Windows Update for Business reports is an evolution of Update Compliance, with a new name that brings clarity to purpose. In August, we announced the public preview of Azure Workbooks for Update Compliance. These workbooks are freely available to Update Compliance users to monitor and report on update deployments, and they represent the future of Update Compliance. We're thankful to everyone who tried this new experience. We've learned a lot from your experiences and feedback. We are pleased to announce that Azure Workbooks for Update Compliance will reach general availability in early November and will be rebranded as Windows Update for Business reports at that time.
Windows Update for Business reports addresses the top feedback you've shared with us. Built on Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), these reports contain rich deployment data and easily integrate with the Microsoft 365 tools you already use daily, including Microsoft Intune, Windows Autopatch, Microsoft 365 admin center, and the Windows Update for Business deployment service. The integration with Azure Monitor and the Log Analytics platform makes it easy for us to continue our journey of rapid innovation, including the addition of Delivery Optimization and Driver reports, as well as ways to simply and quickly customize the reports for your needs.
With general availability around the corner, we want to share important reminders about how you can prepare for these upcoming changes.
Prerequisites for using Windows Update for Business reports
The rebranded version of Update Compliance, Windows Update for Business reports, will launch in the first half of November 2022. To continue using this service to monitor your update deployments, your company and devices must be enrolled in Azure AD by this time. This is true whether you are using Windows Update for Business reports or Update Compliance to visualize your data.
You can meet these eligibility requirements by joining or hybrid-joining your devices to Azure AD. (Please note that Workplace Join does not meet these requirements.)
- Join Azure AD: See How to: Plan your Azure AD join implementation for a step-by-step guide on how to enroll your devices into Azure AD.
- Hybrid-join Azure AD: If you have an on-premises Active Directory environment, follow the steps outlined in Plan your hybrid Azure Active Directory join deployment. You can also learn more about co-management for cloud and on-premises devices with hybrid Azure AD at Plan your Azure Active Directory device deployment.
Enroll in the public preview today
If you've already enabled the public preview of what we earlier called Azure Workbooks for Update Compliance, you're all set! If you haven't, once you have signed up for Azure AD, we recommend that you enroll your tenant in the public preview of Windows Update for Business reports through the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Enable Update Compliance if you haven't already.
- In the Microsoft 365 admin center, navigate to Software updates, under Health.
- Select the Windows tab.
- Select the Configure settings button.
- Choose the Azure subscription and workspace you currently use with Update Compliance (now known as Windows Update for Business reports).
Note: To complete these steps, you must have either the Global Administrator or Intune Administrator role.
Note: Because the Windows diagnostic data processor configuration powers Windows Update for Business reports, the use of this preview is subject to those requirements.
Prepare to transition to Windows Update for Business reports
When Windows Update for Business reports reaches general availability, we will no longer accept new enrollments to the former Update Compliance solution, including the ability to regenerate your CommercialID within existing deployments. For all new enrollments, plan to use our Windows Update for Business reports experience within Azure Monitor and align with our eligibility requirements. The existing Update Compliance experience will remain supported for existing customers for a limited period after general availability. This time will allow us to ensure parity in the experiences and give organizations time to plan their transition.
We hope you are as excited as we are for the release of Windows Update for Business reports! We'll be sharing more in a deep dive session at the Microsoft Technical Takeoff, October 24–27. We also encourage you to join the public preview today to ensure your feedback is heard.
We'll update you on the Windows IT Pro Blog in early November when we have reached general availability. In the meantime, you can learn more about our plans below:
- Public preview of Azure Workbooks for Update Compliance
- Get started with Update Compliance
- Azure Workbooks Overview
- Update Compliance overview
Continue the conversation. Find best practices. Visit the Windows Tech Community.
Stay informed. For the latest updates on new releases, tools, and resources, stay tuned to this blog and follow us @MSWindowsITPro on Twitter.