Managing company computers and mobile devices becomes increasingly difficult as businesses add employees, support remote work, adopt cloud applications, and allow users to work from multiple locations. IT teams need a consistent way to configure devices, deploy applications, enforce security requirements, and protect business data without manually managing every endpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based endpoint management platform that businesses use to manage and secure computers, smartphones, tablets, applications, and access to organizational resources.<\/strong> It gives IT administrators a centralized way to apply policies and configurations across supported Windows, macOS, iOS\/iPadOS, and Android devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can help organizations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For businesses already using Microsoft cloud services, Intune can become an important part of a broader Microsoft 365 management strategy<\/a> by bringing identity, applications, devices, and security controls into a more centrally managed environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune is especially useful for organizations with remote or hybrid employees. Instead of relying on every computer being physically connected to an office network, administrators can manage supported endpoints through Microsoft’s cloud-based management infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This also makes Intune valuable for small and mid-sized businesses that need stronger endpoint controls without building a traditional on-premises device-management infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Intune does considerably more than basic mobile device management. To understand its role in a modern business environment, it helps to look specifically at what Microsoft Intune is used for<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft Intune is used to centrally manage and secure the devices and applications employees use to access business resources<\/strong>. Instead of configuring every laptop, smartphone, or tablet individually, IT administrators can create policies and deploy many settings from a centralized cloud-based management platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses commonly use Microsoft Intune for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider a business hiring a remote employee who receives a company-owned Windows laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of an administrator manually configuring every security and application setting, the organization can use Intune to help establish a standardized configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on how the environment is designed, the laptop can receive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The device can then be evaluated against the organization’s compliance requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the business combines Intune with Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access<\/strong>, access policies can use signals such as device compliance when determining whether the employee can access protected company resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This combination of endpoint management, identity, and security is one reason Intune can be valuable within a broader Cybersecurity Services<\/a> strategy. Device management alone does not provide complete cybersecurity protection, but properly managed and configured endpoints can help reduce risk and enforce consistent security requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Intune is frequently associated with MDM<\/strong>, its role has expanded well beyond managing smartphones and tablets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations can use Intune as part of a broader endpoint-management strategy encompassing computers, mobile devices, applications, security configurations, compliance policies, and access controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For businesses with employees working from offices, homes, client locations, and while traveling, this provides a way to maintain more consistent management and security without requiring every device to remain connected to the traditional corporate network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft Intune works by connecting supported devices and applications to a cloud-based management service<\/strong> where IT administrators can create policies, deploy configurations, manage applications, evaluate compliance, and perform supported remote-management actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than configuring every endpoint manually, administrators define how devices should be configured and managed. Intune can then apply those settings to targeted users and devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A typical Intune environment follows several basic steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations typically integrate Intune with Microsoft Entra ID<\/strong>, Microsoft’s cloud-based identity and access management service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Users have organizational identities, and supported devices can be registered, joined, or otherwise associated with the organization depending on the platform and deployment model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This allows policies and applications to be assigned to specific users or groups of users and devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For full device management, a computer, smartphone, or tablet is generally enrolled in Intune using an appropriate enrollment method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enrollment gives the organization management capabilities that vary depending on factors such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can also protect organizational information in certain applications through Mobile Application Management (MAM)<\/strong> without requiring full device enrollment in supported scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is particularly useful for organizations that allow employees to use personal devices for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Administrators configure policies based on the organization’s technical and security requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Policies can be used to manage settings such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Policies can then be assigned to selected users, devices, or groups rather than configured separately on every computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For organizations using Managed IT Services<\/a>, this type of centralized endpoint management can also become part of a broader strategy for standardizing device configurations, security controls, monitoring, and ongoing IT administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations can establish rules that define what qualifies as a compliant device<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, an organization might require a managed Windows laptop to have encryption enabled, meet specified operating system requirements, or maintain certain security configurations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune evaluates the device against the applicable compliance policies and reports its compliance status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can work with Microsoft Entra Conditional Access<\/strong> to incorporate device compliance into access decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, an organization might create a Conditional Access policy requiring a compliant device before allowing access to certain Microsoft 365 resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If a device does not satisfy the required conditions, access can potentially be blocked or additional requirements applied, depending on the organization’s Conditional Access configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an important distinction: Intune evaluates and reports device compliance, while Conditional Access can use that information when enforcing access policies.