SOFTCAT PLC

Arco Cyber

A cloud-based cyber risk assurance platform that unifies data from existing security and IT controls to show if protections are working effectively. It provides continuous posture monitoring, prioritised remediation, and board-ready reporting so organisations can evidence cyber resilience and focus effort on the risks that matter most.

Features

• Continuous cyber risk assurance
• Control Monitoring
• Asset, Identity & Vulnerability Inventories
• Risk-based Metrics
• Board Reporting
• API-first integration

Benefits

• Clear, evidence-based view of cyber risk for executives and boards
• Prioritisation of remediation based on real-world exposure, not ticket volume
• Better ROI from existing security tools through unified insight
• Faster identification of gaps against agreed protection levels
• Role-based dashboards for security, IT, risk and finance stakeholders
• Reduced reporting overhead for CISOs and security teams
• Support for continuous controls monitoring and threat-exposure management
• Foundation for cyber risk quantification and investment decisions

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODS

• Service definition document

  PDF

• 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

989987334158289

Contact

Public Sector Tenders
01628 403403
psitq@softcat.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Applications

  Enterprise resource management

  • Enterprise performance management
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Private cloud
• Service constraints: The service is provided as a cloud-hosted SaaS platform and depends on secure internet connectivity from buyer environments. Data coverage and depth of insight depend on the availability and quality of telemetry from buyers’ existing security and IT tools. Planned maintenance is performed during agreed change windows with prior notice, and does not usually require downtime.
• System requirements:
  • Modern web browser (current versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
  • Reliable internet connectivity from the client
  • Appropriate firewall/proxy rules to allow access to the service
  • Read-only accounts or API access for integrated tools
  • (e.g. IdP, ITAM, Vulnerability, EDR, cloud platforms)
  • SSO integration (e.g. SAML/OIDC) if required by the buyer
  • Email addresses for user accounts and notifications
  • Optional: CSV/JSON export capability from buyer tools

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: We provide tiered support aligned to public sector expectations:; Standard support: included for all customers, providing access to online help, knowledge base and email/ticketing.; Enhanced support: optional upgrade with extended hours, shorter response targets and named contacts for major and critical issues.; Support requests can be raised via email/ticketing system and are triaged by our support team. Target response times are aligned to incident severity, for example: P1 within 4 hours, P2 within 12 hours, P3/P4 next business day.; We provide a named customer success manager to support onboarding, roadmap planning, and regular service reviews.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Phone support: No
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes
• Support levels: We provide tiered support aligned to public sector expectations:; Standard support: included for all customers, providing access to online help, knowledge base and email/ticketing.; Enhanced support: optional upgrade with extended hours, shorter response targets and named contacts for major and critical issues.; Support requests can be raised via email/ticketing system and are triaged by our support team. Target response times are aligned to incident severity, for example: P1 within 4 hours, P2 within 12 hours, P3/P4 next business day.; We provide a named customer success manager to support onboarding, roadmap planning, and regular service reviews.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: We provide a structured onboarding process to accelerate time-to-value. This typically includes a kick-off workshop to confirm scope, data sources, and desired protection outcomes; guided configuration of integrations and data feeds; and validation that the platform is ingesting and normalising telemetry correctly.; ; New users receive access to online documentation, in-product guidance, and guided walkthroughs explaining how to interpret dashboards, protection metrics, and recommended actions. We can run live enablement sessions for security, IT, and risk stakeholders and support them in defining agreed protection levels, run-books and reporting formats aligned to their governance processes.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • ODF
  • PDF
  • Other
• Other documentation formats: Available on request
• End-of-contract data extraction: At the end of the contract, buyers can request an export their data from the platform in machine-readable format. We provide exports for key datasets (e.g. cyber assets, controls, exposures, protection metrics and historical findings) via CSV/JSON download.; ; On request, we can schedule bulk exports during the notice period and supply them securely to an agreed location. Once contractual obligations are met and any agreed handover window has closed, customer data is removed from production systems in line with our data retention and sanitisation policies. We will confirm data destruction on request.
• End-of-contract process: Before contract end we agree a termination date and any required transition activities. Buyers retain access to the service until that date, subject to commercial terms, and can export data as required. After access ceases we disable user accounts, complete agreed data exports and then securely delete remaining customer data from live systems in line with our retention policy.; ; The subscription price includes access to the SaaS platform, standard support, maintenance, and security updates. Licensing is typically based on end-customer seat count (organisation size) and includes reasonable use of reporting and API access.; ; Additional charges may apply for out-of-hours support, custom development, extended service engagements (e.g. workshops, board reporting support, bespoke risk modelling, significant one-off data migration or complex onboarding beyond the standard scope.; ; All optional services and their pricing will be agreed with the buyer in advance and documented in the call-off contract or associated order form.
• Documentation accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the documentation is accessible: Available on request

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
  • Other
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Available on request
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• Description of service interface: Available on request
• Accessibility standards: None or don’t know
• Description of accessibility: Available on request
• Accessibility testing: Available on request
• API: No
• Customisation available: No

