Designing Intune enrollment for frontline workers: Choosing the right path for real-world devices
By: Shawn Catlin – Senior Product Manager | Microsoft Intune and Sucheta Gawade, Microsoft MVP (Azure & Security / Intune) Practitioner perspective from Sucheta Gawade, Microsoft MVP (Azure & Security / Intune), with deep experience in secure frontline mobility, including regulated healthcare environments. Enrollment methodology is one of the most consequential design decisions teams make for frontline environments. It shapes how devices are used, how identity is handled, how failures are recovered from, and how much friction workers experience before they can do their jobs. Frontline use cases aren’t limited to shared devices. They can span nearly every enrollment type available in Microsoft Intune, including user-assigned, shared, dedicated, kiosk, corporate-owned, BYOD, and zero-touch deployment models. The right choice is often influenced by business need, operational workflow, budget, support model, and security requirements. But it must also account for platform and operating system design. Android, iOS, and iPadOS may offer similar enrollment concepts, but they don’t always behave the same way or support the same management patterns. That distinction matters. A kiosk or dedicated-device model, for example, is intentionally designed for a locked-down, task-focused experience. It manages the device around a specific function, not around a personalized user workspace. In that model, broad app availability, persistent personalization, and user-driven app installation are not the primary management paradigm. Similarly, a shared-device model should not be selected simply because an organization cannot provide a dedicated device to every worker. If identity, app access, compliance, or user context are required, those needs must be part of the enrollment decision from the beginning. There is no copy-and-paste frontline enrollment strategy that works across every industry, business unit, or device scenario. Some frontline devices are shared across shifts and must remain reliable where connectivity, identity, and support are not guaranteed. Others are assigned to supervisors, clinicians, field workers, or shift leads who need persistent access to apps, settings, and data. When enrollment choices are made without accounting for these realities, especially platform differences and OS-level limitations, friction surfaces quickly during pilots and scales painfully during rollout. This article explains how to approach Intune enrollment for frontline devices through a practical, reality-first lens: start with how the device is used, align the management model to the workflow, and then plan how the device will be enrolled, replaced, and reprovisioned at scale. “In a hospital environment, frontline does not mean one type of device or one type of worker. A shared clinical workstation, a nurse’s mobile device, a patient check-in kiosk, a barcode scanner, and a supervisor’s assigned device may all be considered frontline, but they each have very different identity, security, app, and recovery requirements. That is why enrollment decisions have to start with the workflow. Sucheta Gawade Practitioner Enrollment Is a Design Decision, not a Checkbox Enrollment does more than bring a device under management. It defines how the device is expected to work, where the security boundary sits, how identity is applied, and what recovery looks like when something fails in the field. There is no single “best” enrollment model for frontline. There is only the model that best fits how the device is actually used. The right choice depends on whether the device follows a person, a shift, a task, or a business process. It also depends on how much identity matters to the experience, whether apps need to be personalized, whether Conditional Access or compliance is required, and how quickly the device must be replaced or recovered. This is why many problems that look like policy, app, or configuration failures are actually enrollment design problems in disguise. A device can be successfully enrolled and still be poorly designed for the job it needs to do. “A device can be successfully enrolled and still fail the workflow. If a shift worker cannot access the right app quickly, if a shared device retains the wrong user context, or if a replacement device cannot be brought online during a shift, the issue may look like an app or support problem. In reality, it often traces back to an enrollment model that did not match the workflow. Sucheta Gawade Practitioner Separate Two Decisions: Management Model and Provisioning Method Frontline enrollment planning becomes easier when teams separate two related but different decisions. The first decision is the management model. This is the architectural choice. It answers questions such as: Does the device need to represent a specific person? Is the device shared across multiple workers? Is it dedicated to a narrow task or workflow? Does the device require personal apps, persistent settings, or user-specific data? Does the workflow require Conditional Access, compliance, auditability, or individual identity? This decision determines whether the device should be user-associated, shared, dedicated, kiosk-style, personally owned, or corporate-owned with a work profile. The second decision is the provisioning and reprovisioning method. This is the lifecycle choice. It answers questions such as: How will the device get into management the first time? Will it be staged by IT, a depot, a partner, or the site? What happens after a wipe, repair, refresh, or reassignment? Can the device recover without a specific user’s credentials? Will Wi-Fi, certificates, tokens, apps, and policies be available at first boot? Zero-touch, pre-staging, depot workflows, and reprovisioning plans support the selected management model. They should not replace the decision about which model is right for the scenario. Start With How the Device Is Used In the previous article, Migrating Frontline Mobile Devices: Understanding the Reality of Your Estate, we discussed why successful frontline migrations begin with understanding how devices are actually used in the field. That discovery work should now feed directly into enrollment design. The most reliable starting point is not the department, license, or ownership model. It is the device’s behavior in the field. Ask: Does this device follow a person? Does it follow a shift? Does it follow a task? Does it need to know who the user is? Does it need persistent user context? Does it need to be quickly replaced with minimal IT involvement? Does the platform support the experience you expect? The answers help map real-world requirements to the right Intune enrollment approach. Before selecting an enrollment model, organizations should also understand how identity is expected to function on the device. If you have not yet reviewed assigned versus shared identity patterns, see our previous article, Migrating frontline mobile devices: Identity considerations for assigned and shared devices, which explores how user identity, authentication, auditability, and device ownership assumptions can influence frontline management decisions. Decision indicator Usually points toward Validate before choosing One person regularly uses the device and needs persistent apps, settings, approvals, or data User-driven or user-associated enrollment Whether identity and personalization are truly required for the workflow Multiple workers use the same device across shifts and need individual sign-in Shared or device-first enrollment with identity support How sign-in, sign-out, session cleanup, and auditability will work The device performs a narrow, repeatable task Dedicated or kiosk-style enrollment Whether the workflow can operate with a locked-down app set and minimal user choice The device needs corporate control but may allow limited personal use Corporate-owned work profile where supported Whether the OS supports the expected separation between work and personal data The device is personally owned and only work data needs to be protected BYOD / personally owned work profile / user enrollment Whether the workflow can tolerate limited organizational control The device must be replaced quickly with minimal IT involvement Pre-staged, zero-touch, or easily reprovisioned device-first model Reset behavior, network readiness, certificate delivery, and replacement speed The environment has inconsistent connectivity or limited support Simpler enrollment paths with fewer live dependencies What the device needs at first boot, during sign-in, and after wipe or reset Map Frontline Scenarios to Enrollment Models A practical Intune strategy starts by accepting that frontline is not one scenario. It is a collection of scenarios. Standardization is important, but standardizing on one enrollment method for every frontline use case is rarely the right goal. Mature organizations standardize the decision framework, not necessarily the deployment model. Device usage pattern Typical characteristics