SERVICE DEFINITION - Action and Change Management System

Transcription

1 SERVICE DEFINITION - Action and Change Management Central Government RM1557 PARTNERSHIP THROUGH INSIGHT, INTEGRITY AND INNOVATION HR & EMPLOYEE SERVICES CASE MANAGEMENT EDRM & DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FINANCE & ACCOUNTS

2 CONTENTS 1. Overview Introduction Core Functionality Key Benefits Key Features Private Cloud Service Virtual Infrastructure Private Cloud Service - Example Solution Overview Diagram Storage Additional Environments Information Assurance infrastructure and Business Continuity On- & Off-Boarding On-boarding Process - Action and Change Management Service Off-boarding Process - Action and Change Management Service Standard Implementation Process Overview Project Management Specification Communication Implementation Testing Pricing Private Cloud Service Pricing Volume Discounts Data Extraction Service Management Introduction Ongoing Maintenance, Customisations and Roadmap Maintenance Windows

3 Permitted Customisation Service Levels Performance Availability Support Service Service Credits Training Ordering & Invoicing Process Ordering Process Invoicing Process Termination Terms By Consumers By the Supplier Consumer Responsibilities General Obligations Consumer's Information Implementation Training Service Desk Support Technical Requirements Specification of machines accessing Action and Change Management Bandwidth Requirements Trial Service

4 1. OVERVIEW 1.1. Introduction OverView from Equiniti ICS and Ecom Software is an Action and Change Management which enables organisations to simplify the management of multiple change programmes, actions, recommendations whilst maintaining control and oversight. The system minimises bureaucracy and allows instantaneous updating by owners of individual actions. The system records high level information around business activity, actions required, including expected end dates, assigning accountable person(s) to implement the actions and recommendations. The system enables senior stakeholders to gain an overview of progress on multiple work streams within their organisation and provides the ability to drill down to appropriate levels of detail. 4

5 OverView can be used across all staffing levels with varying degrees of permission/access including Executive Administrators Oversight Administrators Accountable and Implementation Officers (Full Functionality) Guest Users (Read Only) Deputy users OverView can be used for:- Audits and Inspection (External Action and or recommendations) Projects (and Project Management) Meetings and Planning, Actions Each action or recommendation flows through the OverView system via a sequence of status, each status can be customised to meet your requirements: Awaiting Allocation Live Ready for Approval Approved Declined Rejected In addition OverView has the ability to manage and maintain external oversight reports and their associated actions and recommendations. The reports and recommendations, including expected end dates, are added to the system. The actions and recommendations are then allocated to a person accountable for the recommendation and numerous implementation staff can be assigned to the recommendation. As progress is added to the recommendation this is logged and reported on. 5

6 1.2. Core Functionality The core system provides the following functionality: Input meetings and or inspection oversight reports Raise, Approve, Decline, Edit, Cancel actions and or recommendations Search for actions / recommendations Report on various levels By department By status By Accountable Officer By Implementation Officer By Oversight body Overdue actions / recommendations Monthly comparison reports User management Approver management alerts functionality Active Directory integration for single sign-on Cross browser platform compatible Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox etc. Based on SQL server Developed in.net Advanced search Export to Excel 6

7 1.3. Key Benefits OverView enables organisations to transform the complexity of managing change actions and or recommendations to a simple process. OverView is used for the following elements: Audits and Inspection (External Action / recommendations) Projects (and Project Management) Meeting, Planning and Actions Can be used across all staffing levels, from Executive Officers to Read Only users It allows instantaneous updating by owners of individual actions Management Information is much more rapidly available Replaces paper requests, standalone excel spreadsheets and speeds up entire process Easy for users to adopt and easy to implement Minimal training required Low implementation cost with rapid return on investment In-built detailed audit log and progress reporting alerts and reminders when action are due 1.4. Key Features The web client The browser interface is used to interact with the system. Based on standards compliant HTML and customised to echo your company s existing intranet design as required. Resource Planning: Having a recurring schedule allows you to use historical data to determine how long an activity will take so you can accurately assign resources for each task. Database Driven: All of the data pertaining to actions is contained within a SQL Server database. This robust platform helps ensure that OverView is a high performance, resilient and scalable application. integration and alerts: OverView uses your standard system to send requests for approval and progress notifications to the user. Reporting: OverView has a range of reporting options including production of web based, Excel and PDF reports. 7

