What Does the N365 Agreement Mean for NHS Organisations?

There’s a lot of talk right now around the new agreement between NHS Digital and Microsoft focused around delivering M365 (or N365) to organisations within the NHS – but what does it actually involve?

The deadline to sign up for N365 is nearly here, so it’s important to understand the benefits and considerations.

What is the N365 agreement and what are the benefits?

A set of agreed discounted prices between Microsoft and the NHS for Microsoft cloud productivity and security products including:

• Office 365: Microsoft online subscription for Office services (for example Microsoft Teams)
• Microsoft Apps for Enterprise (previously Office 365 ProPlus): Local Office and the modern replacement to Office 2010
• Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS): A suite of tools designed to enable NHS to enhance clinicians’ experience of Office and other products by:
  • Allowing for clinicians to access remotely or from their own devices
  • Removing the need to call the helpdesk for admin tasks (i.e. Password resets or access requests to Apps)
  • Increasing security controls at sensible times (not every time)
• Audio Conferencing: A means to allow inclusivity in meetings, allowing patients/staff members/partners without computers/computer skills or bandwidth issues to join virtual meeting sessions over the telephone.

The agreement will save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds and enable organisations to keep working towards the goal of digital transformation that allows them to be agile, productive, secure and collaborative. Microsoft and the Department of Health are focused on ensuring the NHS and its staff are empowered to achieve more; the N365 toolset is designed to support the NHS in that goal by:

• Removing end of life software: Including Office Professional Plus 2010 and Microsoft 2010 family of on-premises services
• Ensuring the NHS is always up to date: Evergreen licensing – with support for updates and application compatibility
• Improving overall security posture: Strong and proven baseline controls across the NHS, providing more consistent user experiences with modern security.

How Can N365 Help with Security?

If you’re interested in learning more about how N365 can help with EMS and security, how it relates to your environment and the extended/additional options available, we have a video discussing the details. We run through the above and explain in detail:

• Enterprise management and security within N365
• Identity and access management initiatives, deliverables, costs and considerations
• Managed mobile productivity initiatives, deliverables, costs and considerations
• Potential extended and additional options
• Considerations for adoption and updates

We also answer a few specific audience questions around data and security assurance, SSO, VPNs and single vs shared tenancy.