iOS/iPadOS enrollment Android enrollment User-assigned device One person regularly uses the device and needs personalized apps, settings, and data Automated Device Enrollment with user affinity Android Enterprise Fully Managed or Corporate-Owned Work Profile if personal use is permitted Shared device with individual sign-in Multiple workers share the device and sign in with their own identities Automated Device Enrollment with Microsoft Entra Shared Device Mode; Shared iPad when multi-user iPad support is required Android Enterprise Dedicated Device with Microsoft Entra Shared Device Mode Dedicated or task-based device Device performs a specific function and does not require a personalized user experience Automated Device Enrollment without user affinity, with supervised device and app restrictions Android Enterprise Dedicated Device Android device without Google Mobile Services Corporate-owned specialty device, often shared or task-focused Not applicable Android AOSP userless or AOSP user-associated enrollment Personally owned device Employee-owned device used for work BYOD User Enrollment Android Enterprise Personally Owned Work Profile Zero-touch or pre-staged deployment Corporate-owned device that needs scalable provisioning or replacement Automated Device Enrollment through Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager Android Zero-touch Enrollment, Samsung Knox Mobile Enrollment, or equivalent supported provisioning path If the device follows a person, choose a model optimized for identity and personalized access. If the device follows a shift, workflow, or task, choose a model optimized for simplicity, consistency, and easy replacement. If you’re looking for more platform-specific guidance please see frontline enrollment resources for both Android and iOS/iPadOS: Get started with Android frontline worker devices Get started with iOS/iPadOS frontline worker devices These resources provide detailed implementation guidance, recommended enrollment approaches, and platform-specific considerations for frontline deployments. Platform and OS Differences Matter Teams often assume that similar enrollment concepts behave the same way across platforms. They do not. On Android, a shared frontline device that needs a locked-down experience and individual worker sign-in often maps to Android Enterprise Dedicated Device with Microsoft Entra Shared Device Mode. Android Enterprise Dedicated Device provides the task-focused management model. Entra Shared Device Mode adds the identity layer so workers can sign in as themselves. Intune Managed Home Screen then helps present a consistent launcher experience and enforce the sign-in flow between shifts. On iPadOS, a shared device with individual sign-in may be designed using Shared iPad for Business or Automated Device Enrollment with Microsoft Entra Shared Device Mode. The distinction becomes important when security requirements are involved. Shared iPad can support multi-user scenarios, but organizations should review its limitations carefully, especially if Conditional Access or device compliance enforcement is required. Where Conditional Access, compliance, and security-driven access controls are mandatory, ADE with Entra Shared Device Mode may be the better fit, although it introduces additional configuration considerations and dependency on compatible apps. See Shared iOS and iPadOS devices for more information. Platform differences also matter for corporate-owned devices that allow personal use. Android Corporate-Owned Work Profile provides a native work profile boundary between corporate and personal data. iOS and iPadOS do not provide that same OS-level separation for corporate-owned personally enabled devices, so organizations often rely more heavily on app-level controls and MAM policies. The practical point is simple: choose the enrollment model that fits the workflow, but confirm that the platform supports the management pattern you expect. “One of the most common mistakes I have seen is designing for the cleanest administrative model instead of the messiest operational reality. In FLW cases, the real test is not whether the device enrolls successfully on day one. It is whether the device can keep supporting the workflow after shift changes, network changes, app issues, wipes, repairs, and urgent replacements. Sucheta Gawade Practitioner When User-Driven Enrollment Makes Sense User-driven enrollment still has a place in frontline, but the use cases are narrower than many teams expect. It makes sense when the device needs to reflect a specific person, not just a task. This can work well for shift managers, supervisors, clinicians, field workers, or frontline leads who need persistent access to apps, approvals, notifications, data, and settings. In these cases, user-driven or user-associated enrollment can provide cleaner app targeting, stronger identity context, and a more familiar experience for the person carrying the device. Common indicators include: The worker keeps the device for most of its working life. The user needs email, Teams, approvals, or real-time app badges. The workflow depends on user-specific apps, settings, or data. The device may support some personal enablement where the platform supports separation. The worker is responsible for keeping the device available, charged, and ready for use. But personalization comes with operational cost. User-driven enrollment increases dependency on credentials, adds friction when sign-in steps fail, and makes recovery more complex when a device must be replaced quickly. It is usually a poor fit for shared workflows, high-turnover roles, or task-based devices where speed and predictability matter more than personalization. Designing for Shared and Shift-Based Devices Shared and shift-based devices are passed from one worker to the next. They are expected to stay productive across handoffs and often operate in environments where there is little time for sign-in friction or troubleshooting. For these scenarios, device-first enrollment usually aligns better with reality because the device is treated as a managed tool for a shared workflow, not as a personal endpoint tied to one individual. The goal is consistency: the next worker should be able to pick up the device, authenticate if required, and get to work without recovering from leftover state or complex setup steps. If shared devices require individual sign-in, identity must be designed into the enrollment model. Microsoft Entra Shared Device Mode and QR code authentication can help preserve individual identity without forcing workers through a full username and password flow at every handoff. This is especially relevant in environments such as retail, healthcare, warehousing, and field operations where shared devices still need auditability, Conditional Access, app access, or user-specific sessions. Shared-device success does not come from default settings alone. Teams should define: How sign-in and sign-out should work. What user context should persist. What should be cleared between sessions. Which apps need to support shared-device behavior. How quickly a device can be swapped or reprovisioned. Whether access depends on the user, the device, the app session, or a combination. “Especially in healthcare and clinical settings, shared devices have to be absolutely ready for the next worker, the next patient, and the next task. There is rarely time for complex recovery steps, unclear ownership, or leftover user state from the previous shift. A good shared-device design should support quick handoff, clean session behavior, and predictable recovery under pressure. Sucheta Gawade Practitioner Dedicated and Kiosk Devices: Avoid Personalization Drift Dedicated and kiosk-style enrollment is ideal when the device performs a narrow, repeatable function and individual identity is secondary or unnecessary. Examples include scanners, point-of-sale systems, check-in kiosks, digital signage, inventory devices, and task-specific handhelds. The strength of kiosk-style design is that it limits choice. That is also the boundary teams must respect. A kiosk is not intended to behave like a general-purpose device where users browse a catalog of available apps, personalize settings, or install what their business unit needs on demand. A common friction point occurs when organizations try to simplify IT support with one shared kiosk configuration for multiple businesses or personas, and then expect users to install the apps they need. That creates a mismatch. User-installed available apps are not the kiosk paradigm. If each business unit needs a different set of apps, the better design is usually to do the work upfront: segment the device scenarios, define the required app sets, and deploy the right configuration to the right devices. This is also important for identity and certificates. User certificates, persistent user sessions, and shared secrets can conflict with the assumptions of a device-first or kiosk model. If the workflow requires user identity, auditability, or user-specific access, that requirement should be