Service Definition

service definition

Pure commitment.

service description

Email and Collaboration as a Service

SaaS

G-Cloud service ID numbers

Assured: 7960 3976 3565 9104

Elevated: 7315 6312 9373 1427

version 7.1

Contents

Highlights 3

What is the service? 4

What can I do with this service? 4

What are the key features and benefits? 5

Why UKCloud? 5

What are the key technical features? 7

Who is the service aimed at? 8

What are the service levels? 8

How much does it cost? 10

Is there a trial service? 11

What are the terms and conditions? 12

Appendix 13

Highlights

· Exceptional value — low-cost PSN Protected Service mailboxes (from £3.25 per user per month)
· Mail hygiene and domain-specific customisation such as blacklisting, attachment stripping and domain-wide headers/footers, provide flexible protection for internet messaging
· Immediately available — zero delay to your project
· UK sovereign — an assured cloud platform delivered from two secure UK data centres by a UK company with UK government security-cleared staff
· Optimised for OFFICIAL — extensive independent validation (including CESG PGA), the service fully aligns with the CESG 14 Cloud Security Principles, making it ideal for all data classified at OFFICIAL (including OFFICIAL SENSITIVE) and legacy IL0–IL4 solutions
· Flexible connectivity options — connect via the internet (with DDoS protection provided as standard), a government community network (for example PSN Assured service, PSN Protected service, N3; legacy networks including PNN); or by HybridConnect — using your own dedicated circuits such as CPA-encrypted tunnels, leased lines or MPLS

What is the service?

Email and Collaboration as a Service provides a range of productivity tools including email, calendaring and tasks that help an organisation's end users to work securely, efficiently and effectively. It is accessible through a range of popular applications and mobile and desktop devices, and includes 'briefcase' functionality that provides a secure solution for managing and sharing documents and information with colleagues.

The UKCloud service reduces the cost of deploying and managing enterprise email systems. It is billed on the basis of the resources used or reserved during a period of time (one month minimum), based on metrics including number of mailboxes, mailbox size (mailbox and archive) and bandwidth.

The service has previously achieved Pan Government Accredited and is PSN Accredited for both the Assured service and the Protected service. This provides the most robust levels of assurance that our cloud platform is suitable for data classified as OFFICIAL or OFFICIAL SENSITIVE, and legacy IL0–IL3 systems (and IL4 by aggregation). Public sector organisations benefit from a secure, purpose-built, on-demand email and collaboration platform that meets their stringent requirements, on a true utility (pay-for-what-you-use) consumption model.

Using a web browser, an email client or mobile device, users have easy access to their personal and group mail boxes, with little or no setup needed. Mail hygiene is provided via Cisco IronPort© for internet-facing solutions, providing protection against spam and malware.

UKCloud manages the underlying infrastructure and application, ensuring the integrity of the email solution and mailbox availability. The customer is responsible for:

· Customising and configuring the mail solution to their needs

· Supporting and administering their end-users, devices and client applications

We provide the Email & Collaboration platform exclusively to the UK public sector. UKCloud supports the government's strategy to change the way the public sector buys IT, in order to deliver better service, more quickly and for less cost.

What can I do with this service?

Email and Collaboration-as-a-Service offers the following capabilities:

· Email and calendaring

· Contacts and addresses — a centralised repository delivering rich functionality

· Archive — storage based on company or user requirements (optional)

· Briefcase — the ability to store and access content in a centralised location; fully configurable to allow users to create folders, access rights, document check-in/out and version control

· Access anywhere — access the service via the internet, a government secure network, from mobile devices, using common web browsers, or via client-based applications such as Zimbra Desktop Client and Microsoft Outlook

· Social — supports integration with a wide range of social networking and collaboration tools, if desired

· Expedited projects — no need to wait for infrastructure and deployment teams as you can quickly provision new mailboxes via an easy-to-use self-service portal

· Domain specific customisation — enabled by Cisco IronPort© (internet-facing services only), such as blacklisting, attachment stripping and domain-wide headers and footers

As a primary email service, UKCloud Email and Collaboration as a Service allows organisations to provide secure, easy to use email, calendaring and tasking tools quickly and efficiently with no need to purchase hardware, or set up software in their own data centre, so resources can be used elsewhere. In addition, organisations can choose which client software their users use to access the services, providing flexibility and improving the user experience. With a choice of Assured OFFICAL and Elevated OFFICIAL domains, organisations can implement an additional required layer of security and assurance that may not be otherwise available.

