Whether you're dealing with corporate-owned or BYOD personal devices, Intune can help you enforce policies, protect your data, and ensure compliance with your security requirements.
Microsoft Intune is a comprehensive mobile device and app management solution that can help you manage and secure the devices and apps used by your organisation. If you’re looking for a way to manage and secure the mobile devices and apps used by your organisation, Microsoft Intune is worth considering and comparing to the alternatives.
What Microsoft Intune can do
Device Management: Intune allows you to manage mobile devices, including iOS, Android, and Windows devices, from a single console. You can enforce policies, configure settings, and deploy apps and updates to your devices remotely.
App Management: With Intune, you can manage the apps used by your organisation, including both native and third-party apps. You can deploy apps to specific groups of users, configure app settings, and enforce policies to ensure that your data is secure.
Conditional Access: Intune provides conditional access capabilities that allow you to control access to your corporate resources based on device and user status. For example, you can require that devices be compliant with your security policies before allowing access to corporate email or documents.
Data Protection: Intune provides data protection capabilities that allow you to encrypt and protect your corporate data on mobile devices. You can configure policies to prevent data leakage, and remotely wipe devices if they are lost or stolen.
Reporting and Analytics: Intune provides reporting and analytics capabilities that allow you to track device and app usage, monitor compliance with your policies, and generate reports to help you make informed decisions.
The main strengths and weaknesses of Microsoft Intune vs. alternatives
In comparison to alternative apps, such as VMware Workspace ONE and Citrix Endpoint Management, Microsoft Intune has a strong focus on integrating well with other Microsoft products, making it a good choice for organisations that use Microsoft tools extensively.
• VMware Workspace ONE offers similar device management features but has better reporting and analytics capabilities.
• Citrix Endpoint Management focuses on virtualisation and remote access, making it a better choice for organisations with a remote workforce.
There are numerous other choices of software for Mobile Device Management and finding the best software for your business is all about balancing features against price. Look for convenient usability as well as powerful functionality. Ask for demos of various options before making your choice.
Some of the features people most often praise about Microsoft Intune are:
Comprehensive Device Management: Intune offers comprehensive device management capabilities, allowing you to manage mobile devices, PCs, and servers from a single console. Its functionality extends well beyond many alternatives.
Easy Integration: Intune integrates well with other Microsoft products, such as Azure Active Directory and Office 365, providing a seamless and time-saving experience.
Granular Control: Intune provides granular control over device and app management, so you can set policies and restrictions based on a good range of conditions including user location, device type, and compliance status.
Secure Data Protection: Intune includes data protection features, such as remote wipe and encryption, to protect sensitive data on devices. This is a vital feature if your staff deal in sensitive data or in fact for any company whose employees use mobile devices.
On the other hand, the most talked-about weaknesses of Microsoft Intune include:
Complexity: Intune’s extensive capabilities can make it complex for beginner users to set up and manage. Your staff may need training to fully utilise its capabilities.
Limited Third-Party Integration: Despite the great Microsoft integrations, Intune has limited integration with third-party tools and services. This can be a drag if you use other tools for device management or security.
Limited Reporting and Analytics: Intune’s reporting and analytics capabilities are not as robust and complete as some other device management tools. This can sometimes make it challenging to track usage and performance data.
The Review of Reviews
PC Mag
Paul Ferrill of UK PC Mag calls Intune:
‘One of the best device management options for folks running Microsoft-centric environments. The bundle options with Azure-based identity and security tools have matured and represent a powerful growth path. However, the price will be substantial and, for those running non-Microsoft platforms, there are some overlooked features, too.’
The main negatives he mentions are that there’s no device location capability, no way to customise the dashboard and a built-in push towards other Microsoft products. However, he does concede that the product has geofencing and geolocation services, as well as remote wipe.
Tech Radar
Giving the product 3.5 stars out of 5, reviewer Christian Cawley of Tech Radar says:
‘Unsurprisingly Microsoft Intune offers a complete, integrated Mobile Device Management experience across existing Microsoft server environments. While seemingly more expensive than competing products, Microsoft Intune can be used with Windows 10, Android, macOS, iPhone, and iPads. This flexibility makes it worthy of serious consideration, budgetary requirements aside.’
He highlights the fact it can support Supports Windows, Android, macOS, and iPhone and iPads and is ‘Jam packed with device configuration features’ and his only real gripe is that it’s more expensive than some competitors.
Our Conclusion
Microsoft is just one of a huge and growing number of software companies in the field of mobile device management. We think your ultimate product choice – once you have established the basic checkboxes of whether it’s compatible with everything you need it to manage and your other systems – should boil down to which product you trust best with your company’s cyber security. We think this should be more important in your decision-making than whether it’s the cheapest product.