addressed through the right shared-device identity pattern, not bolted onto a kiosk design after the fact. Enrollment at Scale: Plan for Provisioning and Replacement Once the right management model is selected, teams should plan how devices will be enrolled and reprovisioned at scale. At scale, enrollment becomes a lifecycle capability. The question is not only how a device gets into management the first time. Instead, it is how quickly that same device can be staged, replaced, wiped, repaired, reassigned, or reintroduced into service. Some organizations ship devices directly to frontline locations and complete setup during out-of-box experience. Others rely on depot, partner, or white-glove processes to front-load setup before the device reaches the site. Neither model is automatically better. The right choice depends on network readiness, site support, variability at first boot, app dependencies, certificate delivery, and replacement expectations. Replacement velocity is a real design constraint. In many frontline settings, a broken device cannot wait for a full troubleshooting cycle. A worker may need to drop one device at a charging bay and pick up another with minimal disruption. The more the enrollment and reprovisioning model supports a known-good state, the less productivity depends on one specific device surviving the shift. Common Friction Points in Frontline Enrollment Frontline enrollment problems are rarely caused by one dramatic failure. More often, they come from reasonable decisions made in the wrong order or optimized for the wrong thing. Friction point Why it happens Better design approach Treating frontline as only shared The organization assumes all frontline workers use devices the same way Segment by workflow: person, shift, task, or business process Choosing shared because dedicated devices are too expensive Budget drives the model before identity and workflow are understood Validate identity, app, compliance, and recovery needs before choosing shared Using kiosk for personalized workflows Kiosk seems simple and locked down Use kiosk only when the workflow is task-focused and does not require broad personalization Wanting available apps on kiosk devices One configuration is used for too many personas Build scenario-specific app sets and configurations instead of relying on user installation Using shared credentials Enrollment was not designed for individual identity Use Entra Shared Device Mode, QR code authentication, or another supported identity pattern Requiring user certificates on device-first or kiosk scenarios Security assumptions are copied from knowledge-worker designs Validate whether access can be controlled through device, app, or session design Over-securing setup at the expense of recovery Controls are designed for ideal conditions, not shift pressure Design security that holds up during replacement, poor connectivity, and limited support Treating enrollment as a one-time event Success is measured by initial provisioning only Design for wipe, repair, reassignment, refresh, and reprovisioning A deployment path that saves time on day one can create years of friction if it does not match how the device is used. In frontline scenarios, the best enrollment model is not always the fastest one to provision. It is the one that is easiest to sustain. “One of the most common mistakes I have seen is designing for the cleanest administrative model instead of the messiest operational reality. In FLW cases, the real test is not whether the device enrolls successfully on day one. It is whether the device can keep supporting the workflow after shift changes, network changes, app issues, wipes, repairs, and urgent replacements. Sucheta Gawade Practitioner Closing Successful frontline deployments are rarely defined by the sophistication of their policies alone. They are defined by how well design choices hold up under real-world pressure. Enrollment is one of the earliest and most visible signals to frontline teams about whether the technology is there to support their work or get in the way. By treating enrollment as a deliberate design decision and grounding it in how devices are actually used, organizations can reduce friction, improve resilience, and create a foundation that scales as frontline operations evolve. Getting enrollment right does not guarantee success, but getting it wrong sets a ceiling that no amount of policy refinement can overcome. For more frontline examples and implementation guidance, see related Microsoft frontline worker management resources, including the blog, From the frontlines: Frontline worker management with Microsoft Intune, and the earlier article, Migrating Frontline Mobile Devices: Understanding the Reality of Your Estate. “When enrollment, identity, security, and recovery are designed well, frontline teams can stay focused on the people they serve - customers, patients, guests, employees, students, and communities - instead of the device in their hands. That is the standard a frontline enrollment strategy should be measured against. Sucheta Gawade Practitioner As always, we welcome your feedback and experience. If you’ve navigated identity decisions for shared or frontline devices, share your advice and lessons learned in the comments, or reach out to us on X @IntuneSuppTeam.Unpacking Endpoint Management is back - and we’ve got a lot to talk about
If you've been missing real, candid conversations about endpoint management, good news! Unpacking Endpoint Management is officially back. This series is all about what actually works. No fluff, just practical tips, proven strategies, and honest discussions to help you optimize and simplify the way you manage and secure endpoints today (and prepare for what's next). We're bringing together people from across Microsoft Intune, Security, and Customer Experience engineering and product teams, along with guest practitioners, to share what's worked, what hasn't, and what we've learned along the way. And yes…we're absolutely here for the tough questions. A quick update on the hosts Danny Guillory, a familiar face to the community and a Product Manager for Intune and Configuration Manager, will continue to host the series. He's joined this season by Rachelle Blanchard as co‑host, bringing a strong community and discovery lens to the series. Rachelle focuses on surfacing real customer questions and guiding conversations toward practical outcomes, helping ensure each episode reflects how endpoint management works in the real world. Up next What should we cover? Drop ideas below in the comments. Sign in to the Tech Community and follow this post for the latest updates on upcoming episodes. Catch up on demand You may have missed them, but you don't have to miss out on the learnings. Watch and learn when it's convenient for you. Policy: from hybrid to cloud-native Device security with Microsoft Intune Trends in endpoint management (live from Tech Takeoff 2026) Not sure where to start? Watch our most recent episode, App management at scale with Intune, now on demand! What's the format? This web series is streamed live on Tech Community, LinkedIn, YouTube, and X. In addition to open discussion, we answer your questions so sign in (or sign up for) the Tech Community and RSVP to submit questions early and throughout the live show. How do I join? There's no call or meeting to join. Simply head to aka.ms/JoinUEM. Show up at start time, watch live, and jump into the discussion with us. Help shape the series This series is for you - so tell us what you want to hear. Drop a comment below with: Topics you'd like us to cover Tough questions you want answered Speakers you'd love to hear from We can't wait to get started - and even more excited to hear from you along the way. Join the Community to get early insight into what's coming for Intune, connect with experts, and share real-world feedback that helps shape the product. 👉 aka.ms/JoinIntuneCommunitySupport tip: Troubleshoot device cap reached when enrolling devices into Microsoft Intune
