Enhanced hardware inventory in Intune coming in December

Editor's note 11.26.2024 - We have updated the title and content of this post to reflect the current release date for this feature.

Today, we’re announcing that Windows device hardware inventory will start rolling out in December. Over the years, Microsoft Intune cloud management has improved device management for organizations like Audi, Crocs, and New York City Public Schools. Each month we release updates and introduce new capabilities, often in response to feedback and input from our user base. One of those asks: make more hardware information available about enrolled devices from the cloud.

In September, we announced enhanced device hardware inventory for Windows devices. This makes it possible to create a policy in Microsoft Intune to collect details about more Windows hardware properties. The results of that collection can be viewed in the Resource explorer blade for an individual device. Having this information readily accessible can inform troubleshooting, business decisions, and even vendor negotiations.

Enhanced device hardware inventory for Windows devices

IT professionals will be able to collect and view a greater number of properties for a single device. To do this, an IT pro must first specify the properties they want to collect from devices in a Properties catalog profile policy. This policy can be applied to specific device groups or all Windows devices, and it is viewable in each individual device’s details page.

Screenshot showing the new Properties catalog profile policy can return hardware data for an enhanced library of properties from Windows devices.

Screenshot showing the selection of properties for a Properties catalog profile policy.

Within about 24 hours, all the device inventory data should be reported be available via the Resource explorer under the Monitor menu in the individual device blade. The device hardware policy uses device resources efficiently and minimizes network traffic by uploading only changes that have occurred since the last collection.

View device inventory in Resource explorer.

Cross-platform inventory is coming

In September, we also promised you more was coming—and here it is. Starting early next year, enhanced hardware inventory information will also be available for macOS, iOS/iPadOS, and Android devices.

The Resource explorer shows an enhanced array of hardware properties on an iOS device.

For IT professionals who had previously relied on multiple tools to gather information about their various devices, this will save time and trouble.

The next phase of inventory for IT professionals

Along with the introduction of enhanced inventory, Microsoft Intune Advanced Analytics, which is available as an add-on or as part of the Microsoft Intune Suite, is adding the ability to query this enhanced data across multiple Windows devices. You can now use Copilot in Intune to create Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries. As inventory information becomes available cross-platform, multiple-device query will be cross-platform as well. This capability will rely on data collected at intervals of up to 24 hours.

This will allow IT professionals a new level of insight and access within the Intune admin center, which in turn can drive value for business. Consider this scenario: A telco vendor presents leadership with a 5G service contract. Before signing, the organization needs to know exactly how many devices in their fleet have 5G modems. With this new capability, getting the answer will require just one operation, instead of a lengthy and complicated investigation.

For scenarios like incident investigation, query of individual devices will get cross-platform capabilities early next year when the broader inventory capabilities mentioned above are released.

Help shape the future

We hear from IT pros that they are regularly tasked with answering questions about devices and their device fleet, and a lot of time and effort is required to respond to them. That’s why we’ve been pursuing the technical work to bring these capabilities to Intune. Expect continued innovation in this area, and if you want us to focus on adding additional inventory properties to our catalog, be sure to get in touch. Leave your comments below, and be sure to follow this blog. For news from the wider management community, follow me on LinkedIn.

We look forward to sharing more at Microsoft Ignite 2024. Please join our sessions (virtually or in person) and continue to engage with us online at LinkedIn: aka.ms/IntuneLinked and X: x.com/MSIntune.

If you’re attending Ignite in person, be sure to check out this theater session: Take action with real-time data and insights in Microsoft Intune.