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Administrators can assign supported applications and configurations to users and devices through Intune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the application, platform, licensing, and configuration, software can be made available to users or deployed automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can significantly simplify onboarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of manually installing the same applications and configuring the same settings on every new computer, IT can establish a standardized deployment process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune isn’t only used when a computer is initially configured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can remain part of the endpoint’s management lifecycle from onboarding through ongoing administration and eventually offboarding<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Administrators can monitor device status, update policies, deploy applications, review compliance, and perform supported remote actions as business requirements change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When an employee leaves the organization or a device is replaced, Intune also provides management options for removing organizational access or data according to the device type and management scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The result is a more standardized approach to endpoint management: configure policies centrally, assign them to the appropriate users or devices, evaluate compliance, and manage supported endpoints throughout their lifecycle.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft Intune can manage a wide range of business computers, smartphones, and tablets across multiple operating systems. This makes it particularly useful for organizations that don’t operate exclusively on Windows devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune supports management capabilities across major platforms including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exact management features available vary by operating system, device ownership, enrollment method, licensing, and configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Windows provides some of the deepest integration with Microsoft Intune, making it a common choice for businesses already using Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations can use Intune to help manage Windows devices through capabilities such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can also play an important role in provisioning new Windows computers when combined with technologies such as Windows Autopilot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of IT manually configuring every new computer, organizations can use a standardized cloud-driven deployment process so supported devices receive the appropriate applications, settings, and policies when they’re prepared for a user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune also supports management of macOS, iPhone, and iPad devices<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the device and enrollment method, organizations can deploy configurations, manage applications, enforce security requirements, evaluate compliance, and perform supported remote actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses using Apple devices alongside Windows computers can therefore maintain a more centralized endpoint-management strategy rather than creating completely separate management processes for every platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Android devices can also be managed through Intune using supported Android Enterprise management scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Different approaches can be used depending on whether a device is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The appropriate enrollment method determines the degree of management and separation between organizational and personal information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most important Intune decisions isn’t simply which operating system a device runs<\/strong>. It’s also who owns the device and how much control the organization needs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A company-owned Windows laptop can reasonably be subject to extensive configuration and security requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A personally owned smartphone used to access Outlook or Teams may require a different approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In supported scenarios, Intune’s application-management capabilities can help protect organizational information without requiring the business to manage the entire personal device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This distinction is particularly important for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)<\/strong> environments, where businesses need to balance protection of company information with employee privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses shouldn’t assume that a policy or management feature available for Windows will behave exactly the same way on macOS, Android, or iOS\/iPadOS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before deploying Intune across a mixed-device environment, determine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Making those decisions before enrollment helps create a more consistent device-management strategy and avoids applying unnecessarily intrusive controls to personally owned devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For organizations developing these policies for the first time, IT Consulting Services<\/a> can help align endpoint-management decisions with the company’s operational, security, and technology requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The value of Microsoft Intune comes from combining multiple endpoint-management capabilities within a cloud-based platform. Rather than using separate processes to configure devices, distribute applications, evaluate compliance, and manage security settings, organizations can centralize many of these functions through Intune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exact capabilities available depend on the device platform, enrollment method, licensing, and other Microsoft services integrated with the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For businesses, the primary benefits include more consistent device configurations, improved visibility, stronger security controls, easier remote administration, and less manual work for IT teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the biggest benefits of Microsoft Intune is the ability to manage supported endpoints from a centralized cloud-based administration platform<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without centralized management, IT teams can end up configuring computers individually, maintaining inconsistent settings, and relying on users to install applications or make security changes themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That approach becomes increasingly difficult as a company adds employees, locations, and remote workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Intune, administrators can create policies and assign them to groups of users or devices. This helps standardize configurations across the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a business might establish a standard configuration for its Windows laptops that includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of manually reproducing that configuration on every computer, IT can centrally define and manage many of these settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Centralization isn’t only about convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Standardized configurations can make an IT environment easier to support, secure, troubleshoot, and scale<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When computers are configured inconsistently, technicians may encounter different settings and software every time they troubleshoot a problem. Standardization reduces some of those variables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can be especially valuable as a business grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A company managing five computers may be able to configure them manually. That same approach becomes far less practical when the organization has 25, 50, 100, or more endpoints distributed across offices and remote locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditional device-management approaches often depended heavily on computers connecting to the organization’s internal network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune’s cloud-based architecture is designed for a workforce where devices may spend much of their time outside the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A managed laptop can communicate with Microsoft’s cloud services over the internet, allowing applicable policies and configurations to reach the device without requiring the employee to bring the computer back to the office simply for routine management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is particularly useful for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Centralized endpoint management is therefore one of the foundations of Intune: IT establishes the organization’s requirements centrally and uses cloud-based management to apply and maintain those requirements across supported devices wherever employees work.