By: Premkumar N – Security Customer Experience Engineer | Microsoft Intune When Microsoft Entra or Intune device limits are reached, users will encounter an error when enrolling their device into Intune. While it can be difficult to understand the reason for the failure from the error message, this blog will explain the differences between Microsoft Entra device registration limit and the Intune device enrollment limit, along with the steps to resolve these issues. For an overview of Microsoft Entra and Intune device limit scenarios refer to: Understand Intune and Microsoft Entra device limit restrictions. Let’s look at the experiences on different platforms, followed by the resolution steps. Android Intune device limit reached When the Intune device limit is reached, an Android device enrollment will fail with the following error: To diagnose the issue, review the Intune Company Portal logs for the affected device. Capturing Company Portal logs: Users can select "Email Support" from the error screen to send the logs via email or Send logs from Company Portal. If the Company Portal logs display the “Device Cap Reached” error as shown in the example logs below, this indicates that the Intune device limit has been reached. 2025-07-16T15:07:39.8410000 VERB o.zzafi 13923 6035 sending event: EnrollmentFailureEvent( networkState=CONNECTED, enrollmentFlowType=Enrollment, enrollmentType=AfwProfileOwner, failureName=DeviceEnrollmentFailure, errorException=com.microsoft.windowsintune.companyportal.exceptions.EnrollmentException: Server error = <s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/2003/05/soap-envelope" xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/2005/08/addressing"> <s:Body> <s:Fault> <s:Code> <s:Value>s:Receiver</s:Value> <s:Subcode> <s:Value>s:Authorization</s:Value> </s:Subcode> </s:Code> <s:Reason> <s:Text xml:lang="en-US">Device Cap Reached</s:Text> </s:Reason> <s:Detail> <DeviceEnrollmentServiceError xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windows/pki/2009/01/enrollment"> <ErrorType>DeviceCapReached</ErrorType> <Message>Device Cap Reached</Message> <TraceId>xxx</TraceId> </DeviceEnrollmentServiceError> </s:Detail> </s:Fault> </s:Body> </s:Envelope>, errorMessage=, sessionGuid=xxx ) By default, Intune allows a maximum of 15 devices per user; exceeding this limit logs an error in the Company Portal. To address this issue, either remove inactive devices that have not checked in to Intune within a specified timeframe, or increase the device limit (up to 15) in the Intune settings. To remove stale devices: Navigate to the Microsoft Intune admin center > Devices > All Devices. Search using the affected user's UPN to view all enrolled devices. Remove any devices no longer in use. To increase the device limit: Navigate to the Microsoft Intune admin center > Devices > Enrollment > Device Limit Restrictions. Select the policy, go to Properties, then edit Device Limit, and adjust the limit (maximum 15). Note: If the Intune device limit is reached, errors are logged in the Microsoft Intune admin center under Devices > Monitor > Enrollment failures. Microsoft Entra device limit reached For Android, users will see the same error message when Microsoft Entra device limit has been reached. You can confirm the Microsoft Entra device limit has been reached by checking the Company Portal logs for the following error: com.microsoft.identity.broker4j.workplacejoin.exception.DrsErrorResponseException: { "code": "invalid_request", "subcode": "error_directory_quota_exceeded", "message": "User 'xxx' is not eligible to enroll a device of type 'Android'. Reason 'DeviceCapReached'.", "operation": "DeviceJoin", "requestid": "xxx", "time": "xxx" } Similar to the Intune device limit reached, to resolve this issue either increase the device limit in Microsoft Entra for Microsoft Entra registration or remove any stale devices associated with the user in the Microsoft Entra admin center. Stale devices are those that are no longer active and can be removed when they haven’t checked in for a specified period. One cause of stale devices is deleting or retiring an Intune device, which may leave behind a record in Microsoft Entra and contribute to reaching the Microsoft Entra device registration limit. To remove stale devices: Go to the Microsoft Entra admin center. Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID > Users. Search for the user using their UPN. Select Devices. This displays a list of registered devices for the user. Devices that are no longer in use can be removed. To increase the device limit for Microsoft Entra registration: Go to the Microsoft Entra admin center. Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID > Devices. Select Device Settings. Locate Maximum number of Devices Per User. Adjust the device limit as needed. iOS Intune device limit reached For iOS, device enrollment may fail with the following error if the device limit has been reached. To check the issue, select 'Report and Email logs' to collect Company Portal logs. If the logs show the below error, it confirms the Intune device limit has been reached. 2025-07-18 12:38:33.427 | utility | 31673 | AlertManager.swift:37 (push(alert:grouping:)) Pushing alert with: grouping = 0 title = Couldn't add your device. message = You have reached the limit of devices you can register. Please contact your company support to increase this number, or review and remove devices that are already registered with this account. into the AlertManager The resolution is the same as Android, refer to the earlier steps for Intune device limit reached on Android. Microsoft Entra device limit reached On iOS devices, Intune enrollment may successfully complete; however, device registration may still result in an error as shown below in the Company Portal app. To collect Intune Company Portal logs, select More > Send logs > Email Logs. When you see the following error message in the Company Portal logs: iOSunderlyingErrorMessage: { "ErrorType": "AuthorizationError", "Message": "User '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000' is not eligible to enroll a device of type 'Ios'. Reason 'DeviceCapReached'.", "TraceId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000", "Time": "2025-07-16 14:07:23Z" } To resolve, use the same steps as Android when Microsoft Entra device limit is reached. macOS Intune device limit reached For macOS, device enrollment will fail with the following error when the Intune device limit has been reached. To identify the issue, collect the Company Portal logs by selecting 'Report' and then email the logs. In the logs, when you see the following error, this confirms the Intune device limit has been reached. 2025-07-25 07:39:23.731 | utility | 14262 | AlertManager.swift:37 (push(alert:grouping:)) Pushing alert with: grouping = 0 title = Couldn't add your device. message = You have reached the limit of devices you can register. Please contact your company support to increase this number, or review and remove devices that are already registered with this account. into the AlertManager To resolve, use the same steps as Android when Intune device limit is reached. Microsoft Entra device limit reached For macOS when enrolling into Intune, if the Microsoft Entra device limit has been reached, you’ll notice the following error: In the Company Portal logs, when you see the following error, this confirms the Microsoft Entra device limit has been reached. Description: { "ErrorType": "AuthorizationError", "Message": "User '00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000' is not eligible to enroll a device of type 'Mac'. Reason 'DeviceCapReached'.", "TraceId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000", "Time": "2025-05-27 05:24:52Z" } To resolve, use the same steps as Android when Microsoft Entra device limit is reached. Windows Intune device limit reached For Windows devices, enrollment will fail with the following error when Intune device limit has been reached: When you see this error, you can check the logs in the event viewer in this path: Source: Microsoft-Windows-DeviceManagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider/Admin Event ID: 71 MDM Enroll: Failed to receive or parse certificate enroll response. Result: The account has too many devices enrolled to Mobile Device Management (MDM). Delete or unenroll old devices to fix this error. To resolve, use the same steps as Android when Intune device limit is reached. Microsoft Entra device limit reached For Windows, when the Microsoft Entra device limit has been reached, you’ll notice the following error during Intune enrollment: When you see this error, you can check the logs in the event viewer in this path: Windows Device Source: Microsoft-Windows-User Device Registration/Admin Event ID: 304 The get join response operation callback failed with: exit code: Unknown HResult Error code: 0x801c000e Activity Id: a0a15e15-631a-46ab-b0a4-2f540778df7d The server returned: HTTP status: 400 Server response: { "code": "invalid_request", "subcode": "error_directory_quota_exceeded", "message": "User '8b000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000' is not eligible to enroll a device of type 'Windows'. Reason 'DeviceCapReached'.", "operation": "DeviceJoin", "requestid": "a0000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000", "time": "2025-05-30 15:33:09Z" } This is the result of the Microsoft Entra device limit reached for the user for Windows platform. To resolve, use the same steps as Android when Microsoft Entra device limit is reached. Device limit reached – Windows Autopilot hybrid join scenario The Microsoft Entra device limit reached error will also occur when changing the primary user in Intune for Windows Autopilot Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices). In the Autopilot hybrid join scenario there will be two device records in Azure. The Microsoft Entra hybrid join record, and the standard Microsoft Entra join record. Changing the primary user only updates the hybrid joined record in Microsoft Entra, leaving the original user as the owner of the Microsoft Entra join record. The owner