Public Sector Cloud Hosting Service
Delivers a comprehensive hosted managed service including but not limited to each of the following: Windows, Intel, SQL Server, Linux, Oracle. Users can obtain new services quickly and pay for them flexibly including PAYG. This highly secure hosting service can and does include a full application managed service.
Features
- Fully managed Infrastructure and environment
- Proactive Applications Managed Service and Support
- Services hosted in state of the art data centre
- Cost effective solutions tailored to your needs
- Various DR options available
- Service Level Agreements tailored to clients needs
- High Availability, excellent incident response and resolution
- Responsive HelpDesk and web enabled call logging and monitoring
- Virtualisation and non-virtualised platforms
Benefits
- Rapid transition: speedy and painless take-on of services
- On-demand access to robust, scalable and secure IT infrastructure
- Rapid provisioning and enterprise-grade security, performance and transparency
- Predictable costs, strong governance and service-level driven outcomes
- Many years of experience in managed services reduces risk
- Effective integration, management and governance of infrastructure services
Pricing
£7.98 a user a month
- Education pricing available
Service documents
Request an accessible format
Framework
G-Cloud 10
Service ID
5 5 7 3 3 9 2 3 9 4 1 5 4 6 1
Contact
Meritec Limited
Adam Wilkinson
Telephone: 01756 699204
Email: adam.wilkinson@meritec.co.uk
Service scope
- Service constraints
- Meritec will perform non-essential updates on a defined schedule, normally outside of standard working hours. Customers will be given at least 2 weeks’ notice where possible of scheduled maintenance tasks. Essential updates, e.g. security patches, would be installed at the first available opportunity, to be agreed with the customer.
- System requirements
- No specific requirements
User support
- Email or online ticketing support
- Email or online ticketing
- Support response times
- Support response times: Priority / Response Time 1/ 30 minutes 2/ 1 hour 3/ 4 hours 4/ 1 day. By agreement for weekends and bank holidays
- 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
- Yes, at extra cost
- Support levels
- • Standard support level per SLA included in service cost • Alternative levels of support by agreement • A service manager is part of our standard service
- Support available to third parties
- Yes
Onboarding and offboarding
- Getting started
- A set-up facility and full user documentation is provided.
- Service documentation
- Yes
- Documentation formats
- End-of-contract data extraction
- A wide variety of formats and platforms are supported for secure export. Meritec can provide a "data out" policy if required.
- End-of-contract process
-
• All client data returned to client
• All client access deactivated
• Relevant secure processes fully applied
• Above at standard cost
Using the service
- Web browser interface
- No
- API
- No
- Command line interface
- No
Scaling
- Scaling available
- Yes
- Scaling type
- Automatic
- Independence of resources
- Meritec cloud hosting service is supplied on the basis of guaranteed resources. This translates into a solution that is guaranteed to scale when you need it to, rather than when there's resource available to.
- Usage notifications
- No
Analytics
- Infrastructure or application metrics
- Yes
- Metrics types
-
- CPU
- Disk
- Memory
- Reporting types
- Regular reports
Resellers
- Supplier type
- Not a reseller
Staff security
- Staff security clearance
- Other security clearance
- 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
- User control over data storage and processing locations
- Yes
- Datacentre security standards
- Supplier-defined controls
- Penetration testing frequency
- At least once a year
- Penetration testing approach
- ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
- 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
Backup and recovery
- Backup and recovery
- Yes
- What’s backed up
-
- Files
- Virtual machines
- Databases
- All required data
- Backup controls
- All backup requirements are agreed at service take up and managed through our SLA process. Changed requirements are readily accommodated through our change control process. Service management is always available to engage with users.
