G-Cloud Framework
Service Definition
Information Distribution Service
Version: 1.2
Copyright: © Acuma Solutions Ltd
Acuma Solutions Ltd Waterside Court 1 Crewe Road Manchester M23 9BE Tel: 0870 789 4321 Fax: 0870 789 4250 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.acuma.co.uk/
1.
SERVICE OVERVIEW
Acuma’s Information Distribution Service (IDS) provides a cost effective enterprise level information distribution and scheduling platform.
Based on Acuma’s Acusend engine, the service works with major Business Intelligence products and document formats, intelligently personalising content in to the required format. Users can access content through a large variety of distribution media including portals, email, fax, print and SMS.
Corporate Databases (Oracle, SQL2000, DB2 …..) Corporate Databases (Oracle, SQL2000, DB2 …..) Corporate Databases (Oracle, SQL, DB2 …..) Office (Excel, Word, Powerpoint, OpenOffice …..) Static Information Business Intelligence
(BO,Cognos,Excel, Oracle ,Crystal, QlikView, Dash..) Legacy Print AcusendTM
Document Library, User Profiles, Distribution Rules, Security & Audit Trail
SQL Business Objects Hyperion Essbase Cognos Print stream Excel, Word Powerpoint… Generic
SMS eMail Fax Print Web and
Portal File Web & XML Print Fax eMail SMS Archiving
The service is fully managed and can be easily scaled up or down in terms of the number of users to meet changes in demand. In addition it can be quickly flexed in terms of data storage requirements and performance as needed.
The service is available at Impact Levels IL0, IL1, IL2 and IL3.
2.
UNDERLYING INFRASTRUCTURE
The service is based on infrastructure provided by Skyscape and guarantees a minimum set of resources in terms of CPU processing power, storage and memory. These can be scaled up
temporarily or permanently as needed. Depending on availability requirements the service is provided from one or two UK Data Centers which provide Tier 3+ capabilities.
The cloud deployment model is Private in the sense that only UK Government customers can use it. Depending on the Impact Level required it can be connected to Internet, GCSx, VPN or Point-to-Point.
3.
INFORMATION ASSURANCE
The service is available at Impact Levels IL0, IL1, IL2 and IL3. The service is delivered from pre-accredited infrastructure and connected to an appropriate Government network and / or the Internet. Hardening and patch compliance is maintained in line with the code of connection and CESG documentation including all relevant Good Practice Guides.
Acuma and Skyscape reserve the right to disable or remove service instances that can be proved to cause a security risk.
4.
BACK-UP AND DISASTER RECOVERY
Where the customer opts for Back-up and Disaster Recovery the standard service provides for back-ups to disk once a day, with back-back-ups retained for 14 days. Back-back-ups are limited to non-persistent VMDK image of the VM. Recovery of a VM image should be completed within 4 working hours of the request. Request for restoration of a back-up is made via the Acuma Service Desk.
A high availability option is also offered in which case the VM image is replicated in real time to a second UK Data Center. In the event of a primary site failure, fail-over is automatic.
5.
ON BOARDING
Acuma has a standard set of procedures for initiating the service. These are summarised below.
- Agree Service options, scope and SLAs - Agree Security model
- Configure infrastructure - Configure Acusend
- Establish and test connectivity to data sources - Configure user objects
- Establish and test connectivity to end users - Start service
6.
OFF BOARDING
The standard set of procedures for closing the service is summarised below: - Back up all customer data to portable storage
- Securely transfer data to customer - Customer validation of transferred data
- Remove service instance (i.e. no trace of customer components) - Customer verification of service instance removal
7.
PRICING AND OPTIONS
For full details of pricing and options, please see Skyscape Cloud Services G-Cloud offerings.
Please note:
- Availability can be increased to 99.99% using 2 Data Centres - Increased levels of Service Management are available (see below)
- Alternative Operating System, Database Platform, ETL Platform and BI Platform can be selected and individual quotations provided.
- Minimum contract period is 12 months
- Off Boarding costs are negotiated on a case-by-case basis and depend on the amount of data to be extracted, type of media and secure transportation method.
8.
SERVICE MANAGEMENT
The service includes a standard level of Service Management with the following features: - Acuma Service Desk – available at standard England & Wales working hours - Incident management including liaison with Skyscape and agreed escalation routes - Agreed SLAs (standard SLAs for incident management shown below)
- Agreed maintenance windows
- Agreed change control process with agreed maximum number of changes per month - Publication and implementation of service roadmap including any upgrades, patches etc
required
Standard incident management SLAs are as follows: Priority: Critical - Mission Critical
Initial response time: 1 hour.
Target resolution time: within 1 working day.
Priority: 1 - Urgent issue affecting the whole user community, requires immediate action. Initial response time: 1 hour.
Target resolution time: 24 working hours.
Priority: 2 – Issue inhibits a user; there is a serious issue within a specific function. Initial response time: 4 hours.
Target resolution time: 3 working days.
Priority: 3 - Issue is not seriously affecting a user, does not require immediate attention. Initial response time: 8 hours.
Target resolution time: 5 working days.
Priority: 4 - Cosmetic issues and information only queries. Initial response time: 24 hours.
Target resolution time: as agreed at time of call.
Enhanced Service Management is also available including:- - 24x7 support
- Out of hours support - Weekend support
The calculation of Service Credits will be negotiated and agreed on a customer by customer basis to reflect the level of service required and the customer’s specific installation/configuration. A maximum of 10% of annual service fee will be placed at risk should Acuma fail to meet the mandated Availability SLA.
10.
TRAINING
Training is not offered as an intrinsic element of the Business Intelligence service. However the service can be used in conjunction with Acuma’s Training Service.
11.
ORDERING & INVOICING
Customers should contact Acuma according to the details available on the G-Cloud portal to discuss their requirements. A Purchase Order is required before the service can be initiated. Invoices are produced monthly in arrears.
12.
TERMINATION TERMS
There is a minimum contract period of 12 months.
Thereafter customers may discontinue use of the service at any time with 1 months’ notice. Acuma reserves the right to discontinue provision of the service in the event of:
- Non-payment
- Breach of contractual terms and conditions
- Breach of security that has affected or may affect other clients
13.
DATA EXTRACTION AND REMOVAL
The Off Boarding process includes full data extraction and removal. All customer–generated data will be returned to the customer according to customer preferences for type of media and transportation and subject to the requirements of the service Impact Level.
Once the extract is verified by the customer all customer data is purged and destroyed and the service instance removed.
Off Boarding costs are agreed on a customer-by-customer basis depending on data volumes, preferred media, security constraints etc.
14.
SERVICE MIGRATION
Service Migration is not offered as an intrinsic element of the Business Intelligence service. However costs and processes for migration to another service can be negotiated on a customer-by-customer basis.
15.
CONSUMER RESPONSIBLITIES
All service users and the customer in general will be responsible for: - Enforcing agreed service usage guidelines
- Enforcing agreed security model including the non-disclosure of user credentials to other organisations or individuals
- Informing Acuma of any actual or suspected breaches of security
- Preventing the distribution of data, Business Intelligence content, reports or any other output beyond the agreed and authorised user community.
16.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
A recommended client-side technical specification will be produced on a customer-by-customer basis depending on requirements. Bandwidth required for connectivity to data sources and bandwidth required per user will depend on several factors which vary significantly from customer-to-customer.
17.
TRIAL AND FREE SERVICES
Acuma will make a trial service available on an ad-hoc basis according to the requirements of customers and potential customers. Whilst trial services will generally be provided free of charge, Acuma reserves the right to negotiate a trial fee depending on the resource profile of the service required by the customer.