entries on the Microsoft Entra join record will impact the device registration limit. Rather than removing the Microsoft Entra join device, which deletes its join state and is not a recommended approach, remove the registered owner on that record. Note: Deploying new devices as Microsoft Entra hybrid join devices isn’t recommended, for more details refer to Microsoft Entra joined vs. Microsoft Entra hybrid joined in cloud-native endpoints: Which option is right for your organization. The following image shows the device state after the Microsoft Entra hybrid joined deployment is completed. User1 enrolled a Microsoft Entra hybrid join device with Intune and Windows Autopilot and the registered user for both the records is ‘user1’. After changing the primary user in Intune to user2, only the Microsoft Entra hybrid joined record is updated for user2. The Microsoft Entra device registration usage for user1 remains unchanged for the Microsoft Entra joined record, both before and after modifying the primary user of the Intune device. This counts toward the Microsoft Entra registration limit for user1. Resolution Before proceeding with the resolution steps for this scenario, it’s important to note the difference between a registered owner and a registered user: Registered owner: A registered owner is the user that cloud joined the device or registered their personal device. The registered owner is set at the time of registration. Registered user: For cloud joined devices and registered personal devices, registered users are set to the same value as registered owners at the time of registration. Remove the registered owner This action can be done using PowerShell and Graph Explorer. Step 1. Check the user's device count in Microsoft Entra ID using Graph Explorer or PowerShell. PowerShell: This query lists the registered devices for the user. Install-Module Microsoft.graph Connect-MGgraph Get-MgUserRegisteredDevice -UserId <userID> Get-MgUserRegisteredOwner -UserId <userId> Sample from PowerShell: Graph Explorer queries: Owned devices for the user GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user-id}/OwnedDevices Registered device for the user GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{user-id}/registeredDevices Sample Graph Explorer output: Only the "ID" in the output is needed to remove the device in next step. { "@odata.context": "******", "@microsoft.graph.tips": "******", "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-00000000", "deletedDateTime": null, "accountEnabled": true, "approximateLastSignInDateTime": "******", "complianceExpirationDateTime": null, "createdDateTime": "******", "deviceCategory": null, "deviceId": "******", "deviceMetadata": null, "deviceOwnership": "Company", "deviceVersion": 2, "displayName": "******", "domainName": null, "enrollmentProfileName": null, "enrollmentType": "AzureDomainJoined", "externalSourceName": null, "isCompliant": false, "isManaged": true, "isRooted": false, "managementType": "MDM", "manufacturer": "******", "mdmAppId": "******", "model": "******", "onPremisesLastSyncDateTime": null, "onPremisesSyncEnabled": null, "operatingSystem": "******", "operatingSystemVersion": "******", "physicalIds": [ "******", "******", "******", "******" ], "profileType": "RegisteredDevice" } Step 2. After confirming the user association for the device, remove both the registered owner and user for the Microsoft Entra joined device record to clear the user count toward the pre-defined limit. Graph API query: Replace the 'deviceid' in the following query with the 'id' from the Graph Explorer output from the previous step. Delete Registered Owner DELETE https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/devices/{deviceid}/registeredowners/{user-id}/$ref Delete Registered User DELETE https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/devices/{deviceid}/registeredusers/{user-id}/$ref This can also be done with PowerShell as below. PowerShell commands In the below commands DeviceID = Microsoft Entra Device ID/ObjectID. It’s important to remove both the registered owner and registered user for the device. Remove registered owner: Remove-mgdeviceregisteredownerDirectoryObjectByRef –DeviceId <DeviceID> -DirectoryObjectId <userID> Sample PowerShell output: Remove registered user: Remove-mgdeviceregistereduserDirectoryObjectByRef –DeviceId <DeviceID> -DirectoryObjectId <userID> Sample PowerShell output: PowerShell or Graph Explorer can also be used to delete the device in other scenarios such as Intune device deletion and Microsoft Entra device ID deletion. Summary Device enrollment can fail when either Intune or Microsoft Entra device limits are reached. These errors can be confusing, however, understanding the difference between Microsoft Entra device registration limits and Intune device enrollment limits makes it easier to sort out and resolve the issue. These issues commonly stem from stale device records, or changing the primary user of a Microsoft Entra hybrid joined device. Resolving them involves removing inactive devices or adjusting device limit policies in the appropriate service. As a best practice, avoid changing the primary user of the Microsoft Entra hybrid joined device and deploy the Windows Autopilot device to new users with a fresh start. Additional information on this topic can be found in the Microsoft Learn docs below: Device limit - Understand Intune and Microsoft Entra device limit restrictions List RegisteredDevices for user - List registeredDevices - Microsoft Graph v1.0 ListOwnedDevices for user - List ownedDevices - Microsoft Graph v1.0 Remove the registered owners for the device - Delete registeredOwners - Microsoft Graph v1.0 Remove the registered user for the device - List registeredUsers - Microsoft Graph v1.0 If you have any questions, leave a comment below or reach out to us on X @IntuneSuppTeam.Understanding Apple enrollment methods in Microsoft Intune
By: Rishita Sarin – Product Manager | Microsoft Intune Microsoft Intune, together with Microsoft Entra ID, facilitates a secure, streamlined process for registering and enrolling devices to access your organization’s resources. Once users and devices are registered within your Microsoft Entra ID (also called a tenant), then you can utilize Intune for its endpoint management capabilities. The process that enables device management for a device is called device enrollment. During enrollment, Intune installs a mobile device management (MDM) certificate on the enrolling device. The MDM certificate communicates with the Intune service, and enables Intune to start enforcing your organization's policies, like: Enrollment policies that limit the number or type of devices someone can enroll. Compliance policies that help users and devices meet your organization’s requirements. Configuration profiles that configure work-appropriate features and settings on devices. This blog aims to provide an overview of Microsoft Intune’s enrollment methods for Apple devices to help you make informed decisions about device management. Enrollment methods Personal owned devices (BYOD) To get started with enrolling personally owned devices navigate to the Intune admin center, Devices > Enrollment > Apple > Enrollment types > Create. Apple’s name since 2019 Intune’s name When to use it Profile-based Device Enrollment (Previously known as User Enrollment) Device enrollment with Company Portal Secures entire personal device. Supports app takeover. Web enrollment Secures entire personal device. Supports app takeover. We recommend enabling web-based enrollment for devices running iOS/iPadOS 15 and later because it doesn't require employees and students to install the Company Portal app. Post-enrollment functionality remains the same as with app-based enrollment. Profile-based User Enrollment (Support ended in 2024) User enrollment with Company Portal (Support ended in 2024) Do not use this (Support ended in 2024) Account-driven User Enrollment Account-driven user enrollment Secures only work-related apps on a personal device. No support for app takeover. Account-driven Device Enrollment Not supported Not supported N/A Determine based on user choice Gives users the option to select if they want to secure their entire device or only work-related apps. Corporate owned devices Devices > Enrollment > Apple > Enrollment program tokens > select a token > Enrollment policies > Create Apple’s name since 2019 Intune’s name When to use it Automated Device Enrollment (ADE) (Previously known as Device Enrollment Program (DEP)) Automated Device Enrollment (ADE) for iOS/iPadOS Automated Device Enrollment (ADE) for macOS Secures entire corporate device. Enroll with User Affinity: Select this option for devices that belong to users who want to use the Company Portal for services like installing apps. Enroll without User Affinity: Select this option for devices that aren't affiliated with a single user. Use this option for devices that don't access local user data. This option is typically used for kiosk, point of sale (POS), or shared-utility devices. Enroll with Microsoft Entra ID shared mode (only iOS/iPadOS): Select this option to enroll devices that will be in shared mode. 