SOFTCAT PLC

iboss Zero Trust Advanced

Replacing legacy Proxy and VPN technology to achieve Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Features

• builds on Core and moves use to Zero-Trust-Network-Access (ZTNA)

Benefits

• DNS Security & Malicious Domain Blocking

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODS

• Service definition document

  ODT

• Terms and conditions

  ODT

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

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

938055303712549

Contact

Public Sector Tenders
01628 403403
psitq@softcat.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Systems Infrastructure Software

  Network

  Network infrastructure software

  • Network application delivery
  • Software-defined networking (SDN)

  Network management

  • Network performance management (NPM)
  • Network operations management (NOM)
• Multi cloud support: Yes

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: Only iboss. Add-Ons include: - AI Chat monitoring & DLP; - Browser Isolation (RBI); - Enhanced Protective DNS (PDNS); - DLP; - DLP Exact Data Match; - DLP Image Text Recognition; - API CASB; -Next-Gen AI-Powered CASB; -AI-Powered SaaS Security Posture Management; -SD-WAN; -Microsoft Cloud App Security integration; -Azure Gateways
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: No
• System requirements: N/A

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: " Standard Support Package 8am - 8pm S1 - 2hrs; S2 - 4 hrs; S3/S4 - 24 hrs.; ; Mission Critical Support Package 24x7: S1 - 15 mins; S2 - 1hr; S3/4 - 4hrs."
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AAA
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: Yes
• Web chat support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AAA
• Web chat accessibility testing: Iboss leverages third party chat software with integrated support for assistive technology users
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: For detailed information on our SLA, please refer to https://www.iboss.com/service-level-agreement/
• Support available to third parties: Yes
• AI chatbot: No

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Iboss offers both professional services as well as an aligned SE with each customer for implementation taking the client through the roll out of iboss to the organisation as well as providing assistance and guidance during migration work and other hurdles as they appear
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
• Other documentation formats: Available on request
• End-of-contract data extraction: Data can be downloaded from the iboss platform
• End-of-contract process: At the end of the contract, data is deleted within the iboss cloud within 24 hours
• Documentation accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AAA

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: Yes
• Compatible operating systems:
  • Android
  • IOS
  • Linux or Unix
  • MacOS
  • Windows
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Other than different applications that are used for each OS the features are the same regardless of the device
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AAA
• Description of service interface: The service interface is the iboss cloud management portal. This portal provides customers a ‘Single Pane of Glass’ for policy orchestration and reporting and allows administrators to control the service on a national or global scale.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.2 AAA
• Accessibility testing: Access to the iboss interface is web based and is browser independent
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Users are able to manage any control offered by the iboss GUI via our API.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: HTML
• API sandbox or test environment: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Customisation is availble for branding of reports and block/ alert pages. As well as customized reporting and alert with content specified by the report creator.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The advantage is the use of horizontal scaling vs. "larger" gateways. using horizontal scaling, additional work units (containerised gateways) are added as capacity demands increase. This allows for infinite scale as bandwidth continues into the Terabit era. For each additional containerized gateway that is added automatically to a customer's containerized gateway collection, additional work unit capacity is added for both bandwidth and cloud requests. This increase in capacity is tightly measured as the capacity of each containerized gateway is known. The Containerized Cloud Gateway architecture is also unique in that it provides a multi-tenant platform without a shared data plane.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Usage is published within the product dashboards which includes bandwidth processed, web access, source and distination IP amongst other
• Reporting types: API access
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller (no extras)
• Organisation whose services are being resold: IBoss

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Staff screening not performed
• Government security clearance: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 4.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Encryption of all physical media
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed / Cryptographic Erasure

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Data can be downloaded as a CSV
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: PDF, XLSX, CSV/TSV, HTML, TXT.
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data import formats: HTML, CSV and FTP

