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Softcat Limited

VMware Cloud on AWS

VMware Cloud on AWS is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering,
leveraging VMware Cloud Foundation (vSphere, NSX and vSAN) to
deliver software-defined data centres (SDDCs) as a cloud service on
Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Features

  • VMware SDDC delivered as a cloud service on AWS
  • On-demand capacity & flexible hourly consumption available globally
  • Run on dedicated, elastic, bare-metal AWS infrastructure
  • Operates in multiple Availability Zones within the UK
  • Single user interface and API for on-prem and cloud
  • vMotion between on-premises and the cloud
  • Automated cluster scaling and host remediation
  • Direct Connect and L2VPN connectivity and offline data transfer options
  • Access AWS services (EBS, RDS, Lambda, etc..) without network charges

Benefits

  • Jointly engineered to deliver the best of VMware and AWS
  • Unparalleled security of combined VMware and AWS technologies and operations
  • Industry leading portability enables migration to and from the Cloud
  • Full operational consistency with onpremise VMware technologies
  • Scalable infrastructure available when and where you need it
  • Common virtual infrastructure makes hybrid deployments truly possible
  • Disaster Recover economics are transformed by the cloud
  • Support existing and next-generation applications and containers in one platform

Pricing

£3.57 to £15.27 a server an hour

Service documents

Request an accessible format
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Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

9 8 2 9 9 4 7 5 8 2 3 4 5 2 7

Contact

Softcat Limited Charles Harrison
Telephone: 01628 403403
Email: psitq@softcat.com

Service scope

Service constraints
N/A
System requirements
N/A

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
VMware Cloud Service Support Policies are published:
https://www.vmware.com/support/policies.html Critical (SaaS Severity 1) 30 minutes or less: 24x7 Major (SaaS Severity 2) 4 business hours Minor (SaaS Severity 3) 8 business hours Cosmetic (SaaS Severity 4) 12 business hours
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
Web chat
Web chat support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support accessibility standard
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Web chat accessibility testing
VMware Cloud on AWS leverages in-product chat from Intercom.com. Details about chat accessibility can be found here.
https://www.intercom.com/help/faqs-and-troubleshooting/the-intercom-messenger/is-the-intercom-messenger-accessible Additional details on development and testing for accessibility of the chat interface can be found here: https://www.intercom.com/blog/messenger-accessibility
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
VMware Cloud on AWS provides 24/7 production level support as part of the service at no additional cost.
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
VMware provides a range of resources to help to start using the VMware
Cloud on AWS service. These include comprehensive documentation (in
multiple formats), introductory videos, hands-on labs, online and in-person
training, access to a large ecosystem of partners and support from the
customer success team and public sector account team.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
HTML
End-of-contract data extraction
Migration of data to and from VMware Cloud on AWS is fully managed by
the customer. Documentation exists along with additional tools and
services to facilitate the migration of data. VMware Cloud on AWS natively runs VMware vSphere which stores customer data in an industry accepted virtual machine format and VMware vSphere natively supports the Open Virtualization Format (OVF), making it simple to download, clone, migrate, copy, port or transfer workloads between environments.
End-of-contract process
If you are using the Service Offering on an on-demand basis, you can
cancel at any time by deleting your SDDC, using the VMware Cloud on
AWS Console. You will be charged for all usage up to the point of
termination. Unless you purchase a new subscription, upon expiration of
the Subscription Term all services will continue to operate on an on-demand basis and you will be billed at the then current on-demand rate for those services until you cancel your on-demand use.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Using the web interface
The VMware Cloud on AWS Console enables customers to provision
Software Defined Data Centers, Configure Networking, Add/Remove
Hosts, Connect to the Virtual Center interface and get support. The
Virtual Center Interface enables customers to manage their entire
Software Defined Data Center.
Web interface accessibility standard
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Web interface accessibility testing
The Virtual Center interface has undergone accessibility testing. Results
of all VMware accessibility tests can be found at: https://www.vmware.com/in/help/accessibility.html
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
After the initial creation of the organisation's account, the service can be
configured and operated via the API interface. VMware Cloud on AWS
Service APIs, vSphere APIs and NSX API interfaces are all supported.
API automation tools
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • OpenStack
  • SaltStack
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • HTML
  • Other
Command line interface
Yes
Command line interface compatibility
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
Using the command line interface
Customers have access to all published and documented APIs through a
command prompt.