💡 Tip: If you’re enrolling Apple devices for frontline worker scenarios, make sure to check out this detailed guide: Get started with iOS/iPadOS frontline worker devices. Improvements Based on customer feedback, Intune introduced a faster and more intuitive version of device enrollment with the Intune Company Portal called web enrollment in 2023. Web enrollment retains all the benefits of device enrollment with added benefits of reduced latency and without requiring installation of the Company Portal app. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of web enrollment for a faster and more efficient enrollment process for your users. Additionally, turning on just-in-time (JIT) registration and compliance remediation (automatically set up as part of JIT registration setup) for all iOS/iPadOS enrollments can significantly improve the registration and compliance remediation experience. By bringing the enrollment experience to where the user is, we help them get productive faster and ensure a smoother transition. This applies to both iOS/iPadOS bring-your-own-device (BYOD) web enrollment and corporate Automated Device Enrollment (ADE), specifically for Setup Assistant with modern authentication within ADE. For more information on JIT registration and compliance remediation, check out this blog post: Use JIT registration and JIT compliance remediation for all your iOS/iPadOS enrollments. As a result of recent enhancements to our enrollment workflows, the Company Portal app is no longer required for some enrollment methods. However, we recognize the use cases for the Company Portal go beyond enrollment, and we’ll continue to support and invest in improvements for the app. One example of upcoming improvements to the Company Portal is the addition of the user-less app catalog. This enhancement opens the doors for future frontline worker (FLW) scenarios, allowing for more flexible and efficient device management without the need for user-specific configurations. Stay tuned to What’s new in Intune for the release and more! If you have any questions or want to share how you’re using Apple enrollment across your organization in Intune, leave a comment below or reach out to us on X @IntuneSuppTeam or @MSIntune. You can also connect with us on LinkedIn: aka.ms/IntuneLinked.New policy implementation and web enrollment for Android personally owned work profile is now GA
We’re happy to announce two improvements for the management of Android personally owned work profile devices with Microsoft Intune, which is now generally available! A new implementation for how Intune delivers policies to devices. Web based enrollment. These updates modernize how Microsoft Intune manages devices and improves the enrollment flow. As of June 18, you will need to take action to opt in to the new implementation. This change will become required later in 2026, and we’ll continue to update this blog as rollout details become available. Keep reading to understand what’s changing, actions, and timelines you need to know. What’s changing New implementation We’re finalizing our work on moving the Android personally owned work profile implementation to the latest and greatest available – Google’s Android Management API (AMAPI). It has been almost a decade since Intune released support for Android personally owned work profile management. At that time, we accomplished this by building a custom device policy controller (DPC), in the form of the Intune Company Portal app. A lot has changed since then. Google released AMAPI and its companion app, Android Device Policy, which enforces AMAPI policy on devices. This is now Google’s recommended implementation, which we used to deliver the three corporate Android Enterprise management methods: corporate owned work profile, fully managed, and dedicated. Google no longer recommends use of custom DPCs and they’re deprecating associated functionality. The benefits of moving personally owned work profile management to AMAPI include: Faster release of new features across all four Android Enterprise management options. Consistent behaviors across all four Android Enterprise management options. The Microsoft Intune app will replace the Company Portal app as the user app (to manage devices, contact their IT department, collect logs, and more), providing an updated user experience and aligning it with the corporate Android Enterprise management options. Enables Intune to support the latest Android platform management capabilities, which are unavailable with custom DPC implementations. Web based enrollment The move to AMAPI also enables us to build a web-based enrollment flow for personally owned work profile devices, similar to web based device enrollment for iOS. The benefits of this include: Users don’t need to manually install an app to start Intune enrollment since they can start enrollment from a webpage instead. Users can access enrollment from any of the three different entry points which all launch the same webpage: Productivity apps - when admin has configured conditional access so that the user is required to enroll before accessing corporate resources (recommended) The Company Portal app This gives you more options for how to guide your users to get set up. A URL Android enrollment is more consistent with the iOS web-based enrollment flow. How to configure and monitor Web based enrollment As of June, 18th 2026 - A new setting is now available that lets you switch your tenant to the new web-based enrollment experience for all future personally owned work profile enrollments. We recommend that you configure this in a test tenant first, try out and document the user flow, and prepare your helpdesks accordingly before opting in on your main tenant. Once you opt in, there isn’t an option to opt out. Planned for Q4 2026, Intune will automatically configure all personally owned work profile enrollments across all tenants to be web enrollments. New implementation A new configuration policy allows you to migrate device groups to the new implementation. As a best practice, we encourage admins to evaluate migrating a smaller device set before migrating all devices. Before moving devices to the new implementation, you may want to email users or configure custom notifications to inform them of what to expect. Planned for Q4 2026, Intune will automatically migrate all remaining devices using the custom DPC implementation over to the new AMAPI implementation. Monitoring There is a new report that shows how many personally owned work profile devices are in each of the following states: On AMAPI Not targeted to move to AMAPI Targeted to move and pending completion (since it may roll out over some time) Attempted to move and hit an error (and why) How this will affect your users Web based enrollment After you opt in to web based enrollment or later after it’s changed to the default, all personally-owned devices (on all Android OS versions) will enroll with the web based flow. These devices will be managed with AMAPI. After enrollment, Intune will install a few apps automatically to ensure streamlined management. Microsoft Intune: User-facing app to manage devices, contact the IT department, collect diagnostic logs, and more. Company Portal: For mobile app management (MAM). Android Device Policy: To enforce AMAPI policies. This app is installed in a “hidden” state, so users won't see it in their app list. Microsoft Authenticator: To provide single sign on for users’ work account. Below is an example of the web based enrollment flow that a user would see if they needed to set a PIN on their device to meet admin requirements. New implementation When a device is moved to the new implementation (either through admin configuration or the later automatic move), devices won’t unenroll and users won’t lose access to corporate resources. Moving enrolled devices to the new implementation will be supported on any device running supported Android OS versions for user-based management methods at that time. The changes on the device will be: The Microsoft Intune app will install, and it will be the app for users to interact with instead the Company Portal. Users will not see a notification about this app installing. The Android Device Policy app will install to enforce policies. Users will not see a notification about this app installing and it will be in a “hidden” state on their device. If a device connected to corporate Wi-Fi with username and password authentication, when they move to AMAPI, they will lose access to corporate Wi-Fi until they sign in to the corporate Wi-Fi again. To avoid any potential disruption, we encourage you to move to certificate Wi-Fi authentication instead (as mentioned below). Timeline 2025: Use this time to revise any relevant policy configurations, update your internal documentation, and prepare your helpdesk teams, as advised below. June, 18th 2026: Enrollment: You’ll be able to opt in for all enrollments of personally owned work profile devices to be web