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mobile Device Management (MDM)<\/strong> is one of Microsoft Intune’s core capabilities. MDM allows an organization to enroll supported devices and apply management, configuration, compliance, and security policies to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the word \u201cmobile,\u201d MDM isn’t limited to smartphones and tablets. Intune can use device-management capabilities across supported Windows PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once a device is appropriately enrolled, the organization can manage supported settings without physically handling the device each time a configuration needs to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the platform and enrollment method, administrators can use Intune to help:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider a business with employees working from several locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without centralized device management, one laptop might have encryption enabled while another does not. One employee might keep Windows updated while another repeatedly postpones updates. Security settings could vary considerably from computer to computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune allows the organization to establish policies that define how managed devices should be configured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a company could require supported Windows laptops to use BitLocker encryption and meet defined compliance requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This doesn’t eliminate every endpoint security risk, but it helps the organization move away from relying entirely on individual users to maintain appropriate configurations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MDM is particularly useful for company-owned devices<\/strong>, where the organization generally needs greater administrative control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A business purchasing laptops for its employees may want those devices configured according to company standards from the beginning of their lifecycle through retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can become part of that process by helping IT:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Provision \u2192 Configure \u2192 Secure \u2192 Deploy \u2192 Maintain \u2192 Retire<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The objective is to establish a repeatable endpoint-management process rather than treating every new computer as a separate manual project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s also important to distinguish Mobile Device Management (MDM)<\/strong> from Mobile Application Management (MAM)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MDM focuses primarily on managing the device<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAM focuses on managing and protecting organizational applications and data<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That distinction becomes particularly important when employees use personally owned devices. A business may need to protect company information without requiring the same level of control over an employee’s personal phone that it would have over a company-owned laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s where Intune’s application-management capabilities become especially valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mobile Application Management (MAM)<\/strong> allows organizations to apply management and data-protection controls to supported applications rather than managing the entire device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within Microsoft Intune, these controls are commonly implemented through app protection policies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can be particularly useful in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments where employees use personal smartphones or tablets to access company email, files, and other business resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of requiring full device management in every scenario, an organization can focus certain controls on the business applications and organizational data inside those applications<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the platform, application, licensing, and configuration, Intune app protection policies can help organizations control how business data is handled within supported applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, policies may be used to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These capabilities can help reduce the risk of company information unintentionally moving from a managed business application into an unmanaged personal application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most important Intune capabilities for BYOD is that app protection can be used in certain supported scenarios without enrolling the entire personal device into Intune MDM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, an employee might use a personal smartphone to access company email through Outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The organization may want to protect its business information without managing unrelated personal content on the employee’s phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With an appropriate Intune configuration, the business can apply controls to supported work applications and organizational data while leaving the employee’s personal applications and information outside that management scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can provide a better balance between business security and employee privacy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MAM also becomes useful when an employee leaves the organization or a personal device should no longer have access to company information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In supported configurations, administrators can remove organizational data associated with managed applications without performing a complete factory reset of the employee’s personal device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s very different from wiping an entire company-owned laptop or smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The appropriate action depends on the device, ownership model, enrollment type, and organizational policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses don’t necessarily have to choose between MDM and MAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They can use different management approaches for different situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Company-owned Windows laptop:<\/strong> Company-owned smartphone:<\/strong> Employee-owned smartphone:<\/strong> Designing these distinctions is an important part of a broader IT security strategy<\/a>, particularly for businesses supporting remote employees and BYOD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal is to apply the appropriate level of management to the appropriate device and data<\/strong>, rather than treating