What is our primary use case?
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.
How has it helped my organization?
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.
What is most valuable?
What I like most about Intune is its seamless enrollment process, particularly the Autopilot method. Autopilot allows bulk enrollment of devices, making it easy for end users, even those without technical expertise, to use their devices immediately. While there might be occasional error messages during configuration, when done correctly by the administrator, Autopilot is the best feature currently available.
Intune is excellent. It is constantly evolving, from the legacy portal to the current endpoint management; we are seeing a gradual number of changes, and many features have been implemented and added to the Intune portal. The interface is great and user-friendly. Even someone without much MDM experience but needing access to the Intune portal would be able to understand that these are Windows devices and these are the policies they can deploy. The portal's overall UI is user-friendly. Furthermore, the categorization of devices and policies on the portal is excellent. We can categorize devices, look for conditional access, and check for configuration compliance in a specific location. The categorization is the best way currently available.
What needs improvement?
The worst aspect is the reporting. We are still in the development phase of reporting, and it is not always accurate. Sometimes, we don't receive the correct report, devices aren't listed as they should be in the Intune portal, or deployed applications and user policies aren't reported by Intune even though they are present on a device. There is room for improvement in Intune's reporting capabilities.
If my organization has sensitive data we don't want to leak, deploying the policies can present technical challenges and potential loopholes. While 90 percent of end-users are not technical enough to find these loopholes, a user trained on Intune who understands the background processes and policy weaknesses could pose a security risk to the organization.
App protection policy and compliance state. Recently, I encountered a user scenario similar to one I've experienced as an administrator. If my device is enrolled in Intune but not through a corporate method, some loopholes allow administrative control of the device itself. We can un-enroll the device and remove the management profile, yet the Intune portal will still show the device as compliant because it captured the last compliance state. As long as the device reports to Intune, its compliance status in the portal remains unchanged, regardless of its actual state. Only when the device stops checking in with Intune will the last compliant state be displayed, with no indication of non-compliance. The device's Intune compliance state will show the last check-in time. We can leverage the newly integrated data loss prevention feature in Intune to improve the app protection policy, which is currently inconsistently effective. With the appropriate licensing, deploying data loss prevention policies can enhance our protection strategy.
I need to delve into reporting and analytics. The policies, restriction policies, enrollment limitations, and everything else are great. However, one current limitation is that we can't roll back security baseline policies deployed from the Intune portal to a device. Those changes are permanent if a security policy changes the device's registry. If an administrator mistakenly deploys settings from a baseline policy instead of a restriction policy, the only recourse is to reimage the device. In my opinion, baseline settings shouldn't be permanent. However, as developers of the Intune portal, there must be some significance to these clients.
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Microsoft Intune
May 2025
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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Microsoft Intune for four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of Microsoft Intune seven out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of Microsoft Intune eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I was the Microsoft Intune Closure Engineer, working in a global support group. My role involved providing solutions for Microsoft, addressing tickets created by users or administrators worldwide. I would rate the overall Microsoft support an average of eight out of ten. The support process begins with a ticket being assigned to a junior engineer with basic understanding, which I'd rate a six. If the user's issue remains unresolved, it escalates to a level two engineer, improving the rating to an eight. In rare cases, unresolved issues are escalated to a senior engineer which would drive the rating up to nine out of ten.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Intune was introduced, we had to use Office 365 for MDM, which had limited options. Then came the legacy Intune portal, followed by the endpoint management folder, the most recent portal we've used. I've also used Jamf and AirWatch a bit, but I'm not as proficient with them as with Intune.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment of Intune was complex, with deployment time dependent on the specific environment. For organizations with multiple sites, Intune deployment is particularly challenging and can take four to five months. The migration itself is not a simple task and can be time-consuming. Based on past experience, assessing existing security policies and applications from the on-premises environment is crucial before identifying what can be achieved with Intune, given its limitations compared to SCCM. While Intune can replicate some functionalities achieved through group policies, the migration process can still take a considerable amount of time, ranging from seven to eight months to even one and a half years, depending on the environment's complexity.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Microsoft licenses are costly. Organizations should determine the best license to get the maximum features based on their requirements. Intune comes with multiple licenses, including E3, E5, standalone Intune, and a few more. Microsoft 365 is also an option. There are almost seven license lists where Microsoft Intune is present, except for the standalone license. It's definitely costly. Microsoft could look further into providing some cost-cutting measures for the licenses.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Microsoft Intune eight out of ten.
Intune includes various features and categories, allowing management of operating systems like Linux, Windows, iOS, macOS, and Android. Its user interface, departmental organization, and enrollment process are all straightforward. However, based on my six years of experience with Microsoft products, including four years specifically with Intune, its reliability is around 80 percent. Occasionally, it doesn't report correctly, or devices fail to receive deployed configurations. In comparison, AirWatch seems more reliable. Despite this, considering my overall experience with Microsoft, it still offers one of the best management solutions. Intune's predecessor, SCCM, which manages devices on-premises, is more reliable because Intune is still developing.
I'm working on two accounts. Under one account, I have a growing number of devices. So far, there are approximately 300,000 Windows devices, 100,000 Android devices, and 250,000 iOS devices in one environment. The number of users is similar. In another environment, which I've been using, there are a large number of devices. It's taking time to load, but I would say there are approximately 400,000 to 500,000 Windows devices in this environment.
Intune is continually evolving. If a feature is currently unavailable or needs improvement, we typically provide feedback to the Intune development team, and they implement or enhance that feature in a future release. In new releases, developers add features, and if there's a need to further develop or enhance those features, we see those improvements in subsequent releases. Maintenance on the Intune portal is necessary to facilitate these dynamic changes. Additionally, the Intune environment itself requires maintenance. This includes managing user accounts and enrolled devices, as well as adjusting restriction and security policies as needed.
I recommend Intune because it offers multiple features within a single environment. Once deployed, you can manage iOS and other platforms from one location. However, there's a caveat: if you have a highly restricted or complex environment where security is paramount, such as in banking, federal agencies, or similar organizations, you might reconsider using Intune due to potential reliability concerns.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.