Method4 Limited

SharePoint cloud hosted services

Our extensive expertise includes Office365 SharePoint Online, SharePoint 2016, SharePoint 2013, SharePoint 2010, MOSS 2007 and SharePoint Foundation. Method4 provide: Website, Intranet, Extranet, EDRMS and ECMS implementation. SharePoint strategy, information architecture, development, training, mentoring, migration and support. Microsoft Gold Partner and certified Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider.

Features

  • SharePoint hosting, strategy, farm architecture, information architecture, design, build, support
  • Implementation of SharePoint online, intranets, extranets, web parts, apps, controls
  • ISO 27001, ISO 9001, Cyber Essentials accredited. Microsoft Gold partner.
  • SharePoint Framework, C#, HTML5, CSS, XML, XSLT, JSON, PowerShell
  • Multilingual SharePoint implementation including bilingual Welsh / English interfaces
  • SharePoint Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRM) solutions
  • Office365 SharePoint online migration and migration from legacy CMS
  • SharePoint Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solutions
  • Responsive web design and user experience (UX) design
  • SharePoint integration e.g. Umbraco, CRM, social media

Benefits

  • Government Digital Service Standard. GOV.UK Open Standards principles
  • Adherence to WCAG 2.1 and W3C web and accessibility standards
  • Enable business, financial and technical benefits that Cloud services deliver
  • Hosting on Microsoft Azure, Office365, Rackspace Cloud, Amazon Web Services
  • Enable best use of SharePoint tools at your disposal
  • Certified Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider based in Cardiff, Wales
  • Utilise methodologies such as Agile Scrum and PRINCE2
  • Deliver enhanced Business Intelligence through SharePoint business critical solutions
  • Power Platform (Flow, Automate, Power Apps, Power BI), Forms
  • Web applications developed to the recommendations of OWASP

Pricing

£615 to £995 a person a day

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 gcloud@method4.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 12

Service ID

4 9 9 8 1 2 8 4 6 7 7 1 5 2 7

Contact

Method4 Limited Christian Coates
Telephone: 02920 665947
Email: gcloud@method4.co.uk

Service scope

Service constraints
No
System requirements
No specific system requirements

User support

Email or online ticketing support
Email or online ticketing
Support response times
Normal business hours support 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 24/7 support is also available outside normal business hours.

Standard response within 1 hour.
User can manage status and priority of support tickets
Yes
Online ticketing support accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
24 hours, 7 days a week
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
Onsite support
Support levels
We provide a comprehensive helpdesk facility to clients. This includes an out of hours service and flexible service where support cover can be enhanced for short periods of time for specific events. Our support systems are standalone but are also integrated with customer and 3rd party support groups to provide a uniform service to users. Typically requests are received to the helpdesk via email or telephone and logged immediately in the support log. The support log is accessible 24/7 to clients, allowing them to see the issues that have been raised and update existing issues or alternatively raise new issues. The SLA offered would depend on the type of support being provided and would be tailored to fit our customer’s needs.
Support available to third parties
Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Both formal and informal tailored training and mentoring can be provided maximising the benefits of training time. We are able to provide online training as well as training facilities at our offices in central Cardiff.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • HTML
  • PDF
End-of-contract data extraction
Extracts are made as per customer requirements
End-of-contract process
Termination terms will vary depending on the service offered, and will be agreed at the time of service commencement.

Using the service

Web browser interface
No
API
No
Command line interface
No

Scaling

Scaling available
Yes
Scaling type
  • Automatic
  • Manual
Independence of resources
Logical isolation is used to segregate each customer’s data from
that of others. This provides the scale and economic benefits of multitenant services while rigorously preventing customers from accessing one another’s data.
Usage notifications
Yes
Usage reporting
Email

Analytics

Infrastructure or application metrics
Yes
Metrics types
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
Reporting types
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Reseller providing extra features and support
Organisation whose services are being resold
Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Rackspace

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Other security clearance
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)
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
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a Tigerscheme qualified provider or a CREST-approved service provider
Protecting data at rest
Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
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
  • Databases
  • Virtual Machines
  • Web Applications
  • Files
  • Unstructured data
Backup controls
A backup schedule is agreed at the start of the hosting period which defines what gets backed up and frequency of backups. This can be changed at any time by requesting changes through our standard change control procedures.
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
  • Users contact the support team

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • 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
Typical service availability is 99.95%

The SLA offered would depend on the type of service being provided and would be agreed at the start of the contract.
Approach to resilience
Available on request
Outage reporting
Outages are reported on a service dashboard or via 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)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
VPN access. 2-factor authentication. Username and Password
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
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
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 receive audit information on a regular basis
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
URS
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
March 2017
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
Full coverage
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
Cyber Essentials

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
ISO 27001 Information Security Management System with named Information Security Manager. All security policies, processes and controls comply with ISO 27001 and ISO 27002.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Supplier-defined controls
Configuration and change management approach
Our hosting services typically comply with CSA CCM v3.0 standards, supplemented by Method4 change management processes.
Vulnerability management type
Supplier-defined controls
Vulnerability management approach
Our hosting services typically comply with CSA CCM v3.0 standards, supplemented by Method4 vulnerability management processes.
Protective monitoring type
Supplier-defined controls
Protective monitoring approach
Our hosting services typically comply with CSA CCM v3.0 standards, supplemented by Method4 protective monitoring processes.
Incident management type
Supplier-defined controls
Incident management approach
Our hosting services typically comply with CSA CCM v3.0 standards, supplemented by Method4 incident management processes.

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, AWS
How shared infrastructure is kept separate
Microsoft Azure or AWS specific controls

Energy efficiency

Energy-efficient datacentres
Yes
Description of energy efficient datacentres
Microsoft’s Azure cloud has been carbon-neutral since 2012. Half of the energy it uses already comes from 1.2 gigawatts of wind, solar, and hydro-electric sources, which the company expects to make 60 percent by 2020.

Renewable energy is only part of what makes Azure a more sustainable way to run workloads. The other part is energy efficiency, some of it coming from the efficiency of its custom Azure hardware, and the bulk of it from operational efficiency and the efficiency of its data center infrastructure.

Pricing

Price
£615 to £995 a person a day
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 gcloud@method4.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.