I have worked on multiple projects during these four years and encountered various scenarios with Intune. The major issue I found is Intune's vastness; it has numerous features within a single MDM portal. We can deploy unlimited features from the Intune portal to manage devices and protect the environment. Intune's capabilities are extensive, but there is room for improvement in certain areas, particularly reporting. Intune's reporting functionality is still under development, and we can anticipate further advancements in this area.
I previously worked as a solution engineer and am currently a call center agent in IT. I have worked on all sorts of Intune-related issues, including those related to mobile devices, Windows devices, enrollment processes, and policies. My expertise includes Autopilot, GP enrollment, the enrollment process for Windows, iOS, and mobile devices, as well as configuration profiles for multiple devices and platforms. I have also worked on scripts. As an escalation engineer, I have dealt with a wide variety of user issues.
The primary benefit of implementing Intune is the ability to manage devices, including controlling access, deploying applications, and enforcing restriction policies. As administrators, we gain control over which applications and websites users can access on their devices. Additionally, we can seamlessly deploy applications and configure network settings according to our organization's or client's specific requirements. Intune enables us to manage devices, deploy applications, and enforce policies, ensuring that devices within our environment adhere to our company's standards.
My deployment is primarily cloud-based, but I also have knowledge of hybrid environments. I have limited on-premises experience, having only observed local Active Directory servers. I can configure them theoretically, but I wouldn't consider myself a trained engineer in that area. With hybrid environments, I understand how to implement and integrate the hybrid components with Intune for a seamless and error-free deployment.
We can integrate endpoints directly into Intune, enabling us to access the options on the Intune portal. Intune is a seamless feature that collaborates with various services within the Azure ecosystem, essentially relying on Azure for its functionality. An essential collaboration exists between Azure AD and Intune. Similarly, Defender, another Microsoft service, must be integrated with Intune to remediate threats. In essence, Intune is a unique entity that requires communication with other Azure services. Configuration and connectivity are necessary to achieve this integration. Once integrated, we can access other endpoints directly from the Intune portal.
The user interface is straightforward, and the configuration profiles are easily accessible to the administrator. There are multiple ways to implement a single setting or policy on a device, including the deployment of several policies. A new feature allows for the creation of policy sets that can be deployed to different locations within an organization, streamlining management for administrators across multiple regions. This is a valuable feature that saves time and increases efficiency. Policy sets can be created, and locations can be assigned to them, ensuring that any enrolled device or user within that location receives the predefined policies. Group tags further enhance this process by automatically applying policy sets to devices or users added to specific group tags. Overall, Intune offers numerous features that enhance administrator productivity, including the ability to efficiently manage and track policy deployments.
The enterprise application management feature is excellent. If we've deployed applications using the application management services, we can provide updates directly, eliminating the need to repackage them. With application management, if an application is deployed in a region with multiple devices, those applications automatically update once an update is available. It's one of Intune's best features and was recently integrated. While I need to explore it further, I've previously used it to deploy applications in a region, and any auto-updates from the store were applied seamlessly. This is a significant benefit of Intune.
The PKI process in Intune is excellent, though it can be complex for administrators. Intune's reporting has improved since last year's changes, and removing one PKI component has simplified the troubleshooting log collection. Once correctly configured, this reliable feature allows direct certificate deployment to users and devices, eliminating the need for constant password and user ID entry. Users can seamlessly log in with their certificate across various applications, such as email or VPN profiles, enhancing convenience and security. Overall, Intune's PKI capabilities significantly benefit streamlined authentication and access management.
How we use Copilot depends on the specific needs of the enterprise. For clients with an existing on-premises environment, which typically includes multiple servers and domain controllers, there's often a gradual desire to migrate to the cloud. In these cases, we recommend Copilot, where we can implement an Intune environment and facilitate the gradual transition of devices from SCCM to Intune. These scenarios represent the primary use cases for deploying Copilot for device management, as it offers an optimal solution for managing devices during the on-premises to cloud transition. For remote users unable to access the physical office, device enrollment ensures cloud-based management. In contrast, restricted environments necessitate on-site presence. While VPN offers an interim solution, enabling remote device management through on-premises connectivity, it incurs additional costs. Ultimately, we advocate for cloud adoption as a cost-effective and simplified approach to device management, aligned with the ongoing evolution towards cloud-based solutions.
Intune has significantly improved our organization. Firstly, it allows users to work securely from anywhere, as the device is managed and policies, settings, and restrictions are deployed over the cloud, regardless of the location. Additionally, we can deploy various policies and regulations for security, simplifying device management. From an admin perspective, Intune streamlines device management by allowing us to simultaneously deploy policies to multiple devices. Enrollment is also effortless, as devices can be shipped directly from the vendor to the user and ready for use. This eliminates the previous admin tasks of deploying custom OS images and managing policies via SSCM, ultimately improving productivity.
Intune's ability to secure hybrid work and protect data on company and BYOD devices involves security restriction and conditional access policies. These settings provide significant device security. For instance, we have unconditional access policies and app protection policies. These policies allow us to secure data users might share with other devices or native applications. With conditional access, we can require devices to be managed by Intune before accessing corporate data, ensuring they receive necessary restriction and protection policies to prevent sharing corporate data with unauthorized applications. This significantly enhances corporate data security. While user agents offer data security benefits, Microsoft Defender and Office 365's data loss prevention policies strengthen our overall protection.
Intune has helped save 90 percent of our costs.
The security provided by Intune is excellent. The security policies deployed through Intune significantly enhance device security, encompassing data protection, device restrictions, Wi-Fi settings, and proxy configurations. Additionally, Intune can deploy antivirus software if we have the appropriate licenses, further bolstering security. Overall, I'd estimate that Intune provides roughly 80 percent reliability in terms of security.
Intune's ability to integrate with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Security for both cloud and co-managed devices is crucial because, in isolation, Intune is limited. To make its features work reliably and meet specific requirements, integration with Office 365, Defender, and local AD is necessary. This integration enhances security on devices and enables advanced features like data loss prevention through Office 365. While Intune offers security policies, integration with Office 365 unlocks their full potential for comprehensive device protection.