8 Security We recognise the sensitive nature of the data stored within OverView and take security very seriously. Actions and recommendations can be assigned as sensitive. We can integrate with your existing Active Directory to remove the need for a separate sign on to OverView Private Cloud Service Equiniti ICS deploys Overview as a Private on-line service with a dedicated implementation for each individual organisation, hosted from our Data Centre in Belfast Virtual Infrastructure The Action and Change Management Service is supported by a virtualised infrastructure consisting of a number of virtual servers for each implementation. Resources will be utilised across a range of physical servers with capacity in each for failover which rules out any single server hardware points of failure. Virtualisation provides a greener IT strategy for the organisation, by implementing a virtual solution the number of physical machines required is reduced which significantly decreases the amount of power and cooling needed to deliver each implementation. The solution will be deployed on equipment located at the Equiniti ICS Data Centre in Belfast. The virtual servers will be built on enterprise class hardware components such as HP Blade servers, SAN storage solutions and best of breed firewalls. This level of investment in quality components continues throughout all the hardware and software components deployed as part of the managed service, including a wide range of high end Cisco switches and routers making up the backbone of our infrastructure. 8

9 Private Cloud Service - Example Solution Overview Diagram Storage The Equiniti ICS storage facilities are provided using a pair of HP EVA400 Storage Arrays configured in a fully redundant solution providing maximum uptime. Data is written across all disks in the primary storage area network (SAN) providing RAID1 storage capability. The primary SAN is replicated to the backup SAN in real time which results in client data being stored in 4 separate sections of the SAN Additional Environments Equiniti ICS provides a single "production" Overview environment as part of the standard Cloud Service costing. Additional environments can be provided for testing, support and training purposes, these will incur additional costs. 9

10 2. INFORMATION ASSURANCE The Equiniti ICS Data Centre and associated hosting services are accredited to ISO/IEC 27001:2005. The ISO accreditation ensures Equiniti ICS maintains and continually reviews all Security Management s and Plans and also carries out regular risk assessments. The plans adhere to the security requirements for data classified at Business Impact Level 2 as standard. Equiniti ICS hosted systems are subject to 2 external audits per annum to maintain the ISO accreditation which means as a customer considering our datacenter you have a recognised industry security standard on which to benchmark your decision. Equiniti ICS will work with client appointed auditors and network penetration testers if required however advance notice is required to ensure these activities are scheduled. Equiniti ICS follows best practice security policy through all our hosted services solutions, using two different fully resilient firewalls implemented in a back to back configuration offering a high degree of protection. The firewall configurations consist of perimeter appliances configured as a high availability pair and the inner firewall is a clustered configuration. All network traffic, inbound or outbound, passes through the firewalls which are configured to allow only agreed addresses and protocols. The security of client systems is ensured by using VLAN technology which separates groups of virtual servers into logical networks and network traffic may only pass into or out of a VLAN if a specific firewall rule allows. We have over 30 years experience delivering hosted high security solutions such as payroll and HR or Accounting systems and take a risk adverse approach to our service delivery. Our best practice security policies enable us to provide a dependable, highly secure and proven environment that offers up to IL3 security accreditations. We provide protection against Malware from both a network standpoint via an Intrusion Prevention on the inner firewall cluster, application security exploit protection on the perimeter load balancer as well as on all servers on the network utilising Centre Endpoint Protection This covers not only anti-virus but extends to cover spam, phishing and functions as a host intrusion prevention product. Equiniti ICS currently hosts services for a range of public and private sector clients including some systems where data is marked as Restricted. We have been accredited to IL3 for some client systems and can offer this to Private Cloud clients. The requirements for IL3 will require individual discussion. 10