As a secondary email service, customers can use the secure Email & Collaboration platform to support specific project teams who need to share sensitive information that is not suitable for distribution via less secure email services, such as Office 365, Google Mail and similar. As the service is accredited to connect to both PSN Assured and PSN Protect networks, teams can collaborate across government communities. This gives organisations a way to operate at higher security levels without having to move the entire primary email service.

Everything you would expect from an on-premises implementation of Microsoft Exchange — and more — can be achieved with the Email and Collaboration as a Service, with the added benefits of flexible user and storage usage, which is billed per GB and can be expanded or reduced as your organisation email requirements change.

What are the key features and benefits?

Feature / Benefit /
Fully featured calendaring solution / · Easy scheduling and co-ordination — book meetings, resources or rooms
Centralised data storage, configurable to allow secure information sharing / · Know where your data is at all times
· Share information and documents safely and securely
· Work collaboratively with colleagues in your own and other government organisations
Flexible, on-demand solution / · Reduce CAPEX, move to an OPEX-based charging model and pay only for what you use
· Scale indefinitely to meet demand without overhauling your estate or buying new hardware
Access from multiple devices, applications, networks and browsers / · Facilitate flexible and mobile working
· Enhance team-working and individual productivity
Pre-accredited solution / · Reduce your local compliance overhead
Free 30-day trial / · Try the service risk free before you buy
· Test, develop and run proof of concept

Why UKCloud?

UKCloud is a UK company founded in 2011. We are unique among cloud providers as we maintain an exclusive focus on the UK public sector. We were one of the first G-Cloud providers to successfully achieve CESG Pan Government Accreditation.

Our range of on-demand, pay-for-what-you-use cloud services with no minimum commitment are suitable for OFFICIAL and OFFICIAL SENSITIVE (formerly IL0 through IL4) data. They’re delivered from two secure Tier 3 UK data centres separated by more than 100km and securely connected by dedicated high-bandwidth, low-latency CESG-assured circuits, enabling synchronous replication.

We help public sector organisations lower CO2 emissions through reduced energy consumption, sustainable procurement and better hardware utilisation. UKCloud is a CarbonNeutral® Company whose data centres have a low carbon footprint and low PUE rating, and comply with the EU Data Centre Code of Conduct.

UKCloud has unparalleled capability in:

Security assurance

We offer our cloud services from UK data centres, operated by UK government security-cleared staff. Customers’ data is therefore not subject to foreign legislation or the risk of international surveillance or disclosure.

Our services are designed and built with clear alignment to the 14 CESG Cloud Security Principles that all UK public sector organisations use when assessing cloud hosted solutions. The UKCloud platform benefits from extensive independent validation via certifications ranging from international standards (for example, ISO9001, ISO27001, ISO20000) to UK public-sector specific standards (for example, PSN, N3/HSCIC).

Our cloud platforms are subject to regular, extensive IT Security Health Check (ITSHC) CHECK Tests by independent, CESG-approved assessors to provide our customers with confidence in the physical and technical security controls which have been implemented to protect their valuable data assets.

Connectivity

Both of our UK data centres have resilient connections to secure UK government networks such as PSN Assured, PSN Protected and N3, as well as large-scale, DDoS-protected internet connectivity. We also make it possible for you to present your own connections (such as direct connectivity into your MPLS, or inexpensive point-to-point connections via leased lines); and offer a Secure Remote Access solution that allows assured VPN access to the Elevated OFFICIAL domain.

Flexibility

We offer simple products for delivering complex solutions, all designed to reduce security risks without decreasing the flexibility of a cloud platform. Our differentiated, commoditised products provide a choice of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS; service levels; virtual machine sizes; and security levels.