- Datacentre setup
- Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
- Scheduling backups
- Supplier controls the whole backup schedule
- Backup recovery
- Users contact the support team
Data-in-transit protection
- Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
- Private network or public sector network
- Data protection within supplier network
- IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
Availability and resilience
- Guaranteed availability
- • Service Availability 99.9% (uptime) per month • Service Availability Window 7*24 hours (all days) – 24 hours a day • Response time for accessing screens - Should be within 3 seconds (at a minimum) 99% of the time • Response time for searches Response time for basic system searches for information and return of results system should be within 5 seconds 97% of the time Meritec will work with each of our customers on an individual basis to determine if a recompense model is required to meet the needs of the specific council or public department/ organisation. We strive to exceed, wherever possible, our SLA targets for service levels. In the unlikely event of failure to meet our SLA targets we would invoke the agreed process which would award an appropriate level of service credits by way of compensation.
- Approach to resilience
- Available on request
- Outage reporting
- Email alerts
Identity and authentication
- User authentication
- Username or password
- Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
- Access is restricted via rights and roles permission settings within the relevant area and channel. Often times these are linked to a Directory services such as MS AD.
- Access restriction testing frequency
- At least once a year
- Management access authentication
-
- Dedicated link (for example VPN)
- Username or password
- Other
- Devices users manage the service through
-
- Dedicated device on a government network (for example PSN)
- 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)
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
- QMS International Limited
- ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
- 30/10/15
- What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
- There are no exclusions in Meritec ISMS Statement of Applicability (Annex A) ISO 27001:2013 covers all aspects of Information Technology Security.
- 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
-
A copy of our Information Security Management System (ISMS) 150 pages is available on request.
Reporting structure is Help Desk Manager to IT Manager to IT Services Director to Director of Service Delivery.
Operational security
- Configuration and change management standard
- Supplier-defined controls
- Configuration and change management approach
- Meritec Change Management process adheres to ITIL guidelines. Any Change in Meritec IT environment is processed through Change Control system. A change is logged on the system with following information: Change Description including the asset number of affected equipment; When Changed; Change Duration; Risk analysis; Regression plan; Security Implications; Change Technician. Details of change are emailed to all Stakeholders. Change is approved or rejected by CAB or its nominee. Technician updates the change stating if change was successful or not. All Meritec IT equipment is recorded on the Asset Register and any change is reflected in the Asset Register.
- Vulnerability management type
- Supplier-defined controls
- Vulnerability management approach
- Meritec: • monitors information systems to detect attacks and/or signs of potential attacks, including unauthorised network local or remote connections. • deploys monitoring devices strategically within information technology environment to collect information security events and associated information. • protects information obtained from intrusion-monitoring tools from unauthorised access, modification, and deletion. • monitors inbound and outbound communications traffic to/ from the information system for unusual or unauthorised activities or conditions. • heightens the level of information system monitoring activity whenever there is an indication of increased risk to Meritec operations, individuals and assets.
- Protective monitoring type
- Undisclosed
- Protective monitoring approach
- Our Protective Monitoring processes comprise a set of control alerts and reports that provide feedback to those with responsibility for monitoring and addressing compromises. This includes such information security control activities as inspecting firewall logs, investigating operating system security alerts and monitoring Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS). Our Protective Monitoring also includes putting in place mechanisms for collecting ICT log information and configuring ICT logs in order to provide an audit trail of security relevant events of interest. Compromises and incidents are immediately logged, analysed and rectified.
- Incident management type
- Undisclosed
- Incident management approach
- The Meritec ITIL compliant support desk called ServicePoint is responsible for receiving requests and notifications regarding user help and support. Incidents are allocated unique identification and calls are monitored and if necessary escalated as appropriate. The output report(s) provided by ServicePoint provide part of the preparations that the Service manager will use at the next Service Management meeting. Given due authorisation levels it is possible for client staff/management to access the calls database and enquire directly regarding status, progress, etc.
Secure development
- Approach to secure software development best practice
- Supplier-defined process
Separation between users
- Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart
- No
Energy efficiency
- Energy-efficient datacentres
- Yes
Pricing
- Price
- £7.98 a user a month
- Discount for educational organisations
- Yes
- Free trial available
- No