What is our primary use case?
Microsoft Intune is used for Mobile Device Management. We enrolled our mobile devices as well as the mobile device solution for corporate devices. We have a lot of policies such as the compliance policy, and the conditional access-based policies for the corporate mobile user and we use the solution to assign their Outlook Teams and other configurations for the organization.
We use Intune to design compliance policies that apply to corporate devices and to wipe data from devices when users are terminated. Intune is also used for mobile-based solutions, but we have recently explored its capabilities by using the Autopilot feature. With Autopilot, Windows 10 devices can be reset and new versions of Windows 10 can be deployed from Intune.
How has it helped my organization?
Intune has many benefits from the Microsoft perspective. This solution can manage Windows 10 devices, app management, and provide security solutions. We don't need to worry about our network connection, and we'll be more secure with regular security patches and compliance. Since everything will be deployed through the internet and users will log in using the internet only, the risks have been mitigated. Security updates, security patching, and the application will be targeted from Intune. The location tracker will be available to track where the device is and the user's location. The user will be restricted from accessing certain applications using compliance policies. Conditional access policies will be based on the reason why the user needs access to the application.
Microsoft Intune is one of the best products in the industry for managing Windows devices. The solution has more feature restrictions. The conditional access policies also eliminate the dependency on the on-prem network for the devices. The solution also manages our security settings and a lot of other beneficial features such as Microsoft Purview which gives us the compliance portion. We can manage all aspects of our device from a single console, including M365 services. This allows us to configure data classification types, such as public, private, internal, confidential, and highly confidential.
What is most valuable?
The best feature is that we don't need to worry about downtime. We don't need to worry about the network connections of our office or the virtual private network. Everything is being done through the internet. Using Intune Autopilot, we can configure and deploy everything to the devices.
What needs improvement?
We need the capabilities of the Cloud Management Gateway (CMG) to be enhanced through Intune instead of Azure. I suggest that Microsoft consider this. If the user already has a subscription to Intune, they should not need to buy an additional subscription for Azure services.
The support needs improvement. When we need support, we don't get a response within the SLA because the support has been outsourced.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Microsoft Intune is a stable product. For the configuration, we could reach out to technical support, but other than that, we need not worry about anything. If we have configured the product correctly and we are not going to enhance any additional capabilities in Intune, then we need not worry about technical support.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is extremely scalable. I give scalability ten out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
Microsoft has outsourced its technical support so if we raise a ticket with severity, the technical support team may not be able to respond to us within the timeframe or the standard we expect. Sometimes we get the call within four hours. Sometimes we won't get that call for a day or more. The service side is pathetic now. To get support from Microsoft, we need to have our TAMs in place and then we need to submit the ticket. If we have already aligned a TAM for the tickets, we get support from Microsoft.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously we were using Microsoft Configuration Manager. The Microsoft Configuration Manager is the dedicated server for managing devices on-prem. We need to make sure the device is on the same network through which the policy is getting replicated. The dependencies with that server as well as with the network are important, and the devices need to be online on the network. Using Intune as a backup solution, if the device is not on the network or if the device owner is not in the location but it has an internet connection, then we can deploy all our physical solutions onto the devices. We are using both, the Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager as well as Intune, since a couple of policies are still only being managed with the Configuration Manager.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. Once we have subscribed to the license, we will receive our tenant ID and organization ID. We can then access the portal and configure whatever we want. To save the configuration, we must enable it from the portal itself. The Azure Ready Connect GUI console makes it easy to join devices to Azure and to create and deploy conditional access policies.
We have four or five global administrator access levels in our organization. The most limited level is for the global administrator, who can be limited to one person. We need to involve them to enter the password while configuring the CMG, and then the Microsoft support in case we are missing any configuration during the installation or managing Microsoft Intune.
We deployed across more than 10 to 15 countries. The solution is used in India, the US, and England.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investment using Microsoft Intune. We can save money by establishing our management point and cloud distribution point in Azure. Cloud support is an additional cost. We have to pay Microsoft for the VM, which doesn't act as a management point and the cloud distribution point for the endpoint. Endpoints are the on-prem devices.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Earlier, Microsoft used to give the license using the MSDN subscription, now the subscription part uses the M365 E3/E5. Existing E5 license holders for M365, Intune, and Azure, receive a free license.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
If we're only upgrading to Windows 10 for the monthly security patches, Ivanti has Patch Now. Patch Now is a solution that gives us the same set of capabilities as IBM BigFix, but Intune has enhanced capabilities. Ivanti Patch Now is another product similar to the Microsoft Configuration Manager console and we have to make sure the device is on the on-prem network itself. Intune is a cloud-based solution that does not require the device to be on-prem. Everything is in the cloud, including device tracking, writing, and initiating remote connections.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution a ten out of ten.
I manage the endpoints for the implementation strategy and use the desktops or Windows for migration. I'm not from the mobile device management team, but I can give presentations on how the devices will work in the Autopilot zone with Intune. I'm also familiar with conditional access policies and what needs to be in place for a successful migration.
We have 35,000 end-users.
Maintenance is minimal. There have been no reports of any outages from the cloud perspective, meaning that any downtime is from Microsoft itself. However, on-prem systems may experience challenges. We don't need to worry about downtime and all the systems will still be operational.
New customers are definitely going to reach out to Microsoft for purchasing all the products. Microsoft will have its own lab. They will give us the live demo from the lab, but that won't be a feasible solution. We should check and bring that solution to our environment. It would be good if we can create our own test environment and then ask Microsoft to perform all those configurations and just train our engineer about the Intune part. We will know all the legacy parts of our environment which could impact when we are moving our devices to Intune, either the legacy app, legacy hardware, whether those devices are supported, the TPM, the Tested Platform Module, the BitLocker configuration, everything we need to understand before we move our device to Intune.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.