Commerce Decisions Limited

AWARD strategic eEvaluation service

Proven on over £700bn procurement, the AWARD strategic eEvaluation solution is uniquely designed to support strategic, complex, or high-risk procurements. Its innovative capabilities (RVfM, Weighting and SCD modules) and embedded thought-leadership deliver robust, compliant evaluation decision-making. AWARD complements end-to-end sourcing platforms to meet the needs of the most complex procurements.

Features

• OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE secure service (inc all OFFICIAL descriptors)
• Delivers customisable real-time online reports (eg. results, issues, progress)
• Provides powerful templated bidder debriefs reports/letters, and automatic audit trail
• Specifially developed to support complex, strategic, high risk procurements
• Allows remote user/stakeholder access and collaborative working
• Allows supplier self registration and secure communication with bidders
• Full data room / document management capability
• Management of internal and external project communication
• Embedded best practice, inc our SCD and RVfM methodologies
• Weighting Workshop and Requirements Development modules

Benefits

• Delivers proven time savings, on average 40%
• Reduces project and contract risk
• Assures control and reduces complexity
• Reduces risk
• Provides automatic audit trail, best practice bidder debrief capability
• Supports sustainability targets and robust, ethical procurement
• Supports and enforces best practice procurement processes
• Proven across UK public sector on over £500 billion procurement
• Proven to support best value for money procurement decision-making
• Specifically developed to support strategic, complex, high-risk procurement

£403 to £2,417 a licence a year

• Education pricing available

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 sbevan-talbot@commercedecisions.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

901137124914160

Contact

Samantha Bevan-Talbot
01235 431100
sbevan-talbot@commercedecisions.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: None
• System requirements:
  • Internet connection
  • Any modern browser

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: The standard AWARD Helpdesk operates between 09:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday excluding UK public holidays (reduced service between Christmas and New Year). During these hours, email queries will typically be responded to within 4 hours, but usually within one hour.; Support emails received outside these hours will be responded to when the Helpdesk is back online as above.; Enhanced Helpdesk options are available.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• 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: Customers have access to a UK based Helpdesk that operates 0900 to 1700, Monday to Friday, excluding UK Bank Holidays (with a reduced service between Christmas and New Year). We offer telephone support backed up by a dedicated support email address, included in the licence fees.; Our enhanced 'ExpertAssist' and 'ExpertAssist Plus' support services (including KnowledgeBase, training, healthchecks, access to LMS) and/or a technical support consultant is available at additional cost.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Commerce Decisions offers onsite or offsite training, online training for evaluators, online user documentation and context-sensitive help.; We can provide a bespoke package of training, super-user training, accreditation, one-to-one support as may be required.; Our training (technical and best practice) can also be provided via our LMS.; Whilst administrators or project managers may undertake more comprehensive training, particularly on an organisational deployment, the requirement for formal evaluator training is almost negligible.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Reports can be run containing all the data entered into AWARD; these can be saved in Word and/or Excel formats. Data can also be exported in zip format, where the zip contains tsv files which hold all the relevant project data. ; ; Commerce Decisions can also provide an AWARD archive/audit licence for continued read only on-line access.; ; There may be an additional cost for the extraction of data and/or the archive/audit licence option, dependent on the amount of data.
• End-of-contract process: On expiry or termination of a licence, the customer data is held within the service in read-only format, generally for the duration of the relevant contract or framework. ; ; Additional read-only access can be agreed beyond framework/contract termination – actual terms and applicable costs to be agreed on a case-by-case basis.; ; Customers have the ability to export data in Word and Excel formats and to extract documents from the service if they wish for backup or archival processes.; ; Where a customer wishes to contract the work, Commerce Decisions provides a data archival/audit service that customers can contract for as part of initial contract or on termination.; ; Where an archive/audit option is not taken, data will be deleted following reasonable notice of deletion being served, or on agreement with the client.

