This G-Cloud 10 service is no longer available to buy.

The G-Cloud 10 framework expired on Tuesday 2 July 2019. Any existing contracts with i15 Limited are still valid.
i15 Limited

Azure Cloud Hosting

i15's Azure Infrastructure Hosting Service offers: technical planning, design, development, support and managed service for hosted Microsoft Azure IaaS and PaaS service models. Data security, connectivity, scalability, resilient infrastructure, integration with line of business systems and hybrid systems are key deliverables of the service.

Features

  • Fully scalable managed hosting service
  • Azure IaaS and PaaS solutions
  • Rapid deployment of proof of concept & app development environments
  • Azure Backup, Azure Monitoring and Azure Disaster Recovery
  • Windows Server, Linux, Database, containerised deployments
  • Save money with per-minute billing
  • Integration with on-premise hosting for hybrid cloud solutions

Benefits

  • Deploy and scale up or down almost instantly.
  • Ensure scalability and consistency using templates.
  • Run enterprise applications in the cloud with world-class support.
  • Build security-enhanced, compliant solutions.
  • Maximise the benefit of existing investments using hybrid connections.
  • Get true HPC capabilities in the cloud, on demand.
  • Maintain service availability through peaks in demand
  • Fully managed service including patching and updates
  • Build confidence economically testing apps before deployment
  • Rapidly deploy and decommission test environments for cost efficiency

Pricing

£0.01 a unit a minute

  • Free trial available

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 sales@i15ltd.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 10

Service ID

2 4 8 2 1 8 1 8 8 9 2 2 0 2 2

Contact

i15 Limited Grant Williamson
Telephone: 0118 206 5352
Email: sales@i15ltd.co.uk

Service scope

Service constraints
See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/ to determine applicable constraints based on buyers requirements.
System requirements
See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
See https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/support/plans/
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
WCAG 2.0 AA or EN 301 549
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Yes, at extra cost
Support levels
Microsoft is able to offer Premier Support Services.

See https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftservices/support.aspx
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
See https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/ plus comprehensive online documentation for various solutions available across the platform.
See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
Other documentation formats
  • Online videos
  • Interactive learning portals
End-of-contract data extraction
Customers are able to remove their data at any time through the same means they uploaded. Either over their network (internet or express route) or via the Azure Import/Export services.

Also see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trustcenter/privacy
End-of-contract process
Please see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trustcenter/privacy/you-own-your-data.

In our Online Services Terms, Microsoft contractually commits to specific processes when a customer leaves a cloud service or the subscription expires. This includes deleting customer data from systems under our control. If you terminate a cloud subscription or it expires (except for free trials), Microsoft will store your customer data in a limited-function account for 90 days (the “retention period”) to give you time to extract the data or renew your subscription. During this period, Microsoft provides multiple notices, so you will be amply forewarned of the upcoming deletion of data. After this 90-day retention period, Microsoft will disable the account and delete the customer data, including any cached or backup copies. For in-scope services, that deletion will occur within 90 days after the end of the retention period. (In-scope services are defined in the Data Processing Terms section of our Online Services Terms.)

See http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/Downloader.aspx?DocumentId=11745

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Using the web interface
Manage and deploy services via the Azure Portal.

See https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/
Web interface accessibility standard
WCAG 2.0 AA or EN 301 549
Web interface accessibility testing
See https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
Users are able to utilise the Azure API Managament service to create their own API's for the solutions they deploy on to the platform. Additionally we have the Azure Service Management API which provides programmatic access to much of the functionality available through the Management Portal.

Available at: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/azure/ee460799.aspx
API automation tools
  • Ansible
  • Chef
  • SaltStack
  • Terraform
  • Puppet
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
  • Other
Command line interface
Yes
Command line interface compatibility
  • Linux or Unix
  • Windows
  • MacOS
Using the command line interface
Azure CLI 2.0 is optimized for managing and administering Azure resources from the command line, and for building automation scripts that work against the Azure Resource Manager.

See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli

Scaling

Scaling available
Yes
Scaling type
  • Automatic
  • Manual
Independence of resources
Azure represents a hyper-scale public cloud service.
Usage notifications
Yes
Usage reporting
  • API
  • Email
  • SMS

Analytics

Infrastructure or application metrics
Yes
Metrics types
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
Reporting types
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra support
Organisation whose services are being resold
Microsoft Azure

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Conforms to BS7858:2012
Government security clearance
Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • EU-US Privacy Shield agreement 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
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
  • Please see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/best-practices-availability-paired-regions
  • https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/global-datacenters
Backup controls
Please see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/azure/backup/backup-azure-vms-first-look
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
See Microsoft's Online Service Terms at http://www.microsoftvolumelicensing.com/Downloader.aspx?DocumentId=11745
Approach to resilience
Please see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/global-datacenters and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/TrustCenter/
Outage reporting
Please see https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/status/ and https://portal.azure.com/#blade/HubsExtension/ServicesHealthBlade