11 3. INFRASTRUCTURE AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY Equiniti ICS offer a comprehensive application or full desktop hosting service which can provide either a shared Public Cloud environment or a Private Virtual Cloud solution with dedicated virtual servers running the complete range of services required. The physical infrastructure is provided on enterprise class hardware components using the latest HP Blade Servers housed within HP Blade c7000, EMC SANs for the storage and Microsoft Hyper- V for the virtual infrastructure. Infrastructure Servers The HP Blade c7000 enclosure provides all the power, cooling and I/O infrastructure needed to support the modular servers and redundant interconnect components required to deliver the service. The Intelligent Power Module automatically maps servers to their power source verifying power redundancy in the process. HP Insight Control provides the server management. HP BL465 Server Blades configured as part of a Hyper V cluster are used to provide the virtual servers required with capacity in each for failover which rules out any single server hardware points of failure. The HP BL465 Server Blades have the latest AMD processors and integrated HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric architecture and these servers will deliver the performance required for the most demanding of application workloads. Storage A pair of EMC VNX SANs is used to provide the shared storage for the Equiniti ICS hosting services and these SANS provide high availability by using redundant components (power supplies, fans, and storage processors) as well as dynamic failover and failback. The EMC VNX has been designed to take advantage of the latest innovations in Flash drive technology and the combination of Flash drives and hard disk drives delivers a balanced solution of performance and efficiency. The performance of the SAN is significantly enhanced by using the EMC FAST Suite on the VNX SAN which tiers data across heterogeneous drives and boosts the most active data to cache. The efficiency of the SAN can be improved by using file level de-duplication which reduces the disk space used by selectively compressing and de-duplicating inactive files. The ability to upgrade system software or hardware while the VNX system is running is another key feature which makes this SAN a robust and resilient solution for shared storage. The EMC VNX SAN solution will encrypt all data written to the SAN disks. PowerPath Encryption with RSA is a host-based, data-at-rest encryption solution that is a modular enhancement to the wellknown multipathing, load-balancing, and failover capability. Because of PowerPath s unique position in the I/O stack, upper-level applications are unaware that data is being encrypted; therefore, applications require no change. VNX Host Encryption enables compliance with internal, private, and government standards including the Payment Card Industry Data SecurityStandard (PCI DSS), one of the most widely applicable compliance standards in use today. 11

12 The EMC VNX is significant in business continuity planning as it replicates all data to the Equiniti ICS remote DR site providing a recovery point objective of less than 1 minute. This is critical for assured recovery of data within a time objective which suits most clients. Virtualisation Microsoft Hyper-V is the virtualisation solution of choice for the Equiniti ICS hosted cloud service. Microsoft Hyper-V provides a dynamic, reliable and scalable virtualisation platform with a single set of integrated management tools to manage both physical and virtual resources. Leveraging the clustering capabilities of Windows Server 2012, Hyper-V provides support for disaster recovery within the local environment and across data centres. Equiniti ICS uses this technology to provide many virtual servers on each physical server, maintaining isolation, we balance the workloads across the different resources. Hyper-V includes business continuity features, such as live backup and quick migration, enabling stringent uptime and response metrics to be met. Hyper-V together with Microsoft Centre 2012 ensures the Equiniti ICS Hosting Service offering is dynamic and agile. Microsoft s Hyper-V hypervisor provides a scalable solution for virtualisation on the Windows Server platform and many of the advanced features of the Hyper-V environment are enhanced by the highly scalable EMC storage array. Network The network components are designed with both resilience and security in mind. Our datacenters are linked with multiple fibres and a minimum of 1Gb speed is available throughout the hosting environment. All servers within the blade enclosures perform at 10Gb network speeds. The network is built using a range of Cisco switches and port security is applied on each switch which prevents any device connecting to the network. Guaranteed separation of the client systems is secured using VLAN technology which separates groups of servers into logical networks. Virtual LAN or VLAN is a concept of partitioning a physical network, so that distinct broadcast domains are created preventing traffic from one VLAN reaching another VLAN. Environmental Monitoring Environmental monitors are installed which monitor temperature, humidity and other environmental conditions in the data centre. The monitors are user configurable with high and low warnings and critical temperature and humidity thresholds. and SNMP alerts are sent to the technical support help desk system when conditions are abnormal and in addition to this the Alert Centre facility is used to provide automated telephone voice and text alerts 24/7 to the technical support mobile to give early warning of impending computer room problems. Equiniti ICS Cloud Services include backup and recovery procedures to ensure system availability and data retention in the event of a system failure or disaster occurring. The hosting service is provided from a main data centre with a backup DR facility located 6 miles away. 12

