Consolidating remote access while raising the security bar
An NHS Integrated Care Board needed to strengthen remote access security while supporting users across a growing network of healthcare locations. With remote access tools and licences spread across multiple sites, the organisation sought a simpler, more secure approach. By standardising on VNC® Connect and introducing multi-factor authentication, the team consolidated management, improved visibility, and delivered secure remote access without disrupting day-to-day operations.
The situation
Remote access spread across a fragmented, multi-site estate.
The organisation coordinates IT across a wide, multi-site care system. A distributed workforce supports many sites across a large urban area, alongside GP practices and staff working from home. Remote access has long been part of how that estate is supported.
Over time the picture fragmented. A legacy multi-site structure left several separate remote access accounts. Day-to-day reliance shifted too as direct-access laptops arrived, though a number of sites still depend on remote access.
The complication
Consolidation and a higher security bar, at the same time.
Two pressures arrived together. The organisation set out to consolidate its fragmented setup, moving toward a single domain over a two-year plan, which meant merging several separate accounts into one. At the same time, it moved to raise the security bar on remote access by adding multi-factor authentication.
That combination is harder than it sounds. Consolidation forces a licensing decision, per user or per device, across a large and uneven estate. Adding authentication has to work across many sites and older devices, deployed centrally, without cutting off the sites that still rely on remote access day to day. All of it landing on a stretched team with limited spare capacity.
What mattered. The shortlist they drew up.
- Stronger authentication on remote access, through multi-factor sign-in.
- Flexibility to consolidate several accounts into one, with the right licensing model.
- Central deployment across many sites, through group policy.
- Cloud-first connectivity suited to a legacy multi-site network.
Manageable by a small team carrying a heavy workload. - Better audit visibility over who connected, and when.
The Solution
One platform, cloud-primary, with stronger authentication.
The organisation runs RealVNC Connect across its sites, cloud-primary to suit the spread-out network. It is piloting two-factor authentication through a Duo integration, deployed centrally by group policy, to raise the security bar on every remote session.
Alongside the pilot, it is consolidating several legacy accounts into one and working through the licensing model that fits a large, uneven estate. On-Demand Assist provides a backup route for ad hoc support, and the team is exploring wider IT management options to sit alongside remote access.
The environment is a distributed NHS care system, supporting staff across many sites, GP practices and home workers. The compliance driver throughout is NHS information governance and a drive to strengthen authentication.
Where it stands
A migration that now runs quietly at scale.
- Remote access maintained across the multi-site estate through a period of organisational change.
- A multi-factor authentication pilot underway to strengthen every remote session.
- Consolidation of several legacy accounts into one, simplifying administration and licensing.
- New capabilities adopted as the platform is modernised.
The Future
If this looks like your estate.
Large acute trusts are being pushed into the same decision. A tool they relied on is deprecated, an incumbent is due for review, and the replacement has to prove itself across tens of thousands of devices without unsettling a live service desk. This trust met that moment with one secure tool, deployed through the management stack it already ran.