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)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: The iboss platform design using containerization allows horizontal scaling and high availability so there will never be a single point of failure. If any gateway is out of service, traffic is automatically routed to the other available gateways which are located across multiple regions. The iboss Cloud Connector (agent) serves a PAC file to the end user workstation. The PAC is fully configurable from the platform to failover any way the client desires. In addition, all components in the platform are redundant and ISO 9001/27001 as well as SOC 2 certified.
• Approach to resilience: "The iboss platform design using containerization allows horizontal scaling and high availability so there will never be a single point of failure. If any gateway is out of service, traffic is automatically routed to the other available gateways which are located across multiple regions. The iboss Cloud Connector (agent) serves a PAC file to the end user workstation. The PAC is fully configurable from the platform to failover any way the client desires. In addition, all components in the platform are redundant and ISO 9001/27001 as well as SOC 2 certified.; "
• Outage reporting: Planned maintenance and unplanned outages are communicated directly to established contacts or distribution lists. Given the flexibility of the iboss solution, iboss does not typically experience any outages and can update its software with minimal, if any, disruption to its customers. Because each customer data is not shared, service updates can be isolated as well as scheduled to ensure flexibility.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Other
• Other user authentication: The iboss product uses local authentication or can be integrated with other IAM solutions.
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: The iboss product uses local authentication via user name/password or can be integrated with other IAM solutions. iboss uses RBC and Least Privilege to control access to management interfaces.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: Other
• Description of management access authentication: Iboss supports a variety of authentication methods to verify user and device identities. These include integrations with popular Identity Providers (IdPs) such as Azure Active Directory, Okta, Ping Identity, and others that support SAML 2.0 or OpenID Connect protocols. Through these integrations, iboss can enforce identity-based policies that account for user roles, group memberships, and device compliance. For added security, iboss also supports Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), which requires users to verify their identity using a second factor, such as a mobile app or biometric data. This ensures that only authorized users and compliant devices can access sensitive resources.

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

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards:
  • CSA CSM version 4.0
  • ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Our security
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: All changes to the environment are tracked via our ticketing system. Once a ticket is entered into the ticketing system, it is reviewed and approved. This process is evaluated through our ISO27001 and SOC1/SOC2 audits
• Vulnerability management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Iboss conducts real-time scans of its environments and patches vulnerabilities triaged by criticality. All standard patching is performed automatically one week after the patch is released.
• Protective monitoring type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Iboss Systems incident response tools monitor and alert on suspicious activity ; continuously (24x7x365), and iboss has created detailed processes for effectively ; responding to any incident regardless of the time, day, or location. Additionally, events ; and alarms from all iboss System. The iboss Director of Information Security & ; Compliance and CPC will follow all incident handling and reporting procedures specified ; in Section 6 of this document (Incident Response Lifecycle) in order to respond to and ; mitigate the impact of an incident.
• Incident management type: Complies with a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v4.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: The Network Operations Center (CNOC) ; Technician or SecOps Team member will monitor suspected or confirmed ; computer security incidents including but not limited to viruses, worms, possible; sensitive data disclosure, local attacks, or DoS attacks. In addition, if an end-user ; suspects that a computer security incident has occurred, they may report it to the ; iboss security response at security@iboss.com or by telephone at (877) 742-6832 ; x7423.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: No

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 v4.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: Yes
• Connected networks: Public Services Network (PSN)

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Iboss offers a 30-day proof of concept, subject to scoping and qualification.

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 0%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 0%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 0%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 0%
• Over £5,000,001: 0%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: NQA
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: Monday 8 April 2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO 9001 certification: NQA
• ISO 9001 accreditation date: Monday 8 April 2024
• What the ISO 9001 doesn’t cover: N/A
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: SecurityMetrics
• PCI DSS accreditation date: Friday 10 January 2025
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: N/A
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: E9fd5f85-7cd1-4ff2-aba9-6f9f5f225b1b
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: 181966c9-f0aa-42ed-9271-d1b111bdf43b
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: Security Standards dependant on the vendor solution

Social value

• Section B - Commitment for Future: Delivery:

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 1: Fair work: That offers fair wages and good working conditions. Help people get a job, stay in work, and progress in their careers, with good employment opportunities across the country. Notes: Where there is a large proportion of labour costs in the contract, commercial teams should consider MAC in Outcome 1 as a priority

    • New apprenticeships on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b
    • Providing opportunities for, and measuring and monitoring of, staff workforce conditions over time, including employee engagement, involvement in decision-making and satisfaction and adapting to any changes in the results, with clear processes for acting on issues identified
    • Plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important workplace issues to address
    • Ensuring new workers are informed of their right to join a trade union
    • Monitoring of employee engagement rates (by protected characteristic) and, where necessary, the development of actions to ensure all voices are heard across the diversity of the workforce
    • Employment contracts that reflect actual hours worked; steps taken to ensure employees understand their contracts and have the ability to review and adjust them if actual hours regularly exceed contracted hours
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about, and feel empowered to, address their physical wellbeing
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about and feel empowered to report and address bullying and harassment
    • Offer a pay and leave entitlement to all eligible staff who become kinship carers, ideally equivalent to statutory adoption pay and leave
    • Payment of more than the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (as appropriate) to the contract workforce
    • Monitoring and reporting of gender and ethnicity pay gaps and plans to address them where necessary
    • Entitlement to sick pay for the contract workforce, with provision in place for any staff who do not meet the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, payment of sick pay from day one of absence and payment of staff on the contract workforce who are off sick a replacement income of 100% of their usual earnings for as long as possible
    • Plans for an appropriate income replacement policy for staff who are required to spend time away from work to care for a sick dependent or close relative
    • Understanding of in-work progression issues affecting the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Measures to support in-work progression to help people in the contract workforce, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills relevant to the contract
    • Support for the contract workforce by providing career advice, and providing opportunities for staff working on the contract with in-work progression career development into known skills shortages or high growth areas
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Volunteering opportunities for staff
    • Understanding of the modern slavery risks and issues affecting the market, industry, sector or country (of origin or of source) relevant to the contract, and the workforce in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key subcontractors
    • Outline policies and practices to be applied to or put in place for the contract to mitigate and manage modern slavery risks, including: Pre-employment checks, recruitment practices. Workplace conditions, safeguarding plans and processes in place and regular monitoring with relevant groups considered, which may include sampling
    • Means of influencing staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders with respect to modern slavery risks relating to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