13 Business Continuity Data Replication For business continuity purposes if a client has requested Disaster Recovery services all data is replicated to the remote site using SAN to SAN replication. RecoverPoint EMC RecoverPoint provides continuous data protection with multiple recovery points to restore applications instantly to a specific point in time. Tape Backup Services Tape backups of specific systems are scheduled to run each night and the tapes are taken off site to a secure storage area within our remote DR site each day before 11am. Tapes are transferred by Equiniti ICS staff. The standard tape backup service operates with multiple clients data being written to a single set of tapes. Options are available to provide a separate backup service with a separate set of tapes for an individual client, encryption of all data written to these tapes or an increased backup cycle. A 2nd backup server is installed in the DR site and gives catalogues etc for a faster recovery from tape if required. 13

14 4. ON- & OFF-BOARDING 4.1. On-boarding Process - Action and Change Management Service Clients complete standard registration/order form Clients complete high-level specification workbook detailing key system parameters Based on the high-level specification, Equiniti ICS will provide a detailed estimate of effort required for the implementation and an outline implementation plan normally within 10 working days Implementation process for a standard implementation is detailed below. This will normally take 1 to 2 months to complete the configuration work and provide a pilot system for the organisation. If dedicated communication links are required then specification will be agreed and implementation plan provided. Dedicated communications links can take up to 4 months to implement Off-boarding Process - Action and Change Management Service Clients must provide 1 months' notice of termination and complete service termination form An exit plan will be agreed including data extract arrangements. Data can be extracted in.csv,.xml or.xls format Data volumes over 100GB will require individual extraction plan including agreement on extract media After contract termination, all live client data will be deleted. All customer specific backup tapes will be destroyed. Client data may still be held on shared system backup tapes. If clients require to have individual backup tapes and not be part of the shared backup this must be notified at time of ordering. There is an additional charge for providing individual backup services Standard Implementation Process Overview Equiniti ICS provides a full implementation service for the Action and Change Management Service. The exact implementation approach for an organisation pilot will need to be discussed, planned and agreed with senior organisation staff. An Implementation Plan will be produced to incorporate: Timescales and resource requirements configuration including user setup and organisation specific static data and content verification User training on the system Project management and governance Communication to users and stakeholders 14