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The platform is designed to scale horizontally and uses resource isolation, autoscaling, and capacity planning to ensure one customer’s usage does not materially degrade service for others. We monitor performance and utilisation across the environment and proactively tune capacity, rate-limit abusive patterns and schedule intensive background processing to avoid impacting interactive use. Where required, high-value customers can be deployed into logically segregated environments.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Available on request
• Resource tagging: No
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

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

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: 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: Physical access control, complying with SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
• 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 Erasure
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation / Secure Erase
  • Degaussing
  • Physical Destruction / Hardware containing data is completely destroyed

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Users can export key datasets such as assets, controls, exposures, and protection metrics directly from the user interface in CSV/Excel-friendly formats. Where appropriate, machine-readable JSON exports and APIs are available to integrate with customers’ data warehouses on request, SIEM, or BI tools. Export capabilities are controlled by role-based permissions so that only authorised users can extract data.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: CSV

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: We design the service for high availability and commit to a target service uptime of 99.9% measured over a calendar month, excluding agreed planned maintenance windows and circumstances beyond our reasonable control (as defined by customer contracts). The platform is hosted across dedicated, resilient cloud infrastructure and we continuously monitor availability, performance and key health indicators.; ; We aim to schedule planned maintenance during low-usage periods with prior notification to customers. Where unplanned incidents occur, we follow our incident management process, provide status updates via agreed channels and conduct post-incident reviews for material service-affecting events.
• Approach to resilience: The platform is built using modern cloud-native patterns, including redundancy, stateless application tiers, and managed databases with backup and recovery. Critical components are deployed in high-availability configurations to minimise single points of failure.; ; We perform regular backups of customer data and test restore procedures periodically. Infrastructure is defined and managed through configuration-as-code, enabling consistent deployments and controlled change. Monitoring and alerting cover key service health metrics, enabling timely detection and remediation of issues. Business continuity and disaster recovery plans are reviewed and updated in line with our risk management processes.
• Outage reporting: Email alerts

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Other
• Other user authentication: Management access to the service is restricted to authorised personnel using named accounts with least-privilege roles. Strong authentication (e.g. multi-factor) is enforced for administrative interfaces, and access is logged for audit. Support staff only access customer environments or data where necessary to resolve issues and, where possible, with the customer’s knowledge or explicit approval. Role-based access control is used within the platform to ensure buyers can restrict access for their own users.
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Management access to the service is restricted to authorised personnel using named accounts with least-privilege roles. Strong authentication (e.g. multi-factor) is enforced for administrative interfaces, and access is logged for audit. Support staff only access customer environments or data where necessary to resolve issues and, where possible, with the customer’s knowledge or explicit approval. Role-based access control is used within the platform to ensure buyers can restrict access for their own users.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users receive audit information on a regular basis
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get 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

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
  • Other
• Other security governance standards: Full details available here: https://app.riskledger.com/p/shared/83b25576f26e405caecf20138bfd94a0/assessment
• Information security policies and processes: We operate an information security management approach aligned to recognised standards. Core policies cover access control, asset management, change management, vulnerability management, incident management, supplier security, and acceptable use. Full details available here: https://app.riskledger.com/p/shared/83b25576f26e405caecf20138bfd94a0/assessment; ; Security responsibilities are defined at leadership level, with regular risk assessments and reviews of key controls. Production environments are segregated from development and test; least-privilege access principles are applied; and strong authentication is enforced for administrative access. We provide security and privacy awareness training to staff and maintain documented procedures for incident response, data handling, and customer notification.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: We use a formal change management process for the platform and supporting infrastructure. Changes are recorded, risk-assessed, and approved prior to implementation, with separation of duties where appropriate. Infrastructure and application configuration is managed through version-controlled configuration-as-code and repeatable deployment pipelines. Changes to production environments are scheduled, tested in lower environments where feasible and, for material changes, communicated to customers in advance via agreed channels.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: We operate a vulnerability management process that includes regular vulnerability scanning of relevant assets, security patching, and remediation based on risk and severity. Vendor security advisories and threat intelligence are monitored to identify issues affecting the service. Critical and high-severity vulnerabilities are prioritised for remediation within defined target timescales, and emergency changes can be implemented under expedited change control when required.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We collect and monitor logs from the platform and underlying infrastructure, including authentication events, administrative actions, configuration changes, and key system health indicators. Alerts are generated for suspicious or anomalous activity and reviewed by appropriately trained staff. Monitoring rules are updated based on emerging threats and lessons learned from incidents. Where appropriate, we will cooperate with buyers’ own monitoring teams during investigations.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: We maintain a documented incident management process covering detection, triage, containment, removal, and recovery. Incidents are classified by severity with defined response and escalation paths. For incidents that materially affect confidentiality, integrity or availability of the service or customer data, we will notify affected buyers via agreed channels, provide regular updates during response and share a post-incident report summarising root cause, impact and remedial actions.
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: No

Secure development

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

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Available on request
• Link to free trial: Available on request

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

  PDF

• 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.