We provide innovative solutions to further increase cloud flexibility, such as the Cross Domain Security Zone which enables internet-facing Assured OFFICIAL applications to connect to data stored within our Elevated OFFICIAL platform. This allows you to keep your data safe, while letting citizens interface with the information they need.

Public sector partnerships

We have a committed team focused on identifying partners who understand the UK public sector and have expertise in enabling and accelerating digital transformational projects.

· Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Specialists in services relating to the design, management and support of environments built within UKCloud’s cloud platform, helping to reduce the complexities of platform management.

· Systems Integrators (SIs). Organisations that fully understand UKCloud’s cloud portfolio are experts at bringing together individual cloud components to deliver entire cloud-based solutions.

· Developers and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Able to provide fully packaged applications or SaaS solutions which leverage UKCloud’s secure cloud capabilities.

Strategic Advisors/Consultants. For customers who require additional advice around delivering solutions in the cloud, our consultancy partners and subject specialists can help define strategy, develop action plans and create solutions.

What are the key technical features?

Email and Collaboration as a Service offers the following technical features as standard.

· Email including calendaring and tasks:

o Fully featured email, calendar, address book, tasks and file collaboration

o 1GB mailboxes (optional unlimited archive available)

o Support for secure POP3, IMAP4, MAPI and SMTP access using TLS/SSL encryption

o Global address lists and third-party application extension capabilities

o A message size limit (maximum attachment size) of 25MB

· Security:

o Encrypted client connectivity using FIPS 140-2

o S/MIME for digital signatures and email encryption

o Configurable administration rights

o Admin activity audit trail

o Access controls for application and data sharing

o Single sign-on support

· Briefcase — document storing and sharing:

o A central repository to store and manage documents and files

o Set access roles and responsibilities per user or group on folders or documents

o Create document versioning and approval workflows to improve data integrity and collaboration

· Archiving:

o The service can include integrated archiving and discovery as a chargeable option

o This can be enabled for all or selected users, to copy every message (sent and received) into an archive mailbox

o Cross-mailbox search (discovery) of items is supported in the web admin client

· Support for a wide variety of web browsers and mail clients (the list below is for guidance only — check the Zimbra website or with UKCloud for the latest guidance on supported browsers):

o Advanced web client (Ajax) — Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome

o Standard web client (HTML) — Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome

o Desktop clients — Zimbra Desktop, Microsoft Outlook 2003–2013, Apple iSync; any POP or IMAP-supported client

· Mobility — support for any compatible smartphone (Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile) and Apple iPhone / iPad

· Secure mobility — supports corporate security policies that mobile devices must accept to receive and store an organisation's data and communications, such as:

o Force PIN security on device

o Require alphanumeric password for device

o Automatic device wipe

o Auto device lock

Who is the service aimed at?

This service is aimed at any organisation that can benefit from cloud-hosted email provision rather than a costly and resource-hungry on-premises solution. In particular, it is ideal:

· For smaller organisations or departments with a lower email user base, as service provisioning and setup are much quicker and more cost effective than creating an on-premises email solution, and don't require in-house expertise.

· For larger organisations looking to take advantage of an on-demand hosted email solution, with reduced operating costs and the flexibility of paying only for the users and storage that are consumed, eliminating the high CAPEX associated with an on-premises solution.

· As an additional email solution for specific departments that require isolated and secure email at a higher OFFICIAL (or OFFICIAL SENSITIVE) level — ideal for more sensitive information or subject matter.

What are the service levels?

UKCloud will use reasonable endeavours to ensure that the availability of the UKCloud service purchased by the customer in a given calendar month equals the applicable Availability Commitment. To define availability, UKCloud monitors a number of service elements — some generic, some service specific — which collectively enable the customer to use or access the service. If the availability of the service is less than the associated Availability Commitment, the customer may request Service Credits for the service within 30 calendar days of the service being deemed unavailable. For more detailed information on our SLAs, please request the UKCloud SLA definition document.