every endpoint exactly the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft Intune helps organizations establish and maintain consistent security requirements across managed endpoints<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of relying on employees to configure important security settings themselves, IT administrators can create policies and assign them to appropriate users and devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can be used to manage or evaluate supported security settings such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exact settings available depend on the operating system, device type, enrollment method, licensing, and other Microsoft security products being used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An Intune compliance policy<\/strong> defines conditions a device should meet to be considered compliant with the organization’s requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a business might establish requirements stating that a Windows laptop must:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune evaluates applicable devices against these requirements and reports whether they are compliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This gives IT administrators greater visibility into devices that don’t meet established organizational standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compliance becomes considerably more powerful when Intune is integrated with Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suppose an organization requires employees to use compliant devices when accessing certain Microsoft 365 resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can evaluate whether the device meets the organization’s compliance requirements. Conditional Access can then use that compliance status as one of the signals when determining whether access should be permitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conceptually, the process looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Device \u2192 Intune compliance evaluation \u2192 Microsoft Entra Conditional Access \u2192 Access decision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This can help prevent a device that doesn’t satisfy required security conditions from accessing protected organizational resources, depending on how the organization’s policies are configured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune also provides security baselines<\/strong> for supported Microsoft technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Security baselines are groups of recommended configuration settings that can give administrators a starting point for establishing endpoint security policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They can be useful, but organizations shouldn’t simply deploy every recommended setting without evaluating its impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Security requirements should be tested and aligned with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A security setting that improves protection but prevents a critical business application from functioning properly still requires investigation and appropriate configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft Intune is an important endpoint-management and security-policy platform, but Intune alone does not replace a comprehensive cybersecurity program<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses may still require additional controls such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune’s role is to help organizations configure, manage, evaluate, and enforce supported endpoint requirements consistently<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When combined with appropriate identity, endpoint, network, email, backup, and monitoring controls, those capabilities can contribute to a much stronger layered cybersecurity approach<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For small and mid-sized businesses, one of Intune’s greatest security benefits is therefore not a single feature. It is the ability to make endpoint security more consistent and manageable across the organization<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Microsoft Intune can help businesses deploy, manage, and remove applications across supported devices<\/strong> without requiring an IT technician to manually install every program on every computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is particularly valuable when an organization needs the same core applications installed across dozens or hundreds of endpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the platform, application type, licensing, and configuration, administrators can use Intune to assign applications to specific:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Applications can generally be configured as required<\/strong>, made available for users to install, or removed from managed devices when appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider a business where every Windows employee needs applications such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than maintaining a checklist and manually installing each application, IT can package or configure supported applications for deployment through Intune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a new computer is properly enrolled and assigned to the appropriate users or groups, required applications can be delivered as part of the organization’s standardized device configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can make employee onboarding more consistent and repeatable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not every application needs to be installed automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations can also make certain approved applications available through the Microsoft Intune Company Portal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This gives users a centralized location where they can install applications their organization has made available to them, reducing the need to contact IT for every optional software installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We’ll look more closely at the Company Portal later because it has an important role in the Intune user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune isn’t limited to Microsoft Store applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Windows environments, administrators can deploy supported application types including Win32 applications<\/strong>, which makes Intune useful for distributing many traditional Windows desktop programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deployment can include requirements and detection logic that help determine whether an application should be installed and whether the installation completed successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For certain Win32 application-management tasks, Intune relies on the Microsoft Intune Management Extension<\/strong>, which we’ll cover in its own section later in this guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Software management doesn’t end with the initial installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Applications eventually need to be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune gives administrators centralized tools for managing supported application deployments throughout their lifecycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exact update process varies by application. Intune does not automatically patch every third-party application simply because the device is enrolled, so organizations still need an appropriate strategy for keeping software current.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Centralized application deployment also helps reduce configuration differences between computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If every employee is manually downloading and installing their own software, an organization can quickly end up with different versions, configurations, and applications across its environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A more standardized deployment process helps IT maintain a predictable endpoint configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For organizations already using Microsoft cloud services, application deployment can also complement Microsoft 365 management and support<\/a> by helping standardize how Microsoft 365 applications and related configurations are delivered to managed endpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The overall benefit is straightforward: IT can spend less time repeatedly installing the same software and more time managing applications consistently across the organization.