responsible management. For example, only flowing down appropriate contract terms. ; • Paying at least 95% of all invoices within agreed terms and agreeing to reduced payment terms for SMEs and subcontractors.; • Never deducting sums from payments as a charge for remaining on our supplier list. ; • Investing in new jobs and training opportunities through an active Apprenticeship scheme.; • Creating opportunities for career progression and investing in reward and recognition initiatives that support employee retention. ; • Following the foundational principles of the Good Work Plan in respect of employee satisfaction, fair pay, well-being and safety, career progression, voice, and autonomy.; • Having appropriate controls in place to mitigate cyber security risks.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  We want to be an employer of choice for people of all backgrounds, regardless of sexuality, disability, nationality, race, gender or religion. We are committed to ensuring workers either directly employed or employed within our supply chains are treated fairly, humanely, and equitably.; To encourage a diverse and varied workforce our approach to equal opportunity includes:; • Ensuring job adverts reach a diverse audience, including utilising job sites which encourage interest from disadvantaged and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups.; • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, supporting candidates with disabilities through provision of supportive technology and/or changes to working practices.; • Collecting, analysing and senior reporting of equality and diversity data obtained during recruitment activities.; • Making appointments on the grounds of selecting the most suitable candidate for the post.; • Gender-neutral role definitions.; • Ensuring policies and employee communications promote respect and equality for all.; Other activities supporting equal opportunity within the workforce include:; • Tackling gender pay gap, through annual audits. Women now comprise over a third of our leadership team, including our Chief Executive. ; • Compliance with Modern Slavery Act 2015 and 9 core principles of Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code.; • Ensuring effective controls are in place to mitigate and manage risks of exploitation within the supply chain, including supplier questionnaires and evidence requirements.; • Provision of appropriate channels for colleagues to have an effective voice, such as our Employee Steering Group.; • Investment in workforce development and training, including an active Apprenticeship and Graduate Recruitment programme.; • No use of zero hours contracts or fire and rehire practices.; • Being a Real Living Wage Employer.; • Flexible working practices.; • Transparent and structured promotion, pay and reward processes.; • Senior level sponsorship at board level supporting and promoting equal opportunity beyond basic statutory requirements.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  Physical Fitness and Mental Stability is one of our sustainable development goals.; Our approach to supporting good health and wellbeing which will be applicable to the contract workforce includes:; • Providing employees with free and confidential access to specialist resources 24x7, including counselling and mental health services through our Employee Assistance Programme. ; • Providing private healthcare cover for employees. Cover includes Doctor at Hand service to provide employees with fast and convenient access to advice, assistance and medical treatment, GP appointments anytime and anywhere.; • Maintaining compliance with the six standards of the Mental Health at Work commitment and a dedicated module to promote health and wellbeing as part of our all-colleague compulsory compliance training.; • Accommodating workplace adjustments, such as supportive technology for those with a disability or health condition.; • Encouraging good physical health by providing discounted corporate gym membership over 3,300 participating gyms through our employee GymFlex scheme.; We incorporate national health and wellbeing campaigns within our communications calendar, raising employee awareness and signpost to useful support pathways. Our 2022/23 calendar include raising awareness of the following nationally recognised campaigns:; • Stress Awareness Day.; • Mental Health Awareness week.; • World Menopause Day.; • National Eye Health week.; • World Diabetes Day.; • Stress Awareness Month.; • Suicide Prevention Day.; • Men's Health week.; Within one of our acquired businesses, we have Mental Health First Aiders who have trained to spot signs of mental ill health and provide early support for colleagues who may be developing a mental health issue. ; Supporting employee health and wellbeing is underpinned by clear action plans for improvement and several Human Resources policies, such as our:; • Health and Safety Policy; • Alcohol, Drugs & Solvent Abuse Policy; • Menopause Policy; • Absence Policy ; • Flexible Working Policy; • Gender Reassignment Policy.

Pricing

• Price: £4 a user 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

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