15 We will work closely with the organisation, providing the necessary expertise and guidance to ensure a smooth implementation and go-live, and subsequently to provide ongoing system support and service management Project Management We will appoint a Project Manager as the primary point of contact for all communication with the organisation who will have the following responsibilities: Management of all implementation activities and resources Defining the implementation rollout Ensuring that the pilot rollout is completed within agreed timescales Representing Equiniti ICS at formal/informal meetings On-going account management after the pilot has commenced The Project Manager will produce a project schedule which will be incorporated in the Implementation Plan/Checklist, showing all tasks, duration and dates, dependencies, key milestones and Equiniti ICS and organisation staff responsibilities. Acceptance milestones will be put in place to allow all parties to confirm approval on completion of each key milestone before proceeding. The Implementation Plan will define the means of reporting progress, reporting and escalation channels. Any issues and risks raised will be reported in progress updates but will be managed dayto-day and escalated as necessary Specification Clients will initially complete a high-level specification workbook detailing key system parameters Equiniti ICS will provide a detailed estimate and detailed implementation plan based on this highlevel specification. Equiniti ICS will then work with the client to produce a detailed specification for the tailored action and change management system Communication A communication strategy will be prepared as part of the Project Plan to ensure roles and responsibilities of the main parties for both Equiniti ICS and the organisation are clearly established. The organisation will be required to provide key points of contact such as: Project Sponsor Project Manager and or organisation administrator IT Technical Representative The communications strategy will describe the process for keeping nominated users clearly informed before and during the implementation. This will include information updates leading up to system readiness, communication of start dates etc. 15

16 Implementation When the Organisation Configuration Plan has been completed and approved, implementation will commence at the hosting centre. The key implementation activities will be: Technical setup: Creation of organisation site Storage provision based on agreed number of pilot users configuration: Apply branding logos/images to system Configure system parameters Testing On completion of implementation the organisation site will undergo a number of test cycles through separate environments to confirm readiness for system go-live. Since the product itself has already been tested and accepted, the purpose of the testing will be to verify that it operates as expected with the organisation configuration and content. The Implementation Plan will define the test phases and entry/exit criteria specifying what constitutes acceptance. The phases that will be adopted are: Equiniti Factory Acceptance test Equiniti Business Acceptance test Organisation external User Acceptance test on Production environment All environments will be used to verify content and configuration and the external environments will also be used to verify internet connectivity and security. Each phase must meet acceptance criteria before proceeding. On successful completion of organisation User Acceptance testing, a go-live date can be confirmed for the users to start using the system. Training will be tailored to the needs of each individual organisation. 16

17 5. PRICING 5.1. Private Cloud Service Pricing Basic Setup 9,950 plus any dedicated communications setup charges applicable. Service Charge 1,800 per month plus 20 per user per month. DR facility is 420 per month Minimum Implementation is 100 users Configuration and solution implementation activities will be charged based on the rate card. Standard service charge covers up to 100GB data storage. Additional storage can be provided at 20 per 100GB per month 5.2. Volume Discounts Volume discounts available based on user numbers as follows:. > 250 users 10% >500 users 25% >1000 users 40% > 2000 users 55% 5.3. Data Extraction Standard charge to provide data extract of volumes up to 100GB is 2500 including media cost. The extract will be provided using standard routines to.csv,.xml or.xls format. Volumes over 100GB will require agreement on extract media and format and will be individually costed. 17

18 6. SERVICE MANAGEMENT 6.1. Introduction Equiniti ICS provides Service Management arrangements based on ITIL principles, complying with defined service levels covering support response times, defect resolution times, maintenance updates, system upgrades, and change controls. The customer will receive full maintenance for the overall solution which may include software and database updates, fixes and support for any new functionality that has been developed specifically for the customer. The Action and Change Management solution will be configured to meet an agreed functional requirements specification. After the functional specification is agreed, the solution can only be modified through a formal Change Control procedure. This ensures that ongoing development of the system will be fully controlled. We have a full complement of support staff to manage the systems and availability of the Equiniti ICS Cloud Services, with the Availability Management team providing 24x7 cover for our datacentre to manage incidents arising and alerts raised by the system management tools. The system tools adopted allow the Manager to monitor the performance and availability of individual components of the system. Any alerts requiring escalation are passed to technical experts in the appropriate areas. The Equiniti ICS support service is both proactive and reactive, taking the lead on preventative measures by utilising the latest analytical tools such as HP SIM and Advent OpManager for critical components such as the servers and network switches. OpManager is a powerful fault and performance management tool for the network, which performs system health checks and trigger alerts in the event of an error occurring or systems operating outside of predetermined thresholds. The tool provides warnings and threshold exceptions for a wide range of issues such as environmental conditions, hard drive SMART warnings, and other predictive errors as well as actual failures Ongoing Maintenance, Customisations and Roadmap Maintenance Windows Equiniti ICS will perform updates on a pre-published schedule, normally outside of standard working hours. Customers will be given at least two weeks notice where possible of scheduled maintenance tasks Permitted Customisation The Action and Change Management solution will be configured to meet an agreed functional requirements specification with each customer. After the functional specification is agreed, the solution can be modified by Equiniti ICS through a formal Change Control procedure. This ensures that ongoing development of the system by Equiniti ICS will be fully controlled. 18