Scaling

Scaling available
Yes
Scaling type
  • Automatic
  • Manual
Independence of resources
Customer environments are logically and physically segregated
to prevent users and customers from accessing resources not
assigned to them. Each customer SDDC runs on dedicated
hardware which eliminates the potential for other customers to
affect their workloads. VMware and AWS both continuously
monitor service usage to project infrastructure needs to support
availability commitments/requirements.
Usage notifications
Yes
Usage reporting
  • API
  • Email
  • Other

Analytics

Infrastructure or application metrics
Yes
Metrics types
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
  • Other
Other metrics
  • VSphere provide comprehensive infrastructure logs
  • Performance logs
Reporting types
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller (no extras)
Organisation whose services are being resold
VMware

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Other security clearance
Government security clearance
None

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
Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
Penetration testing frequency
At least once a year
Penetration testing approach
In-house
Protecting data at rest
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Encryption of all physical media
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

Backup and recovery

Backup and recovery
Yes
What’s backed up
  • Account configuration information
  • SDDC Configuration information
Backup controls
Customers retain control and ownership of their virtual machines and have the ability to use their own backup and recovery solution. VMware Cloud on AWS enables virtual machine images to be replicated by Site Recovery Manager to another Availability Zone or to a datacenter of the customer's choosing, which ensures that workloads would always exist in more than one physical location. There are many companies that offer backup and recovery solutions that are compatible with VMware Cloud on AWS service. A list of vendors can be found here: https://marketplace.vmware.com/
Datacentre setup
Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
Scheduling backups
Users schedule backups through a web interface
Backup recovery
Users can recover backups themselves, for example through a web interface

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • 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

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
VMware will use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that each component of the Service Offering ("service component") is “Available” during a given billing month (as defined in the Service Description) equal to the “Availability Commitment” specified in the table below: Service Component Availability Commitment SDDC Infrastructure 99.9% SDDC Management 99.9% VMware Site Recovery - Management 99.9% More information about the SLA can be found at: https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/support/vmw-cloud-aws-service-level-agreement.pdf
Approach to resilience
VMware has implemented backup or redundancy mechanisms to ensure compliance with regulatory, statutory and contractual obligations. VMware has a defined Information Security Program that includes Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies for data and hardware redundancy, network configuration redundancy and backups and regular testing exercises. VMware Cloud on AWS uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) geographically resilient data hosting options. Data centers are built in clusters in various global regions. VMware provides customers the flexibility to place instances and store data within multiple geographic regions as well as across multiple
Availability Zones within each regions to support their resiliency needs.
Outage reporting
The real-time status of the VMware Cloud on AWS services along with past incidents is publicly available on https://status.vmware-services.io/.

Identity and authentication

User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Management interfaces implement role-based access controls and require members to authenticate against the corporate identity provider. Access is managed through the management gateway which restricts access based on originating IP address and SSL usage. Additional security and authentication mechanisms including the use of time-based credentials are used to secure and monitor access.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • 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 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
At least 12 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users have access to real-time audit information
How long supplier audit data is stored for
At least 12 months
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
Schellman & Company, LLC
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
14/10/2021
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
N/A
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
Yes
CSA STAR accreditation date
01/04/2022
CSA STAR certification level
Level 1: CSA STAR Self-Assessment
What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover
N/A
PCI certification
Yes
Who accredited the PCI DSS certification
Crowe LLP
PCI DSS accreditation date
16/12/2021
What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover
N/A
Cyber essentials
No
Cyber essentials plus
Yes
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
  • ISO 27001
  • ISO 27017
  • ISO 27018
  • SOC 2
  • HIPAA
  • PCI-DSS
  • IRAP
  • OSPAR

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
VMware security policies are documented and available to
employees on an internal web site. Policies and procedures are
reviewed annually, updated as needed. VMware utilizes a
standard operating procedure repository to store an extensive
set of documented procedures. Detailed procedures are
defined for the following categories of functions: information
security, physical security, network availability, HR,
communications, risk/issues and service level customer
service. On an annual basis, VMware Cloud on AWS is audited
by third-party auditors for ISO 27001/17/18, SOC2, PCI-DSS
and HIPAA. Policy adherence is included as a part of these
third-party audits.

