For years, compliance was seen as the final step in IT projects – a checklist to tick off once the workspace was already in place. But within the UK public sector, where audits, transparency and stringent regulations are part of daily operations, that approach no longer works.
The modern digital workspace needs to be built from the ground up with compliance as an integral part – not an afterthought, but a foundation.
Compliance as a starting point, not an afterthought
Traditionally, compliance was treated as a post-implementation check: after the IT environment had been set up, an audit would determine whether everything was in order. In practice, that often led to costly corrections and project delays.
Today’s reality demands a new approach: compliance must be built into the workspace itself. That means:
- Control over applications – knowing exactly which apps are running, in what versions, and whether they’re up to date.
- Transparency in user context – visibility into who has access to what, from which device and under what conditions.
- Flexible authentication – using modern cloud-based authentication where possible, while still supporting legacy protocols and systems that remain essential in public sector back-office environments.
The limits of a standard Intune approach
Many modern digital workspaces – including those in local councils, central government and the NHS – are built with Microsoft Intune as a foundation. It provides a strong baseline for deployment, management and security. However, anyone working in the public sector knows that Intune alone doesn’t always meet the unique operational and compliance needs of such organisations.
- Application management – updates follow their own schedules. Aligning multiple applications within golden images is time-consuming and prone to error.
- User context – staff often hold multiple roles within the same organisation or share devices. Managing access rights and user settings requires more dynamic control than Intune natively offers.
- Hybrid reality – many organisations still operate a mix of on-premises and cloud systems. Not all workloads can simply be lifted into the cloud, especially where they depend on legacy or line-of-business systems critical to public services.
The workspace as a modular architecture
To remain compliant while adapting to new demands, the digital workspace must be viewed differently – not as a single monolithic environment, but as a modular system of independent components that can be controlled, updated and audited separately.
- Applications decoupled from the OS – by separating apps from the operating system, they can be managed, updated or rolled back individually. This provides audit-ready assurance and reduces the risk of vulnerabilities remaining unnoticed. It also brings clear visibility into which versions are in use across the organisation.
- Profile configuration linked to context – by dynamically assigning user settings and access rights based on context such as location, device, role or department, IT teams can demonstrate that access policies are enforced consistently and automatically.
- Hybrid strategy – some applications will continue to run on-premises for now, while others move to the cloud. A modular approach allows both worlds to coexist under consistent compliance controls, without adding management complexity.
Lessons from the field
In discussions with public sector organisations, a common pattern emerges: technical choices matter, but the true value lies in how those choices strengthen compliance and continuity.
- A local authority was able to instantly demonstrate which versions of critical applications were in use during an audit, thanks to modular application management.
- The same organisation proved that all shared devices were configured according to policy – regardless of which department logged in – through dynamic profile management.
- A central government department needed to support legacy authentication while phasing out older back-end systems, yet still prove that its broader workspace was cloud-ready. A hybrid approach allowed both to coexist without raising auditor concerns.
These examples show that a modern digital workspace isn’t just about technology – it’s about demonstrable compliance built into everyday operations.
Looking ahead: compliance by design
In the coming years, the pressure on the public sector to operate compliantly will only increase. New legislation on data protection, digital transparency and procurement accountability is on the horizon, while demand for more efficient digital public services continues to grow.
The key lies in compliance by design – structuring the digital workspace so that auditing and reporting require no extra effort, but are a natural outcome of the architecture itself. That calls for modularity, flexibility and control over every layer of the workspace.
In summary, for the public sector, the modern digital workspace is not a nice-to-have – it’s a prerequisite for reliable service delivery and public trust. So stop treating compliance as a checklist – make it your foundation.
