Adoption of Microsoft A5‑level Security Features at Spesia
Key outcomes
As an educational institution handling large volumes of sensitive information, Spesia significantly strengthened its information security by implementing Microsoft’s A5 security features across the organisation.
With Context&’s support, the institution adopted Microsoft’s A5‑level security features, including multi‑factor authentication for all 670 employees.
An inclusive, training‑focused approach ensured that Spesia’s IT team gained the capabilities needed to use the new security tools in practice and continue the work independently.
The challenge
Vocational College Spesia processes a significant amount of health information and other confidential data. Protecting this information is critically important, especially as more than 1,300 students requiring special support study at Spesia each year. The institution needed to put the security features already available through its Microsoft A5 licensing. Accessibility was also an important focus area, including the rebuild of the public website to meet current accessibility requirements.
“Microsoft’s cloud-based application package at the A5 level offers a wide range of security features, and it would have been foolish not to make use of them.”
“We mainly build our own technical environment ourselves. In this project, your consultants have acted more like behind the scenes advisors — they have trained us to take the services into use.
“Your people are customer oriented and great to work with. Even on a tight schedule we’ve always received help and answers to our questions, and things have moved forward efficiently. The agreed work has been completed on schedule despite the ongoing coronavirus situation.”
The solution
Spesia launched a project to take the Microsoft A5‑level security features into practical use. Together with Context&, a detailed project plan was created, and useful services were activated in a logical order. One of the most essential updates was implementing multi‑factor authentication for staff. Improvements related to data protection were also implemented for all users. Work on accessibility included rebuilding the public website, with plans to redesign the intranet from an accessibility perspective.
About Spesia
Vocational College Spesia is a Finnish vocational special education institution with main campuses in Jyväskylä, Järvenpää, Pieksämäki, and Turku.
The result
The project progressed at a calm pace, even with delays caused by the pandemic year. Multi‑factor authentication was eventually introduced in August after remote work patterns stabilized. With Context&’s training-oriented and participatory approach, Spesia’s IT team strengthened its competence and ensured that the security features were taken into real practical use. Spesia continues to develop its environment as Microsoft services evolve, with ongoing consideration of additional tools and features not yet adopted.
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