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: None
• 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: Web Services can be used to allow AWARD to pull/push data to and from other systems.; AWARD has been built with integration in mind - the software has a formal API that is agnostic to the client and will allow the wrapping of either Web Services or other technologies (JSON being an example). With over 200 touch points, Commerce Decisions has the facility to provide a bespoke solution to each client's requirements with single-sign on capability.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: PDF
• API sandbox or test environment: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Clients can request to have their own logo applied to their instance of the AWARD service. ; Within AWARD it is possible to heavily customise some of the terminology, and also to provide bespoke evaluator/bidder acknowledgements for compliance/conflict of interest/other purposes.; AWARD can be configured to support almost any procurement process.; The language of AWARD can be localised.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: AWARD is hosted in a Tier 3 data centre on multiple high-capacity, high resilience servers, with dual networking and backup power supply.; ; AWARD is built on a scalable architecture with each tenant assigned its own database.; ; We actively monitor the services for unexpected emerging performance issues to ensure the system remains stable and consistent.; ; We routinely test against a far higher load than required in order to ensure a robust and resilient service.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Usage metrics can be provided on request to authorised users.; Metrics can be provided on users (names and numbers), projects (names, numbers, sizes), documents (names, sizes, numbers of), login/logout, etc.; Full audit data is available.; An additional service, Insights, is available which provides this information on a monthly basis.
• Reporting types:
  • Regular reports
  • 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
• 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 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
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: Data Centre certifications; ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Standard ; ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Information Security Management ; Data Centre Security; Independent client card identification access system ; Secure & monitored single-person point of entry, physically guarded ; 24/7 and integrated digital video camera surveillance; CCTV coverage for the perimeter, common areas and facilities ; & management suites
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: 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: Reports can be run containing all the data entered into AWARD; these can be saved in Word and/or Excel formats. Projects can also be exported in zip format, where the zip contains tsv files which hold all the relevant project data.
• Data export formats: Other
• Other data export formats:
  • Word
  • Excel
  • TSV
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats:
  • All Microsoft Office formats
  • PDF
  • All other formats except executable and script files

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)
  • Other
• Other protection within supplier network: Private WAN service; Data is held in a high-spec Tier 3 secure data centre on dedicated hardware in locked racks.; Access to the server racks is from nominated Security Cleared individuals.; Data related to the service is only accessible to identified individuals with clear roles and responsibilities, all of whom carry SC Clearance.; Commerce Decisions' entire operation is accredited to ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: The AWARD service data centre has a 99.9% uptime guarantee. ; ; We can agree service level credits on a contract-by-contract basis as required.
• Approach to resilience: AWARD operates from a serviced data centre which has four redundant HV power systems, from separate grids. 8 x 2.5MVA 11kV Generators with N+1 redundant standby generators with minimum 24hrs autonomy at full capacity.; ; Redundant Power Supplies & Internet Connections in case of localised failures.; ; Dual redundancy in all hardware elements. No single points of failure.; ; Data replicated in real time to Failover service and Disaster Recovery site.; ; Incremental daily and weekly backups of all data and replicated to Disaster Recovery site.
• Outage reporting: Automated monitoring systems check availability every minute. ; ; Email and SMS alerts are sent to service administrators if any issues are found.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Username or password
  • Other
• Other user authentication: User are required to log in using a combination of unique username and strong password (password requirements configurable). A user's access is further controlled by application security logic based on the users role(s) within the system.; Users can also have their access restricted to defined IP addresses as required.
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Each user within AWARD is assigned a specific role which determines and controls the level of access they have.; Administrators have secure username and password access via a restricted link to administer the service.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: 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 have access to real-time 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: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: British Standards Institute
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 05/03/2020
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• 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
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: Cyber Essentials Plus
• Information security policies and processes: We implement an ISO 27001 compliant security system which is accredited annually by British Standards Institute.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: We implement an ISO 27001 compliant security system which includes change management controls as well as ISO9001 compliant quality controls.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: We implement an ISO 27001 compliant security system which includes patch management processes and an intrusion detection system.; We routinely monitor all elements of the IT Infrastructure for patches, particularly those related to security improvements or new industry standards and these are routinely applied to ensure continued integrity of the service.; Additionally there is annual ITHC (Health check/penetration test) with corrective actions taken on any findings.; An Incident Response Plan exists to respond to any perceived/real threat or related incident. The plan has been developed with a CLAS consultant and all key staff have undergone training.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: There is an intrusion detection system on the firewall which protects the service.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: We implement an ISO 27001 compliant security system which includes incident management controls.

