League leader: Microsoft Premier Support in the NHS

An increasing number of NHS trusts are opting for Microsoft Premier Support, a “managed support offering” that includes problem resolution, workshops and strategic planning services. But why? 


Microsoft Premier Support offers customers a mix of reactive and proactive services. Matt Nelson, a service executive in Microsoft’s UK public sector team, says the first often appeal to NHS trusts initially; but they soon come to see the value of the second.

“Trusts often look at the problem resolution support and grab this as an insurance policy,” he says. “They also tend to like the idea of the workshops and the knowledge transfer. They might not quite get the bit about the proactive services.

“Once they start with Premier Support, though, they really see the benefit to be had from them.” This tallies with the experience of John Thornbury, director of ICT at Worcestershire Health ICT Services. “It was the problem resolution that got us interested,” he says.

“We are more and more dependent on IT, and we have so many Microsoft products that if any of them failed it would be a critical risk to us. We do not have the in-house expertise at the very, very detailed level that we need. So it was that gap we really wanted to fill.

“We have turned the contract on its head; we are starting to use Microsoft pro-actively, so we have fewer problems to resolve.”

“However, we are now starting to take advantage of the strategic part of the package. We have turned the contract on its head; we are starting to use Microsoft pro-actively, so we have fewer problems to resolve.”

Problem resolution round the clock

Premier Support is organised around “six key service elements”: support account management, which ensures the contract is run effectively; problem resolution, which gives customers access to help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; additional support assistance; information services; workshops; and prevention and resolution resources, which can help with more strategic issues.

However, the key point is that customers get a direct relationship with Microsoft through a technical account manager (TAM). “The remit of the TAM is to be a central point of contact for the customer in Microsoft,” says John Taylor, who fulfils this role for two NHS trusts.

“If a customer has a call in, the TAM will push it along and make sure the issue is resolved. If they have a question, he will find someone within Microsoft – wherever they are based – to answer it.

“He also gets to really know the customer; what their infrastructure looks like, what technologies they are using, what problems they have and what their objectives are. He will sit down with the customer and map out the main challenges and how to overcome them.

“He will make sure that the customer is aware of workshops and other events. And he will keep a log of usage of different parts of the contract.” “We have developed a really strong relationship with Microsoft and we are seeing huge benefits from it.”

One of Mr Taylor’s customers is Matthew Watkins, ICT services manager at Leeds Partnerships Foundation trust. “The good thing [about Premier Support] is that Microsoft really works with us; they transfer knowledge instead of just doing things to us or for us,” he says. “We have really seen the benefit of that.

“The support levels we have are very, very good. Our technical teams are more knowledgeable than they were on Microsoft products. There is a definite sense that we are moving forward. And the account itself is very well managed. The only real drawback is that we cannot take advantage of everything we hear about.”

Proactive services

Leeds is about to renew its Premier Support contract for the third time. Like other customers, it has made increasing use of the proactive element. “The first year was very much about conducting baseline assessments of where we were and the next year was about moving forward from those,” Mr Watkins says. “Now, we are very much into development.

“We are upgrading some products and looking at others. We are very interested in Systems Center [which collects information about infrastructure and systems and provides tools to make these easier and cheaper to manage]. We use a lot of Microsoft technology, so that product could really help us.”

Other NHS customers have focused on Infrastructure Optimisation. “We have undertaken an IO assessment and discovered that we are somewhere between the basic and dynamic levels,” says Mr Thornbury. “Now, we are looking at some areas where we need to move up the levels.

“I want to really leverage what is in Microsoft’s Enterprise Agreement (EA) with the NHS, and the Premier Support contract can help me to do that. The cost of Premier Support can be recovered by getting best use out of the EA.” "...we run workshops that spend two days on Exchange folders so people are completely comfortable with them.”

Working the workshops

In addition to making strategic decisions about their infrastructure and systems, Premier Support’s NHS customers have made use of the workshops and other “knowledge transfer” aspects of their contracts.

“We run a huge range of workshops,” says Mr Taylor. “These are not just training. They are built around analysis of customer queries and Microsoft best-practice and they work with an issue until people really understand it. For example, we know that Exchange folders are a big issue.

“A company that delivers Microsoft curriculum training may spend five days on Exchange and about two hours on Exchange folders. But we run workshops that spend two days on Exchange folders so people are completely comfortable with them.”

Mr Thornbury uses this element of Premier Support for staff development. “We have got personal development plans for all our technicians and we use Premier to help deliver on them,” he says.

“That means all our people are growing in their knowledge of Microsoft products and how to support them all the time. The only disadvantage is that we upskill our people and they go off and get other jobs. But that’s life.” “The good thing [about Premier Support] is that Microsoft really works with us; they transfer knowledge instead of just doing things to us or for us...”

Risks and benefits

Mr Thornbury feels increasingly-IT dependent trusts are taking a big risk if they run without the kind of problem resolution that Premier Support offers.

“We have 50-60 per cent Microsoft products,” he says. “But even if we had only 30 per cent, there would be a big impact if there was a problem with one of them, such as word processing or email. Our problems are now resolved very rapidly and professionally.”

However, both he and Mr Watkins are convinced that trusts will see other benefits from Premier. “It’s a two way thing,” says Mr Watkins. “Customers have to take some responsibility; Microsoft cannot do it all. But we have developed a really strong relationship with them and we are seeing huge benefits from it.”

Meanwhile, Mr Taylor expects to work with his Premier Support customers for years. “This is a long-term engagement,” he says. “I cannot think of a customer who has decided to drop this because they have seen no benefit from it.” 

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