What is our primary use case?
The main use cases for Microsoft Intune are to manage all types of devices, especially Windows.
What is most valuable?
The selling points for Microsoft Intune are very good. You don't have to enroll the devices, however, you can still push an app through some policy and with a few restrictions. If you want to push one single app to end-user devices, once you push it, you can also push it along with the security that they cannot copy your data or misuse it. This is one of the key benefits.
Microsoft Intune can be used with co-management. There are clients who don't fully want to go with Microsoft Intune as they are already spending with SCCM or other platforms. They want to partially transition into Microsoft Intune, then later fully transition into it. That's when the co-management works, and that feature is available in Microsoft Intune.
The user experience of Microsoft Intune is good. It's a very old tool, and many engineers are available in the market. There are multiple knowledge articles and videos about this tool. The user experience is good since users understand their path and how to proceed. If users understand that, it's easy for them. In that way, it deserves ten out of ten as users know how to work on this tool.
Everything has remained the same in terms of Enterprise Application Management in Microsoft Intune. App discovery still requires user initiation for installation, whereas auto-installations occur silently and remain on the device screen.
The PKI tool is cloud-based, and they are doing excellent work. In terms of complexity, they reduce the task. You cannot keep giving certificates to all the devices one by one, and the PKI tool handles that. They provide the certificate and stamp on it for the device seamlessly, so you never know the device is secured with this type of certificate.
What needs improvement?
The granular support for other device types in Microsoft Intune could be improved. Microsoft Intune works well with Windows, however, we are not as well-suited for Mac devices. If you're looking to support Mac, consider other products such as AirWatch or Jamf. MobileIron is not that effective. That said, Jamf is good for Mac. Microsoft Intune offers numerous features for Windows, allowing for substantial customization; however, for Mac, it lacks this capability.
In the next releases of Microsoft Intune, a feature to renew the certificate automatically would be beneficial. Currently, for Wi-Fi certificates, we need to do it manually, which can cause most devices to disconnect and reconnect, resulting in big issues for clients facing connectivity problems. The renewal should happen automatically, and that is something they need to work on.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Microsoft Intune for approximately five to six years.
How are customer service and support?
Microsoft Tech Support is good, providing solid support. That said, it often depends on the representative. There are levels of support; level two and level three offer great assistance, while level one primarily collects data and doesn't provide as great of support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
The deployment is okay. It depends, from client to client. It's not like every console needs some time for deployment. So for example, if you're already on the on-prem margin of Intune, then we have a certified vendor who would deploy in the initial phase. I'm talking about initial deployment, where you configure Intune, you log in to a new Intune, and then you add users, and then you add the devices and things like that. So the initial deployment for that, we have certified vendors. Even our company is a certified company that does this deployment. We have certain tools for direct migration. However, if you're trying to deploy from a different console, like AirWatch or a mobile app or things like that, it may take maybe three months, for example. We need to be ready with all the profiles. We need to be ready with all the products. We need to be ready with all the app deployments. We need to be ready with multiple things. That way, once the device is enrolled, it gets what it needs. It gets the certificate. It gets the apps, and the user experience is seamless.
Obviously, it needs some time. We have worked on two clients and it takes three months minimum.
What was our ROI?
The cost-effectiveness of Microsoft Intune is about 90%. Most clients, specifically with Windows devices, adopt it, so it's effective. The licensing model has advantages, as they bundle services such as Azure AD with Office 365, which many clients find valuable, leading to Microsoft Intune's dominance in the industry.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing for Microsoft Intune has different types of packages. Currently, if you go with all the packages, the mid-variant of the top-level package such as E3 or E5 offers benefits such as AD and Azure AD. If you require all these tools, it could be cheaper, however, if you do not need certain tools and still want Microsoft Intune, it is not that cheap. It can be quite expensive.
Additionally, if you are already on one cloud-based platform and moving to Microsoft Intune, the transaction will also involve some costs since deployment is necessary.
Cost-wise, it varies from project to project. If the client wants to move, they may need to go for the E5 license; the difference between E3 and E5 is not significant. If your organization has a large number of Windows devices, Microsoft Intune is a valuable tool. But for Mac users, Jamf would be recommended.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
If you're looking to support Mac, you need to look at other products such as AirWatch or Jamf. MobileIron is not that effective; however, Jamf is good for Mac.
What other advice do I have?
Copilot in Microsoft Intune is a new tool used for answering questions, similar to ChatGPT or Gemini. There are two types of Copilot; even in Workspace ONE, there are similar tools. The licensed version is not used as it comes with a price, and our client doesn't want to go with that. The basic level of Copilot is given, which can answer a few questions, however, it is still under the learning phase. If I ask a question, it sometimes gives an exact answer, yet at other times, it suggests going somewhere else to find it, and there is no button available there. In the paid version, it can perform simple tasks such as pushing or adding devices to a group, however, it wouldn't truly help with the current level of AI. We may need more complex AI for this type of console.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Microsoft Intune a nine.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner