Google Workspace to M365

Tender description

The purpose of this contract is to support and manage the implementation, migration and adoption of Microsoft 365 as the Trust standard productivity suite, online meeting platform and identity provider. The Trust pre-pandemic had outdated and costly on-premises storage which did not facilitate remote teaching and learning. Schools had use of Google Apps Suite which was not fully utilised. Staff and Pupils have at least 4 different usernames and passwords to access services. The pandemic forced all schools to shift to remote teaching and learning and as a result, staff moved files vital for remote teaching and learning into Google Drive. Staff underwent a crash course in Google Classroom. Our cloud email and storage usage increased from 4.5TB to 32TB (875% increase) over a weekend. Cloud storage is made up of Google Docs and Email, Microsoft Office Documents, and Audio and Video files. Post pandemic we now have multiple platforms used for storing data with no visibility of the types of data they contain, this could be personal, private, or confidential information (PII). Nor do we know exactly where it is and who has access to it. Moving from multiple platforms to a single standard platform and data structure will enable the Trust to maintain control of all data by putting controls on PII whilst ensuring a consistent approach to document formats used pan-trust by having a single software platform compatible with many external organisations whilst also reducing shadow IT accessible through a single identity. This contract is available via the NHS Shared Business Services Framework.