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What’s new in Microsoft Intune: December 2024

ScottSawyer's avatar
ScottSawyer
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Dec 19, 2024

In preparing to write this last blog of the year, and my first year in review edition of What's New in Microsoft Intune, I looked back to our December 2023 post. The focus areas highlighted then remain top of mind for our customers and the Intune product team alike. We continue to see organizations migrate to cloud-native management across all endpoints (notably macOS devices), workloads, and clouds. More organizations consolidated solutions with the Microsoft Intune Suite, Microsoft Security Copilot became generally available, and Copilot in Intune launched in preview. Intune also expanded offerings to US government, Government Community Cloud High (GCC-H), and Department of Defense (DoD) environments. We've accomplished a great deal—and enabled some great outcomes for our customers as you'll read below.

Intune cloud-native impact

We continue to expand the power of cloud-native management as it is being harnessed by more organizations.

  • The recently announced Windows 365 Link device has enabled new solutions for hardware buyers and created new scenarios for Windows 365 Cloud PCs.
  • Enhanced device inventory capabilities for Windows devices (and soon across platforms) are extending the versatility and utility of Intune, furthering consolidating savings and improving productivity.
  • Hardware-backed device attestation is also enhancing security, which helps IT teams ensure that only genuine and uncompromised devices can access company resources.

These innovations are making a real difference for businesses around the world.

In the Södertälje kommun school district of Sweden, consolidating device management with Intune relieved a big training burden. Anders Ljungdahl, a solution architect in the Education Office, noted the difference in using Intune is "administrators don't have to have an in-depth knowledge of every technology to manage them in Intune. We just set everything up in the background, and they can get started." Intune has also helped the district allocate resources. According to Ljungdahl, "With the reports and monitoring in Microsoft Intune, we can make easy decisions about device management."

The Carlsberg Group, a brewery with more than 31,000 employees, made big strides in their cloud-native journey. Tim Lauridsen, director of Global Digital Workplace, noted that by moving to the cloud, they improved employee experiences and saved time: "Reducing our on-prem footprint has been a game changer. We are able to spend much more time on initiatives that benefit Carlsberg as a business, rather than maintaining IT systems." Read more about how the Carlsberg Group has embraced Intune.  

Intune for macOS is ready for enterprise

In 2024, there have been enhancements and updates that greatly improve the management and security of macOS devices. Here are some highlights:

  • Platform single sign-on (SSO): Intune and the macOS Company Portal app now support Platform SSO, enabling single sign-on for apps and websites that support Microsoft Entra authentication.
  • Universal Print now delivers full support for Mac devices within the Universal Print infrastructure. Users can print from any Mac app using the system print dialog without having to install drivers. This feature is available immediately after enabling it in the Azure Portal.
  • Certificate management: At Microsoft Ignite 2024, it was announced that certificates can now be stored in the user keychain in addition to the device keychain, streamlining certificate management and improving flexibility.
  • Automated Certificate Management Environment (ACME) protocol support for macOS device enrollment and automated device enrollment (ADE) is also enhancing security and helping us prepare to support managed device attestation in Intune. Learn more in this documentation.
  • Remote Help: Intune Remote Help now includes full control support for macOS devices, enhancing remote assistance capabilities.

Intune Suite made great strides

In 2024, we introduced several game-changing product updates to the Intune Suite. In February, Intune added three new solutions redefining endpoint management with advanced security and analytics:

  • Microsoft Intune Advanced Analytics empowers IT teams to optimize endpoint management and enhance the user experience. Rolling out next month, the new multidevice query capability will allow IT to analyze device inventory data across the entire organization, enabling quick identification and resolution of issues affecting multiple devices at once. This builds on the ability to query individual devices using Kusto Query Language (KQL), which gives admins near real-time insights into specific device details and the ability to take remote actions—such as restarting a device, collecting diagnostics, and more—on the results. Intune Advanced Analytics also provides a view into battery health, resource performance, and anomaly detection, which helps IT proactively identify and resolve hardware or configuration issues to enhance user experience.
  • Microsoft Enterprise App Management streamlines the deployment and updating of Microsoft and third-party apps via a prepackaged app catalog. This ensures apps stay secure and compliant without the need for complex manual packaging, which saves time and reduces security risks.
  • Microsoft Cloud PKI, a fully cloud-native solution for certificate management replaces traditional, resource-intensive on-premises PKI systems, allowing organizations to issue certificates quickly and manage their lifecycle seamlessly. With this, admins can enable secure authentication for Wi-Fi, VPNs, and more while adhering to Zero Trust principles.

Other updates include expanded capabilities for Microsoft Intune Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) and enhanced cross-platform capabilities like Remote Help for macOS.

Editor's note 1.8.2025: EPM granular access controls and Azure Virtual Desktop support will be available in the first half of 2025.

"Over 60,000 devices were seamlessly migrated to the cloud within 18 months, achieving high satisfaction across the organization. By integrating Windows 365 and the Intune Suite, we have built a robust, centralized endpoint management solution, empowering our small team of engineers to efficiently manage our entire device ecosystem."

—Peter Rausch, Modern Workplace Engineer, ING Bank

Copilot created new value

Microsoft Intune has been pushing the boundaries of what's possible in endpoint management with Microsoft Security Copilot in Intune. In the future, you'll see Copilot taking advantage of generative AI insights to improve outcomes and automate processes. Today, Copilot assists IT teams in everyday tasks like guiding management policies, analyzing conflicts, helping IT understand individual settings and recommended values, and troubleshooting device issues.

Rolling out early next month, Copilot query assistance for querying multidevice inventory data simplifies the query creation process and makes it easier for IT to access and analyze device data—without the need for deep KQL expertise.

Andrew Zahradka, head of Workplace Compute Technology at National Australia Bank (NAB), summed up the value of using Security Copilot to review millions of security event logs, noting that it "allows our engineers to ask really important questions and get answers, especially within Microsoft Intune." Read more about NAB's use of Intune, Copilot, and more.

Some things never change

While they say change is the only constant, we're focused on holding steadfast to our commitment to our customers and positive change: ongoing enhancements to our products.

Updated Jan 08, 2025
Version 2.0
  • NoNotMe's avatar
    NoNotMe
    Iron Contributor

    Still waiting for Microsoft to allow for unattended Intune Remote Help. It's crazy for customers to purchase expensive third-party options due to Redmond's refusal to enable unattended remote help.

  • Mario_1's avatar
    Mario_1
    Copper Contributor

    Was a great year thanks to the Intune Team ;) Cheers