based enrollments on AMAPI. New implementation: You’ll be able to set a configuration policy to migrate groups of previously enrolled devices over to AMAPI. Planned for Q4 2026: Enrollment: All enrollments (regardless of past configuration) will be web enrollments for devices running all Android OS versions. New implementation: All devices still on the custom DPC implementation and running supported Android OS versions for user-based management methods at that time will be automatically moved over to AMAPI. You will receive advanced notice of when these changes will be applying to your tenant. How to prepare We recommend you make these changes to prepare for the upcoming release and provide the most streamlined experience for users. Passkey support: If you have passkeys configured as the only accepted authentication method, users won't be able to enroll with the new web based enrollment flow. This is a known limitation, and we'll add passkey support before web based enrollment becomes the default for all personally owned work profile enrollments across all tenants - planned for Q4 2026. Important: Web-based enrollment doesn't support passkeys yet. If passkeys are your only allowed authentication method, enrollment will fail. Don't opt in to web-based enrollment until we announce passkey support for this flow. Replace custom policies: Intune ended support for custom configuration polices for personally owned work profile devices in April 2025. Custom policies are not supported in the new implementation. Replace all custom policies with equivalent policies using this setting mapping. Certificate authentication for Wi-Fi: If you’re using username and password authentication for Wi-Fi policies, we strongly encourage you to move to certificate authentication instead. Devices that are connected to corporate Wi-Fi with username and password authentication will lose access to corporate Wi-Fi when they are moved to AMAPI until the user signs into the corporate Wi-Fi network again. Devices using certificate authentication for Wi-Fi won’t lose access, and it’s also a more secure authentication method. Evaluate biometric configuration: Devices on the new implementation won't apply policies that prevent users from using face, fingerprint, iris, or trust agents to unlock their device. However, policies that prevent this at the work profile level are still supported. If you have this configured at the device level, consider blocking at the work profile level to protect work resources in an equivalent way. Note that for users who have turned on the setting to use one lock (unified password for the device and work profiles), then biometric settings configured for the work profile will apply to the device instead, since there isn't a separate work profile unlock. Review enrollment restrictions: In enrollment restrictions (also referred to as device platform restrictions) the “Android Enterprise (work profile)” restriction for personally owned work profile devices has a setting to Allow or Block “Personally owned” devices. This configuration will not apply to devices on AMAPI and the setting will be removed from the Intune admin center when all devices are moved to AMAPI. As communicated in the Intune Android 12 blog, this setting does not work reliably on devices running Android 12 and later. Conceptually, personally owned work profile management is meant for personal devices, so blocking personal devices from enrolling and only allowing corporate devices isn’t recommended. If you currently have the “Personally owned” setting set to Block for personal work profile devices, you should plan an alternate way for blocking these devices. Options include using a corporate management method instead (such as corporate owned work profile) or configuring the personal work profile enrollment restriction to block enrollments for all users except for users in a specified group. Update Android OS: Intune currently supports Android 10 and later on personally owned work profile devices. We recommend you guide users to update to their device’s latest supported Android version for the best experience. Helpdesk preparation: Inform your helpdesk teams of these coming changes so they know what to expect. For devices on the new implementation, diagnostic logs will be collected using the Microsoft Intune app (instead of the Company Portal app). Plan to update any user instructions you have after you try out the web based enrollment flow. iOS web based enrollment: We recommend you consider setting up web based device enrollment for iOS now or when we release Android web based enrollment for a more consistent and improved user experience. Changes to be aware of A few defaults will change as part of the move to the new implementation. Required app installation behavior: In the custom DPC implementation, users can uninstall required apps, and then they are reinstalled automatically within a few hours. In the new implementation, users won’t be able to uninstall required apps from their device, which is the same experience as on corporate Android Enterprise devices. Caller ID and contact search: In the custom DPC implementation, the settings to “Display work contact caller-id in personal profile” and “Search work contacts from personal profile” are two independent settings. In AMAPI, they are controlled with a single setting. If you have blocked either, Intune will automatically block both for devices on the new implementation. Intune will update the policy user interface to have a single setting once all devices are on the new implementation. Screen timeout: In the custom DPC implementation, you can configure screen timeouts either for the full device or for the work profile under “Maximum minutes of inactivity until work profile locks.” In AMAPI, you can only configure this at the work profile level. Intune will set this to the lesser of the two when devices move to the new implementation. We will remove the device level setting from policies when all devices are on AMAPI. Security provider and Google Play services: The compliance settings for "Up-to-date security provider" and "Google Play Services is configured" won't be supported for devices on AMAPI. This is because security providers will automatically be updated and Google Play Services are required for device enrollment and management. Intune will remove these settings from compliance policies when all devices are on AMAPI. Password: There will be some minor changes to how some configurations of password requirements apply on some devices. We will update to provide more information and guidance. Enrollment reports: A couple of enrollment reports will not report on devices enrolled into AMAPI management. They are the “Enrollment failures” and “Incomplete user enrollments” reports that are found in Devices > Enrollment in the Monitor tab. Google Domain allow listing: The device restriction setting “Google domain allow-list” will not be supported for devices on AMAPI. This capability is now managed directly in the Google Admin console rather than through device restriction policies. Once the onboarding account has been migrated to a Microsoft Entra account and federated with a Google account, admins can configure this setting in the Google Admin console under the Third-party integrations node by enabling “Authenticate Using Google.” Intune will remove this setting from device restriction policies once all devices are on AMAPI. Stay tuned to this blog for updates! If you have any questions or feedback on this change, leave a comment on this post or reach out on X @IntuneSuppTeam. Post updates 02/19/25: Updated the Timeline and How this will affect your users + New Implementations sections. 04/08/25: Updated these sections: How to configure and monitor, How this will affect your users, Timeline, How to prepare, and Changes to be aware of. 04/09/25: Updated the Changes to be aware of section to include details about TeamViewer supportability. 08/22/25: Added images and updated all sections with the latest information, including an updated Timeline section and removing the information about the delay to TeamViewer support. 09/09/25: Added a screenshot to clarify Android enrollment restrictions. 09/23/25: Update the Changes to be aware of section to include more information about 'Enrollment reports'. 02/12/26: Updates to the Changes to be aware of section to include more information about 'Security provider and Google Play services'. 03/27/26: Updates to the Changes to be aware of section to include more information about 'Google Domain allow listing'. 05/13/26: Updated the Timeline section to reflect availability in late Q2 of calendar year 2026. 06/18/26: Updated to note that as of June 18 this is now generally available! You may need to take action to opt in to the new implementation.Cloud-native Windows endpoints: Begin by beginning