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
The VMware Cloud on AWS team has a comprehensive development
lifecycle and change management system in place. Continuous
reviews and testing occur on the software development pipelines for
individual products and components. VMware generates builds from
approved components and runs these through BITs (Basic Integration
Tests), PVTs (Product Validation Tests), FSLite (Feature Stress Lite Tests)
and continuous Loop tests for Deployment, Upgrade and Cluster
expansion/ reduction. Additionally, we run performance tests, feature
stress tests, security scans, vulnerability tests and System Tests at scale
for every cycle.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
VMware has comprehensive vulnerability management program in place
which includes continuous internal and regular third-party vulnerability
scanning and penetration testing. The VMware Security Response Center
(VSRC) leads the analysis and remediation of service security issues. VSRC receives reports directly and monitors the ecosystem for relevant security issues and works with VMware Research and Development to develop and resolve issues. VMware Cloud on AWS has the capability to rapidly patch vulnerabilities. Remediation efforts and timelines are prioritized and applied using industry best practices. For further details on the process and our commitment to customers, see the VMware Security Response Policy https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/security_response.html
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
VMware has a Security Operations Center staffed 24x7 and alerted on
security anomalies in the VMware Cloud on AWS environment. VMware
Cloud on AWS has several intrusion detection/prevention mechanisms in
place and the service continuously collects and monitors the environment logs which are correlated with both public and private threat feeds to spot suspicious and unusual activities. The customer is responsible for the security of the environment over which they have administrative level control.
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 process complies with industry standards for legally admissible chainof-custody and forensic-data-collection management processes and controls. Response standards, procedures, methods are implemented based on the severity level. If VMware determines that unauthorized access to/use/disclosure of customer content, VMware will use commercially reasonable efforts to notify customers, taking into account any applicable law, regulations, governmental request. VMware will also notify customers of a suspected breach of the infrastructure if that breach occurred on a segment of the platform consumed by a customer, or in the event of Denial of Service attacks. VMware does not monitor guest workloads for such breaches.

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
Supplier
Virtualisation technologies used
VMware
How shared infrastructure is kept separate
Each VMware Cloud on AWS Software Defined Datacenter (SDDC) is
provisioned on dedicated bare-metal hardware within an AWS VPC
dedicated to the customer. vSphere is installed on this dedicated hardware and customers are given access to their individual instance of Virtual Center to manage their virtual environment.

Energy efficiency

Energy-efficient datacentres
Yes
Description of energy efficient datacentres
VMware Cloud on AWS utilizes AWS datacenters and
information about AWS & Sustainability can be found here:
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/

Social Value

Fighting climate change

Fighting climate change

• Sustainable growth for VMware’s business requires decoupling our company growth from carbon emissions. To this end, we’ve accelerated our focus on decarbonization and received third-party validation from the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) on our science-based targets. Since 2018, we have maintained our certified CarbonNeutral® company status, in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol. Since 2019, we have sourced 100 percent of our power in our global facilities from renewable sources, in accordance with RE100 Reporting Guidance. • VMware’s net zero emissions goal builds on approved science-based targets and expands the scope of our climate commitments. For
us, a net zero goal means reducing emissions for our entire carbon footprint. We are focused on prioritizing energy efficiency within our operations through our commitment to green buildings, working with our suppliers to reduce their emissions, and supporting distributed workforces through our Future of Work initiative. Through carbon financing, we support low carbon sustainable development projects that enable carbon avoidance to offset our remaining emissions. In line with the leading net zero guidance, we are developing our strategy to include carbon removal projects to address residual emissions. • In FY22, we furthered climate transition planning at VMware, guided by Taskforce
on Climate-related Financial Disclosures(TCFD) recommendations. As VMware continues to learn more about climate risks, we can build longer time horizon risks into our strategy to become even more sustainable and resilient.
Covid-19 recovery