Identity and authentication

User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google apps)
  • Username or password
  • Other
Other user authentication
"Azure Active Directory is Microsoft’s multi-tenant cloud based directory and identity management service. Azure-AD provides an affordable, easy to use solution to give employees and business partners single sign-on (SSO) access to thousands of cloud SaaS Applications like Office365, Salesforce.com, DropBox, and Concur. For application developers, Azure-AD lets you focus on building your application by making it fast and simple to integrate with a world class identity management solution used by millions of organizations. Azure-AD also includes a full suite of identity management capabilities including multi-factor authentication, device registration, self-service password management, self-service group management, privileged account management.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/active-directory-whatis"
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
"Azure-AD can designate separate administrators to serve different functions. These administrators will have access to features in the Azure portal and, depending on their role, will be able to create or edit users, assign administrative roles to others, reset user passwords, manage user-licenses, and manage domains, among other things. A user who is assigned an admin role will have the same permissions across all of the cloud services that your organization has subscribed to, regardless of whether you assign the role in the Office365 portal, or in the Azure classic-portal, or by using the Azure-AD module for Windows PowerShell.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/active-directory-assign-admin-roles"
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
Devices users manage the service through
  • Dedicated device on a segregated network (providers own provision)
  • 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
Between 6 months and 12 months
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users receive audit information on a regular basis
How long supplier audit data is stored for
Between 6 months and 12 months
How long system logs are stored for
Between 6 months and 12 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
BSI
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
17/01/2017
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
Please see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trustcenter/compliance/iso-iec-27001
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
Yes
CSA STAR accreditation date
29/09/2016
CSA STAR certification level
Level 3: CSA STAR Certification
What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover
None
PCI certification
Yes
Who accredited the PCI DSS certification
Coalfire Systems Inc.
PCI DSS accreditation date
01/04/2016
What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover
Service Scope is identified here http://aka.ms/azure-pci
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
  • FACT
  • NHS IG Toolkit
  • FedRamp
  • NIST 800-171
  • FIPS 140-2
  • CCSL (IRAP)
  • ENISA IAF
  • CDSA
  • ISO 27017 and 27018
  • SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3

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
  • Other
Other security governance standards
14 Cloud Security Principles - See https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/14-Cloud-Security-Controls-670292c1 . Also FACT, NHS IG Toolkit, FedRamp, NIST 800-171, EU Model Clauses
Information security policies and processes
"An Information Security Management Program has been established to enable Microsoft Azure to maintain and improve its management system for information security. Through establishment of the ISMS, Azure plans for and manages protection of its assets to acceptable security levels based on defined risk management processes. In addition, Azure monitors the ISMS and the effectiveness of controls in maintaining the confidentiality, integrity and availability of assets to continuously improve information security.

The ISMS framework encompasses industry best-practices for information security and privacy. The ISMS has been documented and communicated in a customer-facing Information Security Policy, which can be made available upon request (customers and prospective customers must have a signed NDA or equivalent in place to receive a copy).

Microsoft Azure performs annual ISMS reviews, the results of which are reviewed by management. This involves monitoring ongoing effectiveness and improvement of the ISMS control environment by reviewing security issues, audit results, and monitoring status, and by planning and tracking necessary corrective actions.
Also see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/TrustCenter/Compliance/ISO-IEC-27001 and The Microsoft Cloud Security Policy is available via the Service Trust Platform aka.ms/stp"

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
"Azure has developed formal standard operating procedures (SOPs) governing the change management process. These SOPs cover both software development and hardware change and release management, and are consistent with established regulatory guidelines including ISO 27001, SOC 1 / SOC 2, NIST 800-53, and others.

Microsoft also uses Operational Security Assurance (OSA), a framework that incorporates the knowledge gained through a variety of capabilities that are unique to Microsoft including the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL), the Microsoft Security Response Center program, and deep awareness of the cybersecurity threat landscape.
Please see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/SDL/OperationalSecurityAssurance and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sdl"
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
"When providing the Antimalware solution for Virtual Machines, Azure is responsible for ensuring the service is highly available, definitions are updated regularly, that configuration through the Azure Management Portal is effective and that the software detects and protects against known types of malicious software. MCIO-managed hosts in the scope boundary are scanned to validate anti-virus clients are installed and current signature-definition files exist.

Vulnerability scans are performed on a quarterly basis at a minimum. Microsoft Azure contracts with independent assessors to perform penetration testing of the Microsoft Azure boundary."
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
"Microsoft Azure employs sophisticated software-defined service instrumentation and monitoring that integrates at the component or server level, the datacenter edge, our network backbone, Internet exchange sites, and at the real or simulated user level, providing visibility when a service disruption is occurring and pinpointing its cause.

Proactive monitoring continuously measures the performance of key subsystems of the Microsoft Azure services platform against the established boundaries for acceptable service performance and availability. When a threshold is reached or an irregular event occurs, the monitoring system generates warnings so that operations staff can address the threshold or event."
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
"Microsoft has developed robust processes to facilitate a coordinated response to incidents.
• Identification – System and security alerts may be harvested, correlated, and analyzed.
• Containment – The escalation team evaluates the scope and impact of an incident.
• Eradication – The escalation team eradicates any damage caused by the security breach, identifies root cause for why the security issue occurred.
• Recovery – During recovery, software or configuration updates are applied to the system and services are returned to a full working capacity.
• Lessons Learned – Each security incident is analyzed to protect against future reoccurrence."

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
Hyper-V
How shared infrastructure is kept separate
Please see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/TrustCenter/Security/default.aspx

Energy efficiency

Energy-efficient datacentres
Yes

Pricing

Price
£0.01 a unit a minute
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
Yes
Description of free trial
Please see https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free

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 sales@i15ltd.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.