    • Understanding of employment and relevant skills issues, and of the education and training issues relating to the contract. Illustrative examples: demographics, skills shortages, new opportunities in high growth sectors, geographic/local community and skills/employment challenges
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering
    • Delivery of apprenticeships, supported internships and T Level industry placement opportunities (Level 2, 3 and 4+) in relation to the contract

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 3: Resilient, innovative and flexible supply chains: Support economic growth through enabling resilient businesses, opportunities for small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises

    • Understanding of the types of businesses in the market and the level of participation by new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Activities to identify opportunities to open up sub-contracts under the prime contract to a diverse range of businesses, including new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Plans for engaging a diverse range of businesses in engagement activities prior to appointing subcontractors (including activities prior to award of the main contract and during the contract term)
    • Ensuring accessibility to contracting and subcontracting opportunities for disabled business owners and employees
    • Support for community-led initiatives relevant to the contract. Illustrative examples: improving transport links; reducing loneliness; helping with English language proficiency; and facilitating social mixing among people with different backgrounds

  • Mission: Make Britain a clean energy superpower: To cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero

    Policy Outcome 4: Sustainable procurement practices: Reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

    • Understanding of opportunities for additional environmental benefits delivery in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Collaborative ways of working with the supply chain to deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Delivery of additional environmental benefits through the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Understanding of how to influence staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders through the delivery of the contract to support climate and nature protection and improvement
    • Activities to reconnect people with the environment and increase awareness of ways to protect and enhance it

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

    • Understanding of employment and skills issues, and of the skills and employment shortages of high growth sectors relating to the contract
    • Creation of employment opportunities particularly for those who face barriers to employment, such as prison leavers, care leavers and/or who are located in deprived areas, and for people in industries with known skills shortages or in high growth sectors
    • Delivery of training schemes and programmes to address any identified skills gaps and under-representation in the workforce for the contract (e.g. prison leavers, care leavers, kinship carers, disabled people)
    • Understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Collection of the views and expertise of disabled people and their representative organisations on successfully supporting disabled employees or applicants
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition
    • Introducing transparency to pay and reward processes
    • Offering a range of quality opportunities with routes of progression if appropriate, e.g. T Level industry placements, students supported into higher level apprenticeships.
    • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
    • Other measures to provide equality of opportunity for disabled people and those with health conditions into employment, including becoming a Disability Confident employer and inclusion of supported businesses in the contract supply chain
    • Understanding of the issues affecting inequality in employment, skills and pay in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. Measures to tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce
    • Inclusive and accessible development practices, including guidance for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 7: Creating a pipeline of opportunities: For the contract workforce, reducing barriers to entry for under-represented groups.

    • Understanding of the issues affecting the development of new skills by target cohort
    • Understanding of the underlying factors affecting improvements to reduce barriers to entry and training schemes for the target cohort(s) related to the contract workforce
    • Other measures to offer development opportunities for the target cohort(s) in the contract workforce
    • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
    • Creation of outreach activities to create a pipeline of employees for the future contract delivery
    • Content of the outreach activity is designed to suit the target cohort

  • Mission: Build an NHS fit for the future: That is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

    Policy Outcome 8: Increasing productivity through physical and mental wellbeing: In the supply chain and communities in the relevant area.

    • Understanding of issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce
    • Understanding barriers to access to health and social care services or employment opportunities e.g. digital inclusion
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention policies that support-focused activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing which support people with a disability or health condition
    • Actions to invest in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODS

• Service definition document

  ODT

• Terms and conditions

  ODT

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