19 6.3. Service Levels Performance Response time target for accessing screens of the system should be within 3 seconds (at a minimum) 99% of the time Response time target for simple searches for information and displaying results within the system should be within 5 seconds 95% of the time Response times exclude network latency Availability Standard system availability target of the service is 99.5% Support Service Support Summary Equiniti ICS proves a single contact point for all problems including advice on all aspects of the solution be it on the hardware or software side. This is provided through a Help Desk that is available as a standard service from 09:00 to 17:30, Monday to Friday. Additional support, including cover for weekends, evenings, bank/public holidays, and 24x7 on call support, can be arranged on a short- or long-term basis if necessary and we would be pleased to discuss this further with customers. Response times vary according to Service Level Agreements (to be formally agreed with the customer on award of contract); our standard response time for a medium priority call is 4 hours. Exact levels of support/response times need to be agreed with the customer and we welcome further discussion on this. Customers must provide a Service Manager as a single liaison point for co-ordination of support issues Incident Logging The primary means of logging all calls, incidents and queries is via the Equiniti ICS Call Service Desk using the following address: ISDSupport@Equiniti-ICS.com. Calls may also be logged on the Equiniti ICS Call Handling web interface via the following web link: The Equiniti ICS Service Desk can also be contacted via the following telephone number: Support and maintenance calls are recorded by support receptionists allocated to a Service Desk. The Service Desk will record all support calls on the Call Monitor system detailing: Date and Time of Call Receipt Client Code and Contact 19

20 Nature of Call Call Priority The Call Monitor system assigns a Call ID (a unique reference number) to the call, and the Service Desk will inform the caller of this number. The call details are then passed to the most appropriate functional/technical person to be resolved, and the progress of the support call monitored with the assistance of the Call Monitor application to ensure a prompt follow-up. The technician will progress the call through to resolution and will involve other support resources, including 3rd party organisations, as appropriate. Calls will only be closed when the client is content that the call has been resolved to its satisfaction. The client has the right to escalate calls of particular urgency; escalation procedures exist to ensure that all required resources are assigned to a critical problem. Service requests are also logged via our Call Monitor Response Times Standard Equiniti ICS support and maintenance agreements provide guaranteed acknowledgement and targeted resolution of issues within the agreed service level. See below for the standard SLA. Priority Response Time Incident Description Target Fix Time 1 - Critical 1 hr Critical business impact for example: Entire is unavailable e.g. client unable to access the online system 2 - High 2 hours Major business impact for example: An important component of the is unavailable 3 - Medium 4 hours Medium business impact for example: A component of the is subject to fault but a workaround exists 4 - Low 8 hours Minor business impact including: functionality problems of a cosmetic nature; or Request for advice or guidance. Within 1 Working Day (with a workaround within 4 hours) Within 2 Working Days *Fixed for Release within 10 working Days As agreed Problem Management If, in the resolution of any incident, an underlying issue is detected that may lead to further re-occurrences of the same incident, Equiniti ICS may record a problem call that will be progressed and monitored as any other call in the system. The client will be kept informed of such calls. 20

