In the December What’s New, we’re reprising four focus areas from the past year:
- Cloud-native for device management
- MacOS management
- Microsoft Intune Suite
- Microsoft Security Copilot in Intune
Additionally, for those just beginning their cloud-native journey, we’re including a link to the inaugural version of a guide on how to migrate to Microsoft Intune from other management solutions.
Let me know how these new capabilities—or any of those highlighted in 2023 What’s New blogs—are working for you by commenting on this post or connecting with me on LinkedIn.
Cloud native for device management
"Cloud native" is becoming mainstream as more customers fully adopt cloud-native endpoint management strategies. This means accelerating cloud adoption for endpoint management, establishing a digital estate from the cloud, evolving modern management beyond hybrid, and building a cloud-native defense-in-depth strategy.
Customers have reported transformations that enhance security and save money. Michael Wallent's recent blog post (the first of a 3-part series) showcases these benefits and more around shifting the way we think about device management.
Throughout the year, we released new capabilities to help you accelerate time to value by getting employees up and running faster, managing and protecting applications, getting a real-time view of what’s going on across your device landscape, and applying security policies in minutes.
We’ve been providing cloud-native solutions, from improved management for Windows and drivers and firmware updates in Intune to Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS). Now we’re adding capabilities in Windows Autopilot, like app install pre-provisioning improvements and streamlining unified security settings management with integration of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint native endpoint settings and Intune. We think you’ll be pleased!
The year in Mac management
In 2023, we continued to innovate macOS management in exciting ways. Our customers shared that the best possible experience would be a single solution capable of managing all their endpoints across platforms in one place. We listened, releasing software update policy for macOS, complex app management for macOS, remote help for macOS, and more.
Our cross-platform approach enables you to manage your entire estate in one place. This can save you time and money by eliminating the need for multiple management platforms and on-premises point solutions.
You can see an updated list of macOS capabilities in the article, Now is the time—manage your Mac endpoints with Microsoft Intune. You can also join the conversation in the Mac Admins community. There will be much more in 2024, so check out the coming attractions in Microsoft Intune reinvents Mac management.
Microsoft Intune Suite
Launched in March, the Intune Suite provides mission-critical advanced endpoint management and security capabilities. The Intune Suite delivers and continues to develop additional depth in technical assistance with the following:
- Remote Help
- Windows Standard User support with Endpoint Privilege Management
- AI driven advanced endpoint analytics
- Secure corporate data and application access from personal mobile devices with Tunnel for Mobile App Management, and enterprise grade, an advanced app management all natively integrated across the Microsoft Cloud.
Based on this connected fabric, Intune can increase IT and Security team collaboration, broaden visibility, converge workflows, and unify data in a way that’s unmatched and leads to added simplicity, security, and savings.
Since the release of the Intune Suite, thousands of organizations have integrated their remote support tools in Intune with Remote Help and ServiceNow integration. Remote Help is now available on Windows, Android, and macOS systems. Customers use Remote Help to support workers anywhere they are, to improve efficiency, and to mitigate security risks. You can learn more about Remote Help by watching Simple and secure helpdesk support using Remote Help in Intune at Microsoft Technical Takeoff.
Customers are balancing security and productivity with Endpoint Privilege Management by allowing everyone to run as standard Windows users, elevating app privileges only when needed, and reducing security risks by enforcing least-privilege access. Policy-based elevation management streamlines IT workstreams, enables employee productivity without comprising security and delivers insights based on elevation audits for a comprehensive view across the organization. You can learn more about Endpoint Privilege Management, including the upcoming support approval workflow, in Uplevel security with Endpoint Privilege Management + Windows LAPS.
Microsoft Tunnel for mobile app management provides a micro-VPN solution for employees who require access to on-premises resources from personal mobile devices. The capability allows IT to set up secure access for mobile users and doesn’t require device enrollment. You can provide mobile access to corporate resources while still applying security policies and protecting data with Intune, offering end users flexibility to work efficiently without any concern for the need to enroll their personal devices and allows you to embrace bring-your-own-device policies without compromising security. For more on tunnel, read Announcing Microsoft Tunnel for MAM for iOS and Android.
AI driven advanced endpoint analytics enables you to use your data, combined with the insights from the entire ecosystem to enable IT to proactively remediate real issues end users face. Anomaly detection today provides alerts and reporting device level events and signals such as application hangs, crashes and stop error restarts, with additional types of anomalies being added over time. We are also adding in new capabilities that provide deeper, more granular insights so you can discover unreported issues and proactively improve device performance and end user experience. For more on advanced endpoint analytics watch Advanced analytics: supercharge real-time reporting with insights that matter at Microsoft Technical Takeoff.
We’ve continuously added capabilities to unify endpoint management and security operations in the cloud, focusing on delivering value through centralized data and insights into device health and performance. This enables IT to keep users happy and productive while simplifying operations. In calendar year 2024, we’ll deliver even more value with advanced analytics, Cloud PKI, and enterprise app management. For demos and more information, watch Modern management innovation shaping endpoint security at Ignite.
Microsoft Security Copilot in Intune
This year, we launched Security Copilot, now available in early access, where Intune device and policy data can be used to enrich security investigations, driving faster investigations and mitigations.
Additionally, we launched the private preview of Security Copilot embedded experiences in the Intune admin center. Here, you’ll be able to use natural language to troubleshoot devices without needing to navigate through various sources to gather information about the impacted device.
Security Copilot assists in translating business intent into policy configuration through natural language prompts. It also helps in understanding settings and their impact, and surfaces Microsoft recommendations. Along with generating policies, it allows you to assess the potential impact of deploying these policies in your enterprise and determine if a deployment is likely to cause policy conflicts. For demos and more information, watch Generative AI and the next generation of Intune features at Microsoft Technical Takeoff.
Getting started with Intune migrations
Wondering how to get started with all these management and security solutions? Customers and partners often ask us to provide guidance on migrating to Microsoft Intune from cloud-native or existing management solutions. In response, we’ve released a guide offering a high-level look at architectural differences customers should consider when migrating.
We provide information on the framework and processes that Microsoft has developed through thousands of migrations with enterprise customers. You can find the guide here. It’s a work in process, so please let us know if there’s anything we can do to improve it for you.
Your feedback is welcome
This is our final What’s New of the 2023 release cycle. We want to know what you think of our new capabilities. Please share your thoughts by commenting on this post or connecting with me on LinkedIn.
Stay up to date! Bookmark the Microsoft Intune Blog and follow us on LinkedIn or @MSIntune on X to continue the conversation.
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