Jisc Services Ltd

Managed Azure

Microsoft Azure provides a suite of compute, storage and other public cloud services. JIsc's Managed Azure offers a core support service at Azure list price, designed for customers wishing to largely manage Azure environments for themselves but including patching, monitoring and billing, and an enhanced service with more comprehensive support.

Features

• Microsoft Azure cloud procured and managed on your behalf
• Includes patching, security, backups, monitoring of Azure VMs and databases
• Compute, storage and associated services capable hosting OFFICIAL information assets
• Full range of Microsoft Azure services available
• Standard Azure price list, billing portal in UK pounds
• 24/7 Microsoft support and Azure infrastructure automation
• Trusted advisor and ally of the education and public sectors
• Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP). Microsoft Gold Cloud Hosting Partner
• Best-in-class Azure advice, engineering and support
• Comprehensive connectivity solutions including Janet, PSN and Azure ExpressRoute

Benefits

• Focus on core priorities while we manage your Azure cloud
• Reduce Azure infrastructure costs and only pay for capacity used
• Increase organisational agility with automated deployment and 24x7 support
• Build failure resilient applications in multiple Azure AZs and regions
• Improve uptime with ITIL-aligned service management
• Support well-managed, secure and highly flexible Azure-based hybrid solutions
• Suitable for multi-cloud solutions with managed AWS and GCP
• Azure ExpressRoute, Blob storage, Azure Files, StorSimple, Azure Site Recovery
• Windows and Linux VMs, Azure AD, Azure Load Balancer
• Modernise your services with Azure Functions, serverless, containers and Kubernetes

£0.00 to £99.12 a virtual machine an hour

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 bid.support@jisc.ac.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

970493005156842

Contact

Bid Support
03003002212
bid.support@jisc.ac.uk

Service scope

• Service constraints: None
• System requirements: None

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: 30 mins, 60 mins or 2 hrs (depending on priority). 24/7 targets only apply where the Enhanced Support service option has been added.
• 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
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Jisc provides core level of support designed to cover normal office hours with an enhanced support service option available to cover 24/7.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: We provide a fully managed onboarding service.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: Data can be copied off customer VMs using SFTP or equivalent prior to contract end. Data can be extracted from databases using SQLDump or equivalent and then transferred as per above.
• End-of-contract process: Service termination is defined as end of contract without transfer of services to a new provider or customer function. In this case, on service termination Jisc will close and delete any Azure accounts, access controls and resources; off-boarding of instances and data is the customer’s responsibility and should be completed prior to termination. Jisc can provide a managed migration path out from the tenant (working alongside your new provider or function). This would be created as a standalone project and incur rates and charges per the Jisc Cloud Migration service.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: Users can manage all aspects of the Azure service using the Azure management portal.
• Web interface accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web interface is accessible: Accessibility of the Azure management portal is maintained by Microsoft.
• Web interface accessibility testing: Accessibility of the Azure management portal is maintained by Microsoft.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: All aspects of the Azure service can be managed using the API.
• API automation tools:
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: HTML
• Command line interface: Yes
• Command line interface compatibility:
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
  • Other
• Using the command line interface: All aspects of the Azure service can be managed using the CLI.

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type:
  • Automatic
  • Manual
• Independence of resources: The Azure hypervisor enforces memory and process separation between virtual machines.
• 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:
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

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

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)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• 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: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
  • Hardware containing data is completely destroyed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up:
  • VM storage
  • Azure SQL Databases
• Backup controls: Backup schedules are agreed during customer onboarding.
• Datacentre setup: Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
• Scheduling backups: Users contact the support team to schedule backups
• Backup recovery: Users contact the support team

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
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
  • Other
• Other protection within supplier network: VLAN VPCs

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: 99.9%
• Approach to resilience: Azure services are delivered from multiple datacentres worldwide. When deploying customer services to Azure, Jisc will ensure that services span multiple availability zones (datacentres) to ensure service resilience.
• Outage reporting: Public dashboards and email alerts.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Access to management interfaces and support channels is restricted through a combination of username and passwords, multifactor authentication, firewalling, IP restrictions, the use of bastion hosts as appropriate.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through:
  • Dedicated device on a segregated network (providers own provision)
  • Dedicated device on a government network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated device over multiple services or networks
  • Any device but through a bastion host (a bastion host is a server that provides access to a private network from an external network such as the internet)
  • 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: 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: Lloyds Register
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 23 June 2019
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: All Jisc activities related to the provision of this service are covered.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: Yes
• CSA STAR accreditation date: 11 August 2015
• CSA STAR certification level: Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
• What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover: All Jisc activities related to the provision of this service are covered.; Note: originally certified as Eduserv prior to merger with Jisc.
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: CREST

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards:
  • CSA CCM version 3.0
  • ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Jisc is certified as compliant with ISO27001:2005 (Certificate CI/12868IS) by a UKAS accredited certifying body. Services that we have designed, implemented and operate have been subject to risk assessment including ITHCs and penetration testing by independent CHECK providers. We are able to supply our Information Security Policy subject to a non-disclosure agreement being put in place with the receiving party.