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
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Commerce Decisions is passionate about protecting the environment, as evidenced by our policies and our action towards our Net Zero targets. As a provider of SaaS and expert professional services, our environmental impact is focussed on that of our employees, customers, suppliers as well as our impact in towards community sustainability. ; Our highlights include: ; Providing remote working and hybrid working options for all employees. Where travel is required, it is assessed on the most efficient method per scenario, including car sharing, electric vehicles, and public transport. ; Our suppliers for digital services meet our requirements for sustainable cloud computing. We work at contracting stage to understand that our digital suppliers have their own Carbon Reduction Plan, to align to Net Zero goals through our supply chain. ; Commerce Decisions regularly provides sustainability updates and guidance to our employees through various initiatives and channels. Within our community, we promote employee volunteer days to improve local sustainability through initiatives. ; Our customers are encouraged to consider sustainability and Net Zero goals through their own procurement activities and are supported by this with our AWARD® Software-as-a-Service and our expert professional services. ; As we engage in the call-off for our services, we will ensure that we are aligned to our approach to fighting climate change, and we will proactively work with the buyer to define agreed Social Value deliverables and metrics as part of the engagement.

  Equal opportunity

  At Commerce Decisions our number one value is “Respect of the Individual”, we are committed to a culture of belonging where everyone’s value is respected and realised. This extends to how we find and engage with new talent, our teams, customers, suppliers and members our wider community. ; Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey focuses on continual engagement across our teams through a variety of channels. Emphasis has been placed on learning, to ensure we are aware of important aspects such as biases, privileges, psychological and physical safety and active listening. We regularly request feedback from our teams in three key areas: comfort of being able to voice opinions, comfort in being able to bring their whole self to work and being encouraged to try new things in the spirit of continuous improvement. Our teams will meet to discuss and share their experiences and are encouraged to feedback areas which require action. ; We place an emphasis on our team owning our DEI journey, and within this we challenge ourselves towards making meaningful improvements in terms of how we hire, develop and coach our employees, and in how we collaborate with our customers, all towards growing our culture of belonging. ; Our hiring networks includes the use of degree apprenticeships and coding boot camps, as well as using specialists to help ensure DEI, including accessibility, is considered across our hiring process. ; Our organisational policies and procedures are designed to promote equal opportunity and provide protection of all members. ; As we engage in the call-off for our services, we will ensure that we are aligned in our approach to equal opportunity, we will work with the buyer to define Social Value deliverables and reporting metrics as part of the engagement.

  Wellbeing

  At Commerce Decisions, we promote wellness across our teams, we are acutely aware of pressures in our modern-day society. ; To help understand and address pressures, our leadership team undertake a Workplace Mental Health Leadership Certificate program, and members of our team are trained in Mental Health First Aid. We provide confidential benefits to our employees, enabling them to directly seek professional support anonymously. Our employees also have access to volunteer days, to help share and support Wellness initiatives in our local communities. ; Our Wellness engagement is driven by the Commerce Decisions Wellbeing Team, which contains representatives from across all areas of the business including leadership. The Wellness Team drives a consistent message through various channels, including at regularly All Hands Meetings. The goal of the team is to bring a friendly and trusted approach, helping all our team to feel part of a culture of belonging. ; As we engage in the call-off for our services, we will ensure that we are aligned in our approach to equal opportunity, we will work with the buyer to define Social Value deliverables and reporting metrics as part of the engagement.

Pricing

• Price: £403 to £2,417 a licence a year
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• 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 sbevan-talbot@commercedecisions.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.