In this blog, we’ll cover why Microsoft mobile device management (MDM) is an essential investment for businesses everywhere—especially when operating a remote and hybrid work model—and why Microsoft Intune MDM is the top choice for controlling how your devices are managed.
The move to hybrid work: benefits and challenges
By now, most businesses have implemented hybrid work; a way of operating that complements the flexibility of remote work with the advantages of the traditional office.
This model gives employees unprecedented freedom over where they work—whether it’s on premises, at home, or elsewhere—and it’s a popular adoption. A recent UK study found that 85% of people who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic now want hybrid work environment. And a recent Accenture report found that hybrid work models are embraced by 63% of high-revenue growth companies.
Hybrid work has several benefits, including:
- Improvement of wellbeing and work/life balance
- Increased productivity
- Reduction of overhead
- A wider talent pool to recruit from
Along with these benefits, there is a challenge surrounding hybrid work and the management of data. Because employee devices access critical information, they can easily become the source of security breaches—either through malice or negligence. And how your company manages its mobile devices, and how your employees use applications when away from the office, is essential for striking a balance between flexible working and secure data. Therefore, it’s important to put in place robust mobile device management solution that helps securely configure your remote devices and improve workflow. This is where Microsoft Intune comes in.
Get your device management dancing to the right Intune
Intune is Microsoft’s MDM and mobile application management (MAM) solution that helps organizations control how devices are used and what information and applications they can access. Let’s look at three ways a top line MDM solution like Intune can benefit organizations.
1. Reducing security risks on unmanaged devices
Employees are using mobile devices to access corporate data, and in a lot of cases these are unmanaged smartphones and tablets that have no connection to your business. This can leave your IT department in the dark about security statuses, access rights, and usage stats—or even whether a device is owned by your employee or not. And you can get into murky waters if unmanaged devices are being used across the organization.
How Microsoft Intune helps
A good mobile device management solution—like Microsoft Intune MDM—helps you gain insight and control over devices that are connected to your corporate IT environment. This can significantly improve your network security when you respond to the alerts against data breaches provided by Intune. As part of the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite, Intune integrates with Azure Active Directory to help control who in your organization has access to what.
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2. Lowering demands on IT
Imagine the time you would save not having to chase unmanaged devices and trying to patch security holes when you invest in a quality MDM solution. Suddenly your IT department has far better visibility and control, and the ability to automate certain processes—instead of having to maintain security policies manually.
How Microsoft Intune helps
Using Intune, admins can easily add and assign mobile apps to specific user groups and devices, which drastically reduces the amount of time needed to manage individual accounts. They can configure apps to start with specific settings and update on devices remotely. Additionally, they are able to track and generate reports on usage and selectively remotely, and wipe organizational data from devices.
3. Manage your PCs and laptops with Intune
In addition to mobile phones, Intune allows you to manage, deploy, and wipe both Windows based PCs and laptops, and Mac PCs and laptops. In a world where your staff may be based in different locations, enabling your IT team to access, manage and protect your data across all hardware is crucial. Remote management gives you extra awareness and visibility of your data on devices that might be lost or stolen, or data that exists on unreturned hardware from former employees. In cases where data needs to be wiped remotely, the remote management feature saves a lot of headaches. But management of your hardware is not only about wiping information, it’s also about the efficient deployment of tools your employees need to do their work—no matter where they’re based.
How Microsoft Intune helps
Windows Autopilot is a feature of Microsoft Intune that makes it easy for your IT administrators to setup and preconfigure devices with the right settings, applications, and security remotely. Autopilot speeds up the process of getting equipment ready to use, and the time it takes to deliver it to your employees. This feature is ideal for new remote hires, or workers who need a new piece of kit but, may not be close enough to an office to pick it up. You can read more about Microsoft Autopilot and how to use it with Intune to securely deploy new devices remotely
Why Microsoft Intune MDM and MessageOps is the right combination
Deploying a BYOD management strategy that is easy, safe and gives you the best possible visibility and control might seem a lot easier said than done. However, investing in Microsoft Intune makes it easy. And partnering with Microsoft technology experts can help ensure your investment goes even further. The MessageOps team works closely with our clients to help ensure their IT solutions and strategies are fit for purpose, and work in line with their goals.
We have managed hundreds of projects for our clients to assist with Intune and other offerings, including:
- Microsoft Endpoint Manager/Intune
- Defender
- Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) – Azure & Office 365
- Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS)
- Microsoft Cloud App Security
- Azure Information Protection
- Azure Lighthouse
- Azure Sentinel
Schedule a free consultation today with a Microsoft Intune specialist or call 877-788-1617.
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