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: Jisc is committed to ITIL aligned Change and Configuration Management for effective management and control of its infrastructure. Jisc's management tool incorporates an automated Change Management Database (CMDB) at the heart of its operation, with all service support and delivery modules linked to the CMDB to ensure a complete and accurate view of customer estates. A CAB team exists within the services department and liaises closely with all other teams to ensure changes are successful and our infrastructure is maintained and accurately modelled within the CMDB.
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Jisc subscribe to vendor support services to ensure we are operating in line with the latest recommendations and are made aware of any potential vulnerabilities. The patch deployment policy is ITIL aligned and undertaken in accordance with our ISO27001 security policy. For patching of Windows operating systems, we follow a patch cycle in line with Microsoft’s "Patch Tuesday”. For exceptional patching, our processes allow for the management of exceptions which require emergency maintenance to protect your service from vulnerabilities. Notifications are sent to ensure that customers are informed of planned works and all patches are tested before deployment to live.
• Protective monitoring type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Jisc makes use of cloud-native applications for the collection, monitoring, analysis, alerting and reporting of all IT event, log and performance data. A real-time analytics engine is used to correlate events, logs and performance metrics across your cloud and on-premise infrastructure. A comprehensive suite of highly configurable rules allow alerts to be sent in response to malicious activity and performance-impacting events, all of which is included as standard in the service.
• 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: The Jisc ITIL-aligned Incident Management process ensures that we respond to any reported faults and sets out target resolution times to ensure that these are fixed within agreed timeframes Customers can report incidents via phone, email or our portal. Our Incident Management process ensures that we respond to any reported faults and sets out target resolution times to ensure that these are fixed within agreed timeframes. For Major Incidents, once the Incident has been resolved, the Incident Manager will ensure an Incident Review Meeting is held and a Major Incident Report is created and distributed.

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)

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Third-party
• Third-party virtualisation provider: Microsoft Azure
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: The Azure hypervisor enforces memory and process separation between virtual machines.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: Yes
• Description of energy efficient datacentres: See https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/global-infrastructure/