21 Service Credits The standard service does not include provision of service credits for failure to meet the standard service levels. An enhanced service including service credit provision can be provided at additional cost, tailored to specific customer requirements 21

22 7. TRAINING Training is tailored to each individual organisation requirements. It is charged on a daily rate basis as per SFIA table. Training Approach Equiniti ICS offers training that is closely tailored to project requirements and provided by training professionals with project-specific application expertise, meaning Central Government organisations can be confident in the quality and efficacy of the service. Good training ensures fast end user adoption of new or upgraded technologies, allowing Central Government organisations to realise the benefits of their investment immediately. Equiniti ICS are highly experienced in training delivery in the public, private and third sectors with projects ranging from 18,000 users to one-to-one training with people with disabilities. Training success is assured by ensuring people are at the centre of the training and are well informed in relation to the project objectives, outcomes and approach to delivery. At all stages a Training Consultant will work with the organisation to ensure a clear strategy and delivery structure in relation to the project, the types of users and their needs. We will also ensure that the training meets the organisation s exacting requirements and that Super Users, Trainers and Champions are confident in the process of training to be provided. Equiniti ICS can offer a full training package, or 'train the trainer' sessions, providing delivery ensuring best value for money and promotion of overall user adoption and knowledge transfer. This approach allows Central Government organisations to take ownership of the training element of the project, ensuring that it is able to retain the relevant knowledge in-house and so deliver additional, top-up, and crossskilling training. In addition, the Training Department at Equiniti ICS Equiniti can produce professionally designed training materials and documentation and can offer post go-live training delivery, support and consultancy. Equiniti ICS believes that successful training depends on pre- and post-course delivery planning, as well as on what happens in the classroom itself. When compiling a training plan we factor in predelivery, delivery, and post-delivery tasks. Knowledge gathering Training Needs Analysis Course development & pilot Develop customised courseware Delivery Post-delivery support Pre-course Delivery Equiniti ICS believes that the greater the effort put into pre-course preparation, the more likely it is to succeed in delivering the requirements. Acquiring a combination of organisational knowledge, context-specific technical knowledge, and an understanding of the experience of Central Government personnel is essential to this success. Organisational Knowledge 22

23 The success of any training project is maximised by the amount of background information gained regarding the customer s business/strategy, the systems, working practices and procedures, and the reasons behind the decision to conduct a training rollout. Subsequently, before embarking on any course design, Equiniti ICS proposes to work with the Central Government organisation to define clear, workable training requirements based on an understanding of Central Government s core services, strategy, and objectives. In organisations where we are involved in defining the as-is and to-be processes we achieve a high level of understanding of the business and are therefore best placed to deliver relevant training of the highest quality. Training Needs Analysis (TNA) Equiniti ICS will co-operate with Central Government organisations in conducting detailed TNA to identify the exact skill levels and training requirements of the organisation and potential G-Cloud users. This will allow Equiniti ICS to establish the most appropriate course content; a copy of the TNA will be provided to the organisation. Ideally, Equiniti ICS will operate a two-phase approach to conducting the TNA, using a combination of questionnaires and interviews to obtain the most accurate response. Course Development Having completed the process of requirements analysis through meetings with Central Government staff and conducting a TNA, Equiniti ICS will develop the training programme and present our recommendations/course outline(s) to Central Government for approval. We often prefer to conduct a pilot of the course, to be sure of its suitability to Central Government s needs. Customised Courseware/Documentation Each delegate attending an Equiniti ICS/Central Government training course will receive a comprehensive, professionally designed training manual specifically written for Central Government G-Cloud training rollout. In this way your particular needs can be targeted and worked examples provided which are specifically tailored to the business application being trained. Equiniti ICS also recommends that manuals be made available electronically on the organisation s intranet. Delivery Training will be provided either onsite at Central Government s offices, Equiniti ICS premises, or an agreed 3rd party location. Our experience indicates that learning is best achieved in small classes of up to 8 delegates, where each attendee has access to their own computer as well as other visual aids such as presentations and demonstrations. Equiniti ICS advises its customers to hold training as close as possible to the go-live date so that the trainees can put their newly acquired knowledge into use immediately. 23