Covid-19 recovery

• Decisive action by VMware during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a company-wide remote workforce, which our customers were able to implement as well through VMware’s Workspace solutions. • Through VMware’s unique Citizen Philanthropy approach to giving, we empower every VMware employee—wherever they are—to be active, engaged citizens, contributing to what matters most to them in their own communities. Throughout the pandemic, VMware people delivered food to neighbors in need, made masks and donated resources to frontline workers and relief efforts, and helped nonprofit organizations strengthen their IT operations so they can focus on supporting their communities. VMware also supported GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund and TechSoup’s COVID-19 Response Fund, and raised the limit on matching gifts available to all VMware people.
Tackling economic inequality

Tackling economic inequality

• VMware IT Academy partners directly with more than 2,500 educational
institutions, governments and nonprofits globally to empower learners through coursework, labs and experiences. To enrich learning and help jump-start careers, our partner academic institutions can also access the latest suite of VMware software solutions and use them in a hands-on educational environment. VMware IT Academy is key to our 2030 goal of upskilling 15 million people through our educational offerings and creates a pipeline of diverse talent that is available to advance companies’ digital journeys and deploy VMware solutions. • VMware donates our technology to academic institutions, enabling learners with access to technical training and labs across technology solutions and companies through Academic Cloud. • VMware IT Academy partners with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) for their Cybersecurity Bootcamp, an immersive, 15-week hands-on training course to reskill or upskill unemployed individuals, including minorities and veterans. • VMinclusion Taara offers free technical education on VMware products & technology that enable digital business transformation, addressing the gender gap in the Indian IT sector and empowering women with financial and social independence. • VMware Responsible Sourcing supports sustainability,
diversity and accessibility across our supply chain. VMware has committed to working with 75% of our suppliers (by spend) to set their own science-based targets by the end of 2024. We are also prioritizing the sourcing of goods and services through diverse businesses and have committed to spending $1.5B with diverse suppliers through 2030. Our definition of diverse supplier includes: small-business enterprises, minority-owned enterprises, woman-owned enterprises, and businesses owned by other underrepresented groups such as LGBTQ, veterans, and proprietors with disabilities.
Equal opportunity

Equal opportunity

• VMware joined the Valuable 500, a global business collective that is igniting systemic change and unlocking the business, social and economic value of more than 1 billion people with disabilities around the world. From ensuring the technology we develop is accessible for all to empowering our employees through accessible, inclusive and innovative engagement and wellbeing programs, our company remains committed to driving meaningful impact on disability, wellness and neurodiversity inclusion. • As a leading software company, user accessibility is top of mind at VMware. One of our ESG goals by 2030 is to ensure the technology that we develop, and source within our supply chain, is accessible for all. We created internal Accessibility Guidelines within
VMware and committed to assess all new software and events suppliers for accessibility standards aligned with our own guidelines. • Employee Resource Groups at VMware are called Power of Difference communities (“PODs”), and they play a strategic role in building a culture of belonging. We are focused on driving a culture that is inclusive of all forms of diversity, including supporting employees with disabilities. In 2021, VMware was named a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion by the Disability Equality Index (DEI). • Making VMware more diverse, equitable and inclusive for our employees, customers and communities is fundamental to who we are. That’s why measuring and achieving equitable change is key to our 2030 Agenda. We have assigned compensation performance goals around drivers that improve representation, including hiring and retention of women globally and underrepresented minorities in the United States, inclusive culture scores and diverse candidate slates. For interviews at every level, our goal is to have all candidate interview slates include at least one woman and one underrepresented minority (US only) candidate.
Wellbeing

Wellbeing

• At VMware, we enrich lives at work, at home and in the community, because we believe that empowering our people to bring their authentic selves to work drives business excellence and enables us to achieve our business goals. We prioritize employee wellbeing and work hard to foster a culture that is ethical and respectful, kind and compassionate, which is defined by our EPIC2 values —Execution, Passion, Integrity, Customers and Community. • Employee wellbeing at VMware is a top priority as we believe people are the key to our success, and we are always striving to make it easier for employees to pursue wellbeing on their own terms, which will also help them perform well at work. We recognize that VMware has a responsibility to help support our employees manage the added complexities of their work and family situations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our wellbeing benefits include: four supplemental days off (our “EPIC2” days), life coaching and emotional support, work-life services for employees and their families, and a wellbeing allowance

Pricing

Price
£3.57 to £15.27 a server an hour
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
No

Service documents

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.