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  Jisc is committed to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the government target, with interim targets to ensure sufficient progress is being made. We are in the process of establishing our baseline Scope 3 emissions in accordance with the requirements for Carbon Reductions Plans and the GHG Reporting Protocol corporate standard.; ; We have a dedicated cross-organisational working group responsible for implementing our Carbon Reduction Plan. A few initiatives we have already completed are:; ; Solar panel, energy efficient lighting and heating installation at our Jisc owned building, advocating the use of green energy suppliers to buildings where we lease.; ; Trees for Life Membership, through which we planted 3,133 trees in 2020. ; ; In 2021, we launched a hybrid approach to staff working in offices and home, and to meeting in person or virtually, reducing carbon generated through commuting/travel. We also facilitated the recycling and re-use of 270 network hardware items.; ; Our salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme and facilities for bike storage and showers encourages use of cycles. Since 2019, 89 colleagues have utilised the scheme.; ; We will continue to build on these initiatives, identifying compliance gaps against the ISO14001 standard and use this as a framework going forward. Measures we are planning to implement include ensuring our supply chain are committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050, minimising energy consumption in our datacentres and exploring a salary sacrifice scheme for electric cars.; ; To reduce paper and plastic at our annual Digifest event in 2022, delegates accessed an event app to print their name badges, ensuring only people who attended had printed badges. Removing the need for printed programmes, these were provided through the app. Attendees were encouraged to bring reusable water bottles to refill with provided jugs of tap water, rather than plastic bottles.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  Providing our people with the flexibility they need to balance their personal lives and do well at work, Jisc offers a range of ways of working, including flexible hours and working from home. We adopted a hybrid working model for most roles in August 2021. Understanding that for some people returning to the office might be daunting, to help people feel more comfortable, we have a code of conduct to support safe working, including offering a choice of socially distanced desks and the use of lanyards to help us to understand each other’s preferences. For remote workers we have provided allowances and advise to support their DSE requirements.; ; Supporting our people affected by Covid-19, employees have access to help and information via our Employee Assistance Programme for example, how to deal with virus anxiety or how to protect yourself. There is also 24/7/365 helpline where employees can get advice and guidance. They can contact our mental health first aiders or access the Thrive app or our You Matter wellbeing community.; ; Helping our higher education customers Covid-19 recovery, Jisc launched four new data analytics dashboard suites. These dashboards have been developed using Higher Education Statistics Agency data to provide analytical insight in support of ongoing pandemic challenges. Allowing institutions to identify and mitigate significant risks in four key areas, postgraduate recruitment, offshore student provision, international student impact and UNESCO international student flow.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  We are an accredited Living Wage Employer. Jisc meets the standards set by Citizens UK and the Living Wage Foundation by signing the ‘UK Living Wage Employer' licence agreement. This agreement confirms that Jisc pay the Real Living Wage as a minimum. We also ensure that people in our supply chain delivering goods and services are paid the National Living Wage as a minimum.; ; To help our people develop and achieve, they have access to a huge variety of learning resources including access to the full LinkedIn Learning catalogue.; ; In 2020 Jisc launched the Step-up programme, welcoming 50 edtech start-ups with solutions to some of the biggest challenges in education. A membership-based programme assessing emerging start-ups against key sector requirements. Now named the Edtech programme, it introduces member organisations to innovative new companies. It is also a space for community and collaboration, where the sector can come together to discuss and support one another. Jisc has worked with senior policy makers to ensure that it supports the ambitions of the government's edtech strategy to help create a vibrant edtech business sector in the UK. ; ; Jisc have a dedicated contract management team responsible for internal facing contracts, as well as those associated with our Janet network. The team activities include annual supply checks to ensure the effectiveness of our suppliers and working closely with our key suppliers to ensure information security is managed effectively. The team also actively work with Electronics Watch on how we can monitor electronics in our supply chains to protect the rights of workers.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  One of Jisc’s guiding principles ‘Always Inclusive’ reflects our commitment to diversity and inclusion (D&I). ; ; Our aim, set out in our Equality and Diversity policy is to create a productive environment, representative of and responsive to different cultures and groups, where the contributions of all individuals are recognised, valued and everyone has an equal chance to succeed. ; ; Our dedicated D&I Consultant is responsible for our D&I strategy focusing on improving awareness and inclusive leadership, improving data, policy/processes, building partnerships and broadening talent and engagement. ; ; Raising awareness for our staff, focus sessions have covered topics on Autism, ADHD and dyspraxia, Black History all year round and History of LGBTQ equality movement. Webinars have explored Combating the biases women face at work and Supporting parents and carers to thrive at work. Speaker talks at our all-staff events, for example, neurodiversity.; ; We are committed to creating greater gender diversity in the tech workforce. Benchmarking carried out as part of our commitment to the Tech Talent Charter in 2020 showed us above the national average for employing women in tech roles, 32% against 25% nationally.; ; We will not accept modern slavery, forced labour or any human trafficking anywhere within our operations or supply chain. Our modern slavery group improves awareness, processes, and ensures we have ethical supply chains.; ; Staff are required to familiarise themselves with our Modern Slavery Policy and complete mandatory modern slavery awareness training. Our procurement staff are all trained annually through the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.; ; Jisc’s chosen charity to fundraise for 2022 is Unseen a UK-based charity working towards a world without slavery. Staff can support in various ways through fundraising and volunteering. We held coffee mornings in our offices March 2022 and in September 2022, three of our staff are joining a charity skydive arranged by Unseen.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  Jisc are committed to supporting and protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff through our iMatter strategy and action plan, which takes a holistic approach to wellbeing. The plan is updated annually to focus on today’s environment and our people’s concerns and is agreed with our employee voice forum. Regular reports are provided to various stakeholders within the business including our executive leadership team and board.; ; All new staff complete a pre-employment health questionnaire to assess fitness for work and advise of any adjustments in the workplace. We take a pro-active approach and work with individuals and their manager to support them at work.; ; Trained to support our staff, we have 38 (March 2022) mental health first aiders easily assessable to our people across our geographical locations. Promoting and delivering wellbeing initiatives within Jisc, some of our mental health first aiders are also wellbeing champions. ; ; Providing staff with education, support and tools to help them live a happier and healthier life, they have access to a Wellbeing centre through our Jisc reward scheme, where they can access a range of resources to support wellbeing.; ; Other wellbeing support and services include access to the Thrive mental health support app, where staff can assess their mental health and use techniques to build resilience to stress, anxiety and mild depression. A You Matter Wellbeing community through our learning platform, which has a large number of resources on mental and physical health. Our employee assistance programme where staff and their immediate family can get confidential advice on a number of topics covering physical, mental, financial advice and is accessible through various mediums. ; ; We also support staff through wellness action plans, stress risk assessments, making reasonable adjustments upfront where we can and where needed seeking medical advice from our occupational health provider.

Pricing

• Price: £0.00 to £99.12 a virtual machine an hour
• 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 bid.support@jisc.ac.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.