24 Post-delivery support during first phase of go-live During the first days of go-live, Equiniti ICS can provide floor walkers available to answer queries, and can also place one or more senior Technical/Functional Consultants on site to iron out any teething problems. The Training Department at Equiniti ICS are happy to discuss specific client requirements in relation to training and associated learning management. 24

25 8. ORDERING & INVOICING PROCESS 8.1. Ordering Process Clients must complete standard registration/order form, provided on-line, this includes: o Client Details o Action and Change Management Name (by default the Client name) o Number of Users Required o Additional storage required (if applicable) o Specification of any specific communications requirements Clients complete high-level specification workbook detailing key system parameters Based on the high-level specification, Equiniti ICS will provide a detailed estimate of effort required for the implementation and an outline implementation plan normally within 10 working days Customer must confirm acceptance of specification, implementation plan and associated terms and conditions Implementation process for a standard case management implementation is detailed in section 4.3 of this specification. This will normally take 1 to 2 months to complete the configuration work and provide a pilot system for the organisation. If dedicated communication links are required then specification will be agreed and implementation plan provided. Dedicated communications links can take up to 4 months to implement Invoicing Process Clients will be invoiced on a monthly basis Payment must be made within 30 days using bank transfer to the Equiniti ICS banking details provided 25

26 9. TERMINATION TERMS 9.1. By Consumers Consumers must give one months' notice of termination 9.2. By the Supplier Equiniti ICS will provide 1 years notice of a Cloud Service being withdrawn 26

27 10. CONSUMER RESPONSIBILITIES General Obligations The Consumer shall be responsible for providing all agreed information and data to enable Equiniti ICS to perform its obligations under this Agreement. The Consumer shall provide Equiniti ICS with reasonable access to appropriate members of the Consumer s staff, as may reasonably be required, after reasonable notice having been given by Equiniti ICS, so that Equiniti ICS can discharge its obligations under this Agreement. The Consumer shall provide suitably qualified staff to fulfil the Consumer s roles and duties under this Agreement. The Consumer shall comply with any obligations placed on it in the Security Policy Consumer's Information The Consumer shall respond and/or provide such documentation, data and/or other information that is within its immediate control, that Equiniti ICS reasonably requests that is necessary for the Equiniti ICS s performance of its obligations under this Agreement. The Consumer shall, throughout the Term, provide to Equiniti ICS timely notification of Consumer policy and/or regulation changes which impact on the provision of the Services Implementation The Consumer shall make best endeavours to perform those obligations specified in any agreed implementation plan Training The Consumer shall ensure that all staff using the service are given appropriate training Service Desk Support The Consumer shall provide a Helpdesk which shall: Be available to all Consumer staff to report queries, incidents and problems with the Service. If the Consumer's Helpdesk is unable to resolve these, it will report them to Equiniti ICS s Service Desk for attention or resolution. Provide assistance and guidance on the use of the Services to Consumer staff. 27

28 11. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Specification of machines accessing Action and Change Management As a guide the system will typically be able to be used on standard computer hardware available for the past five years. Windows X86 or x64 (Browsers must be in 32-bit mode) 1.6-gigahertz (GHz) or higher processor with 512-MB of RAM The browsers officially supported are: Internet Explorer 8 and above (32-bit & 64-bit) Note that other browsers, whilst not officially supported, may display Action and Change Management with little or no issue Bandwidth Requirements As with any browser based system, the greater the bandwidth that the end user has available the faster their connection will be to the hosted server side application. The time required to upload/download any case related documents will be dependent on the document size and the speed of the internet connection. 28

29 12. TRIAL SERVICE There is no trial arrangement for this service. 29