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For organizations with Windows computers, Microsoft Intune provides extensive capabilities for centrally configuring Windows settings and managing how devices receive updates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of relying on employees to configure their own computers, administrators can create policies that establish consistent settings across groups of managed Windows devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on the environment and licensing, Intune can help manage configurations involving:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can reduce configuration inconsistencies between computers and make it easier to establish a standard Windows environment across the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keeping Windows computers current is an important part of both endpoint security and ongoing IT maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune can be used with Windows Update for Business<\/strong> capabilities to control how managed Windows devices receive updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations can configure policies governing areas such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than employees independently deciding whether or when to update their computers, IT can establish a more controlled update strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations can use update rings<\/strong> to configure aspects of the Windows update experience for groups of devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One practical approach is to divide computers into deployment groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a business might allow a smaller group of devices to receive updates first. After confirming that important applications and workflows continue functioning normally, the update can proceed according to policies applied to the broader organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This type of phased deployment can help reduce the risk of an update-related problem affecting every computer simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Updates are only part of the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intune configuration profiles allow organizations to manage many Windows settings centrally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, instead of manually configuring OneDrive, Microsoft Edge, Wi-Fi, security settings, and other options on every new laptop, IT can establish supported configurations centrally and assign them to appropriate groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This becomes especially useful when combined with standardized onboarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A new Windows laptop can potentially receive much of its configuration through cloud-based management rather than requiring a technician to manually reproduce the company’s settings every time a computer is deployed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat Is Microsoft Intune Used For?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A Practical Microsoft Intune Example<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Intune Is More Than Mobile Device Management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHow Does Microsoft Intune Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Users and Devices Are Connected to the Organization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Devices Are Enrolled or Applications Are Managed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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3. IT Creates and Assigns Policies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4. Intune Evaluates Device Compliance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Conditional Access Can Use Compliance Status<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Applications and Configurations Can Be Deployed Remotely<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. IT Continues Managing the Device Throughout Its Lifecycle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat Devices Can Microsoft Intune Manage?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Windows Devices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Apple Devices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Android Devices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Company-Owned vs. Personally Owned Devices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Intune Capabilities Aren’t Identical Across Every Platform<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nKey Features and Benefits of Microsoft Intune<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Centralized Endpoint Management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Standardization Makes IT Easier to Manage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Manage Remote Devices Without Relying on the Office Network<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nMobile Device Management (MDM)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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MDM Helps Enforce Consistent Device Policies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Company-Owned Devices Can Be More Fully Managed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
MDM Is Different From MAM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMobile Application Management (MAM)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Can Intune App Protection Policies Do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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MAM Can Be Useful Without Full Device Enrollment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Selective Removal of Company Data<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
MDM and MAM Can Work Together<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
MDM with extensive device configuration and security policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MDM plus application protection where appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MAM and app protection policies may provide an appropriate approach in supported scenarios without requiring full device enrollment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSecurity and Compliance Policies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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What Is an Intune Compliance Policy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Compliance Can Be Used With Conditional Access<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Security Baselines Can Help Standardize Configuration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Intune Is Not a Complete Cybersecurity Solution by Itself<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nApplication Deployment and Software Management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Automatically Deploy Required Business Applications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Make Approved Applications Available to Employees<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Deploy Traditional Windows Applications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Update and Replace Applications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Software Deployment Supports Standardization<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWindows Configuration and Updates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Managing Windows Updates With Intune<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Update Rings Help Control Deployment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Intune Can Help Standardize Windows Configuration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Intune Does Not Replace Every Patch-Management Tool<\/h3>\n\n\n\n