Microsoft Intune – How Your Business Can Benefit From This Feature-Packed Application
It is a daily occurrence here at Pro Cloud Solutions, witnessing the benefits that advancements in cloud-based technology are bringing to the companies we work with:
Increased accessibility to apps, information and colleague/ client communication platforms enabling teams to work efficiently and collaboratively from almost anywhere in the world.
Increased ability to carry out all of the above on a wide range of devices: desktops, laptops, tablets, mobiles – both company owned and BYOD (bring your own device).
Access Vs Security – An Important Consideration
How though can a business ensure that this ease of access both from a location and device point of view does not become a weakness in the organisation’s safety and security amoury?
Common worries are:
How can we make sure our teams are always using the correct and most up to date applications to access and update company data, no matter what type of device they are using?
When usage is over such a large number and variety of devices, how can we ensure that our company data and systems are not compromised?
How can we secure compliance with the protocols we have put in place to mitigate the risk of loss/ corruption/ breach? (whether malicious or unintentional).
At Pro Cloud Solutions We Recommend Microsoft Intune
“Many of the organisations we speak to come to us with this dilemma”, says Pro Cloud Solutions MD Simon Waugh, “seeking to benefit from all the advantages that remote working capabilities and connected tech bring, but concerned about increased risk and lack of overall control. This is where the feature-packed Microsoft Intune application comes into its own – and why it is always on our recommend list”.
What Is Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based unified endpoint management service. In a nutshell, the application protects your organisation’s corporate data and information by controlling how people can access and share it. Its remit covers:
Apps: deployment, updates, protection and removal
Identities: management, security, custom roles, policy assignment
Devices: compliance, conditional access, device configuration both for company-owned and BYO devices.
What Are The Features And Benefits Of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune’s attributes have been developed to protect access to your company’s critical information, however it is being sourced, whilst ensuring users have a smooth and efficient experience, allowing them to complete necessary workload either in isolation or collaboratively:
Automatic Policy Deployment - Intune automates policy deployment for apps, security, device configuration, compliance, and conditional access. This means that as soon as new company policies are ready, you can deploy these to your user groups and device groups. What’s more, to receive these policies, the devices only need internet access.
Integration with other Microsoft 365 services and apps – as you would expect, Intune integrates seamlessly with any other Microsoft 365 services and apps your business uses, allowing you to combine functionality and information to help you more efficiently provision, monitor, analyze, report and act.
Rapid Deployment of Microsoft 365 apps and updates to users and devices in your organisation – using Intune, you can deploy Microsoft 365 apps and updates to users and devices in your organisation. You can also deploy these apps when users sign in for the first time. Having access to the right apps and the most up to date version every time increases efficiency and productivity and reduces tech-frustration.
3rd Party Integration – Intune integrates smoothly with device services outside the Microsoft family, such as Google Play and Apple Store. Through the Intune admin centre, administrators can access your volume purchased iOS/iPad, macOS app licenses and Android apps. This offers a neat solution to deploy authorised 3rd party apps across your devices.
Bulk Provisioning – this feature ensures that when employees receive a new company device, they are presented with a corporate-branded setup to authenticate themselves. That device is configured with security policies and the employee can then quickly and efficiently launch the Intune Company Portal app that helps them access the apps you’ve made available to them.
Device management and/ or application management enrollment - once your employees’ company devices are enrolled in Intune, the full endpoint management system will ensure they comply with your policies before accessing your corporate data. You also have the option of requiring that your employees are enrolled with Intune before corporate data can be accessed. Where your firm allows BOYD, Intune manages only the apps on an employee’s device that contain company data. This protects your organisation’s information even if the app in question pulls from both corporate and personal data sources.
Web based Admin Centre – The Microsoft Intune admin centre is where you can find service and reporting settings, as well as other device management related tabs. In addition to offering an overall visual snapshot, the admin centre can provide regular reporting and views are customisable. Intune's Admin Centre is also web-based rather than being an on-premise facility, meaning that administrators can sign into the Intune admin centre from any device that has internet access.
Self Service Features – The Intune Company Portal app has some really handy self-service features that allow your team members to resolve common IT desk/ ticket issues such as resetting PINs or passwords, installing new apps as well as reducing the number of times they need to sign into corporate resources with a single sign-on to the Company Portal app. This adds efficiency to business operations as well as reducing the frustration/ time lag that raising an issue can cause.
In conclusion, the feature-rich and value for money Microsoft Intune helps organisations support employees who can work from anywhere, without adding to cyber security risks. The elements within Intune can be configured to allow users to safely and securely connect to your company, its information and co-workers wherever they might be.
Simon Waugh adds:
“Over the last few years, we have all learned how important it is to both add efficiency and build in flexibility to our business operations - allowing us to expand and contract to make the best of opportunities and to respond with agility to market conditions. Without the burden of heavy initial outlay, use of Microsoft apps is charged on a monthly subscription basis, a model that allows you to easily control costs within your business and forward plan financial obligations.
Working with Pro Cloud Solutions enables you to flex the Microsoft packages and licences you need to ensure you are paying only for what you require to succeed. We will apply the specifics of your company to each of the applications, to ensure that the package you choose is always the best fit for you and your team. To benefit from the peace of mind and levels of control that Microsoft Intune can bring to your organisation’s business operations, please get in touch with our trained team of tech experts”
Here at Pro Cloud Solutions, we are focused on ensuring the advice we give is clear and the assistance we offer makes a real and lasting difference to your firm’s cloud IT capabilities.
Pro Cloud Solutions provides Cloud IT and Hosting Services to a range of businesses across the UK and around the World. Based in Taunton, Somerset and proud to support local businesses.