The Virtual Forge

Development & UX

We develop software and websites with the experience of your users as a priority. We have experts in Interaction Design, User Research, Prototyping and UI Design; As well as technical experts that ensure that what we design is not only right for your users but deliverable from a technical perspective.

Features

  • UI Design
  • Front-End Development (JS/HTML/CSS)
  • React.js Development
  • User Research
  • User Testing (In-person & Remote)
  • Information Architecture
  • Wireframing
  • User Journey Mapping
  • Prototyping
  • Workshop Facilitation

Benefits

  • Understand your users
  • Build intuitive products
  • Get best-in-class visual design
  • Gain clarity about what is being built and why
  • Use the right technology for your project
  • Build your product in an agile and strategic way

Pricing

£750.00 to £1,250.00 a person a day

  • Education pricing available

Service documents

Framework

G-Cloud 12

Service ID

3 5 2 0 7 3 6 5 6 8 4 5 2 5 1

Contact

The Virtual Forge The VF Team
Telephone: +44 (0) 207 078 8855
Email: info@thevirtualforge.com

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
What software services is the service an extension to
This service can be designed to specific user requirements
Cloud deployment model
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
Service constraints
Service designed around user requirements
System requirements
System requirements will be dependent upon the user designs

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Support response times P1 - Critical - 2 hours P2 - High - 4 hours P3 - Medium - 8 hours P4 - Low - 24 hours UK hours 8am - 9pm. Out of hours support for P1 only.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
No
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
No
Support levels
Priority levels set out below. Clients can opt to have support out of hours for premium level, however this is for P1 only. Priority 1 / Urgent Service down; unusable by all parties, Priority 2 / High Major problem; system is functioning but severely affecting all parties. Priority 2 problems may be fixed with a workaround. If a workaround is provided, the priority level may be downgraded to Priority 3. Priority 3 / Medium Minor problem; system is functioning and workaround is available. One or some parties affected, Priority 3 parties may be resolved with a fix or workaround. Priority 4 / Low Minor problem; system functioning or only issue affecting one party. General questions or queries relating to the service or new products.
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Online documentation and email support. Any issues are raised via our Helpdesk
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
All data is shared with the client at the end of the design sprint and data removed if requested. No data is shared with 3rd Party
End-of-contract process
Depending of the nature of the work requested hi-fidelity mock ups and a document outlining insights gathered during user testing along with suggested next steps will be provided. This may also include Prototypes. All data will be held in accordance with GDPR guidelines

Using the service

Web browser interface
No
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
No
Service interface
No
API
Yes
What users can and can't do using the API
Prototypes are created during the Design Sprint, these are accesible via APIs
API documentation
Yes
API documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
API sandbox or test environment
Yes
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
All Design Sprints are fully customisable

Scaling

Independence of resources
This is differs for each client and the scope of work required. If it is hosted within our AWS or Azure environment, we create a private cloud-based virtual system for each client. This ensures that systems can easily scale, and that only users of the client's service will be 'competing' for resource.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
We provide standard API metrics, including number of requests, average response times, etc.
Reporting types
Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Not a reseller

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Staff screening not performed
Government security clearance
Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
User control over data storage and processing locations
No
Datacentre security standards
Managed by a third party
Penetration testing frequency
At least every 6 months
Penetration testing approach
In-house
Protecting data at rest
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

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
N/A
Data export formats
Other
Data import formats
Other

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
TLS (version 1.2 or above)
Data protection within supplier network
TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
Availability can be configured around the user requirements.
Approach to resilience
We make extensive use of AWS and Azure hosting services the approach to resilience will be dependent on the users requirements.
Outage reporting
Reporting if required can be configured around the users requirements.

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Username and password. Resets only available directly to user via their email.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
Users contact the support team to get audit information
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

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
British Assessment Bureau
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
07/01/2020
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
-
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Other security certifications
No

Security governance

Named board-level person responsible for service security
Yes
Security governance certified
Yes
Security governance standards
ISO/IEC 27001
Information security policies and processes
Company Information Security Policy must be signed by all employees, and is updated regularly. CTO – The company’s Chief Technology Officer is responsible for corporate-wide IS system planning, implementation, and execution. Information Security Manager – The IS Manager is responsible for the company-wide datacenter and network infrastructures. DevOps Engineers – The DevOps Engineers are responsible for all enterprise business systems. Internal Users -- All members of the the company User Community are required to familiarise themselves with the policies outlined in the The Company Employee and Contractor IS Policies document.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Supplier-defined controls
Configuration and change management approach
Changes are managed via the change control process to ensure projects remain within approved constraints. Change proposals are agreed with the client, completed by the individual who identifies the need for a change, then submitted to us. The project team then assesses the impact of the change. The request is submitted to the change control board with the project team's findings to be reviewed. If the change is approved, all project documentation must be updated and the change must be communicated to all stakeholders. Some changes may also require re-alignment of the project costs, schedule, or scope.
Vulnerability management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Vulnerability management approach
Threats are monitored using an IDS provided by AWS along with the standard protection offered by AWS. Patches are routinely applied with urgent hotfixes applied the same day as a threat is identified. Threat information is monitored from AWS and industry leading security boards and alert feeds.
Protective monitoring type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Protective monitoring approach
This is managed by AWS on our behalf.
Incident management type
Supplier-defined controls
Incident management approach
Incidents are managed via a ticketing system. Information and FAQs are available via the ticketing system to help with common issues. Canned responses are prepared for common issues. Users report incidents via email or through ticket portal. Responses are given according to pre-defined SLAs. RCAs are available for critical issues. Ticket reports are available at client request.

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)

Public sector networks

Connection to public sector networks
No

Pricing

Price
£750.00 to £1,250.00 a person a day
Discount for educational organisations
Yes
Free trial available
No

Service documents