By: Jason Sandys – Principal Product Manager | Microsoft Intune Cloud-native is Microsoft’s goal for all commercial Windows endpoints. By definition, a cloud-native Windows endpoint is joined to Microsoft Entra ID and enrolled in Microsoft Intune. It represents and involves a clean break from on-premises related systems, limitations, and dependencies for device identity and management. This clean break from on-premises dependencies might align with larger organizational goals to reduce or eliminate on-premises infrastructure but doesn’t prevent users from accessing or using existing on-premises resources like file shares, printers, or applications. Cloud-native for Windows endpoints is a large change in thinking for most organizations and thus poses an initial challenge of how to even begin on this journey. This article provides you with guidance on how to begin and how to embrace this new model. For additional guidance that includes a higher-level discussion of what to do with existing endpoints, see: Best practices in moving to cloud native endpoint management | Microsoft 365 Blog to learn more. Proof of concept The first step is to begin with a proof of concept (POC). For any new technology, methodology, or solution, POCs offer numerous advantages. Specifically, they enable you to evaluate the new “thing” with minimal risk while building your skills and gaining stakeholder buy-in. Because the exact end state of Windows endpoints is highly variable among organizations and even within an organization, a POC for cloud-native Windows enables you to take an iterative approach for defining and deploying these endpoints. This iterative approach involves smaller waves of users and endpoints within your organization. It’s ultimately up to you to define which endpoints or users should be in each wave, but you should align this to your endpoint lifecycle and refresh plan. Aligning to your endpoint lifecycle allows you to minimize impact to your users by consolidating the delivery of new endpoints with the changeover from hybrid join to Microsoft Entra join, which requires a Windows reset or fresh Windows instance. Additional significant criteria to consider for which users and endpoints to include in each wave are the organizational user personas and endpoint roles. An iterative POC enables you to break work effort and challenges into more manageable pieces and address them individually or sequentially. This is important since some (often many) challenges related to adopting cloud-native Windows endpoints are isolated or not applicable to all endpoints or users in the organization. Some challenges may even remain unknown until they arise, and the only way to learn about them is by conducting actual production testing and evaluation. You don’t need to address or solve every challenge to successfully begin your journey to cloud-native Windows endpoints. An easy example for this is users that exclusively use SaaS applications: these users’ endpoints already have limited (if any) true on-premises service or application dependencies, and they likely face few, if any, challenges in moving to cloud-native Windows endpoints. Initial cloud-native Windows configuration There are some common activities that need to occur before you deploy your first cloud-native Windows endpoints. Keep in mind that this list is simply the steps to begin the iterative process, it’s not all-inclusive or representative of the final state. For a detailed walkthrough on configuring these items (and more), see the following detailed tutorial: Get started with cloud-native Windows endpoints. Identify the user personas and endpoint types within your organization. These typically vary among organizations, so there’s no standard template to follow. However, you should align your POC to these personas and endpoint types to limit each wave’s impact and scope of necessary change. Configure your baseline policies. Implement a minimum viable set of policies within Intune to deploy to all endpoints. Base these policies on your organizational requirements rather than what has been previously implemented in group policy (or elsewhere). We strongly suggest starting as cleanly as possible with this activity and initially including only what is necessary to meet the security requirements of your organization. Configure Windows Autopatch. Keeping Windows up to date is critical, and Windows Autopatch offers the best path to doing this (whether a Windows endpoint is cloud-native or not). Configure Windows applications. As with policies, this should be a minimal set of applications to deploy to your POC endpoints and can include Win32 based and Microsoft Store based applications. Configure Windows Autopilot. Windows Autopilot enables quick and seamless Windows provisioning without the overhead of classic on-premises OS deployment methods. With Windows Autopilot, the provisioning process for cloud-native Windows endpoints is quick and easy. Configure Delivery Optimization. Windows uses Delivery Optimization for downloading most items from the cloud. By default, Delivery Optimization leverages peers to cache and download content locally. Edit the default configuration to define which managed endpoints are peers or to disable peer content sharing. Enable Windows Hello for Business and enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) using Conditional Access. Enable Cloud Kerberos Trust for Windows Hello for Business to enable seamless access to on-premises resources. These items significantly increase your organization’s security posture and place your organization well on the Zero Trust path. As the iterative POC process evolves to include more user personas and endpoint roles, you can add more functional policy requirements and applications. This will involve some discovery as you learn about the actual needs of these various personas and roles. Since you aren’t targeting everything from day one, you don’t need to have all requirements defined up front or solutions for every potential issue. Additional suggestions, tips, and guidance Don’t assume something does or doesn’t work on cloud-native Windows endpoints. The POC process enables you to iteratively test and evaluate applications, services, resources, and everything else in your environment – most of which isn’t typically documented. It might simply be part of the tacit or tribal knowledge within your organization. In general, you’ll find that nearly everything works just as it did before Windows cloud-native. Document everything. As you implement, document the “what” as well as the “why” for everything you configure. This allows you and your colleagues to come back at any time and understand or refresh your memory for your cloud-native Windows implementation, as well as many other things in the environment. Microsoft doesn’t expect organizations to rapidly convert their entire estate of Windows endpoints to cloud-native. Instead, we recommend taking it slow, being deliberate, and using the iterative approach outlined above by aligning to your hardware refresh cycle to minimize impact on users. This also provides you with time to prove the solution, address gaps, and overcome challenges as you discover them without disrupting productivity. Use the built-in Conditional Access policy templates to quickly get started with MFA and other Conditional Access capabilities. The templates enable you to implement Conditional Access policies that align with our recommendations without experimentation. Accessing on-premises resources including file shares from a cloud-native Windows endpoint works with little to no configuration. Refer to the documentation for more details: How SSO to on-premises resources works on Microsoft Entra joined devices. Call to action Begin exploring your cloud-native Windows POC today. Taking this first step now will allow your organization to start reaping the benefits of enhanced security, streamlined management, and improved user experience sooner. Every organization is unique, so there’s no blueprint for comprehensively implementing cloud-native Windows. However, you don’t need a comprehensive blueprint to be successful, you just need to begin and slowly expand adoption throughout your organization when and where it makes sense. The guidance provided above along with the getting started tutorial should give you the information, tools, and confidence to move forward with decoupling your endpoints and users from your on-premises anchors and fully embrace cloud-native Windows. For a more detailed and in-depth discussion on adopting cloud-native Windows, including planning and execution, see Learn more about cloud-native endpoints. If you have any questions, leave a comment below or reach out to us on X @IntuneSuppTeam. Additional Blogs 3 benefits of going cloud native | Microsoft 365 Blog How to achieve cloud-native endpoint management with Microsoft Intune | Microsoft 365 Blog Myths and misconceptions: Windows 11 and cloud native | Windows IT Pro Blog (microsoft.com)Support Tip: Company Portal Prompt
First published on TechNet on Mar 13, 2018 Microsoft Intune and Mobile Device Management (MDM) for O365 both use certificates to ensure there’s a secure communication channel to send mobile device management policies between the service and managed end user devices.
