Hybrid work models create a complex challenge for UK SMEs: managing the mix of company-owned laptops and personal mobile phones that access business data. Every device is a potential entry point for a cyber threat and a point of failure for productivity. For many organisations, ensuring security and efficiency across this landscape without an enterprise-level budget is a primary concern.
This is where Microsoft Intune comes in. It’s a cloud-based service with the express purpose of solving this very problem. It provides a centralised platform to manage how your organisation’s devices and applications are used and accessed company data, resulting in a more secure and productive workforce.
What is Microsoft Intune?
Essentially, Microsoft Intune forms part of a Unified Endpoint Management service and is part of the wider Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) offering.
Intune brings device and app management together in a single platform by combining two primary capabilities:
- Mobile Device Management (MDM): This is the management of company-owned devices. Through MDM, an IT organisation can completely configure, secure, and manage the full lifecycle of a device from setup to retirement.
- Mobile Application Management (MAM): This is the management of personal devices used for work (BYOD). MAM only manages and protects the corporate applications and data in the device (app protection policies). MAM leaves an employee’s personal information invisible to and unmanaged by IT.
A cloud-native platform like Intune eliminates the need to buy specialised on-premise server hardware. To provide a completely integrated management and security platform, it is tightly integrated with other Microsoft services, including Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Entra ID (previously Azure AD).
Streamlined Operations with Unified Endpoint Management
The first reason is that Intune greatly relieves the burden of administration for your IT team. By centralising and automating many of the day-to-day operational tasks, it’s possible to take a more proactive, “prevent first” approach to managing the IT infrastructure.
- Zero-Touch Deployment: Windows Autopilot is used for automating the out-of-box experience for new PCs. A device can be delivered straight from the vendor to an employee, and when it first connects to the internet, Autopilot will automatically configure all company settings and applications. This eliminates the need for users to wait for IT to set up a device or perform manual work, which can be error-prone. Rollout times are reduced from hours to minutes.
- Centralised Policy Enforcement: It’s possible to create configuration profiles for automating Wi-Fi setup, VPN connections, and security settings. These policies can be assigned to groups of users or devices, so no matter what endpoint they use, they will all be configured in the same way according to company standards, with no manual errors.
- Remote Management Actions: With the Intune admin centre, admins can oversee and manage every device running Windows, macOS, iOS, or Android through a “single pane of glass”. From the admin centre, IT can execute essential remote operations on devices, such as locking a misplaced device, resetting passwords, and wiping data from devices when employees leave or devices are lost.
Fortifying Security with a Zero Trust Framework
Our modern threat landscape has evolved past the simple network perimeter. The UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey found that 32% of businesses in the UK had experienced a cyberattack in the last year. Of those attacks, phishing was the most common attack vector. Intune is a foundational pillar of the “Zero Trust” security model based around the principle of “never trust, always verify.”
- Conditional Access: This is a feature of Microsoft Entra ID that works hand-in-hand with Intune. It serves as an intelligent gatekeeper, assessing a collection of signals before granting access to a company resource. An administrator might craft a policy that requires a device to be labelled as compliant by Intune before it can access sensitive data. As soon as a device’s encryption is disabled or malware is found on it, access to the device is instantly blocked until it is fixed. This allows for a robust layer of Enhanced security.
- Advanced Threat Protection: Intune also works with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in a powerful and automated way. When Defender discovers a threat on a device, it reports a risk score to Intune. Intune can consume that risk score and enforce a Conditional Access policy, such as quarantining a device from the corporate network to avoid spreading that threat.
Supporting Hybrid Work and Employee Flexibility
One of the top problems facing today’s businesses is how to deal with employees who want to use their own personal smartphones at work. Intune Mobile Application Management (MAM) provides this capability to meet the needs of both corporate IT and privacy-minded employees.
Intune app protection policies can be used to protect corporate data in specified applications on a personal device. This capability allows a business to:
- Require the use of a separate PIN or biometric authentication to open Microsoft Outlook or Teams.
- Restrict the ability to copy text or data from a corporate email to an unmanaged personal application, for example, social media.
- When an employee departs the company, perform a “selective wipe” which removes corporate data, retaining personal photos, messages, and apps.
A BYOD policy is best suited for this degree of app restriction. Businesses can protect their employees’ privacy while also keeping important information safe. This ensures safer remote working while also protecting the interests of the organisation and removing any undue friction for staff.
Real-World Scenarios for Small Businesses
The advantages of Intune really become apparent in action. Let’s say, a UK business with 50 employees is using three different third-party solutions for antivirus software, remote support and device management, and it’s paying for each separately. By switching to a license that has Intune built in, like Microsoft 365 Business Premium, that company could replace all those tools with a single solution.
Not only would this reduce their annual cost, but they’d also be able to manage all their laptops and Android devices from one place. And they’d get access to enterprise-grade features like Conditional Access that would drastically improve their security.
Addressing Common Challenges & Quantifying ROI
While powerful, successfully deploying Intune involves navigating specific challenges.
- Complexity and Costs: Because Intune has so many capabilities, it can be difficult to set up properly. Additionally, companies need to take the overall cost of ownership into account. The most effective approach is to leverage licenses that bundle Intune with other services. A Forrester Total Economic Impact study quantified the financial benefits, finding that organisations using Intune achieved a 181% return on investment over three years. This was driven by a 38% reduction in licensing costs from tool consolidation and significant gains in IT and end-user productivity.
- Migration from On-Premises Tools: Transitioning from traditional tools like Group Policy can be a complex project. Intune includes tools like Group Policy analytics to assess existing configurations for cloud compatibility. Businesses can use Intune in conjunction with a current solution, such as SCCM, by employing a phased strategy that uses co-management. This allows workloads to be gradually moved to the cloud over time.
Meeting UK Compliance and Data Residency Requirements
Running your company in the UK means you must ensure that you are adhering to standards and regulations like the GDPR. As 28% of UK adults are now working in a hybrid capacity and 13% fully remotely, device security outside of the office is more important than ever.
Intune compliance policies can be set by administrators to ensure key security settings like disk encryption and minimum OS levels are active, no matter where an employee is working. Every change in compliance is tracked and recorded, offering regulators a complete audit trail. To ensure that client information is managed properly, the service observes data residency rules and Microsoft’s EU Data Boundary policy. Furthermore, Intune and Defender also observe internationally accepted practices like ISO 27001 and SOC 2, further complementing your organisation’s privacy compliance strategy.
Maximising Intune’s Potential with a Strategic Partner
Leveraging the Microsoft Intune Suite to its full potential takes more than just a license. It takes know-how in its application, deployment, security configuration, and Mobile Device Management. Partnering with a specialised Managed IT Services provider can be critical.
At Microbyte, our role as a Microsoft Gold Partner is to translate Intune’s powerful capabilities into tangible business outcomes. Our “Stamp Out Support” philosophy is built on proactive management, using tools like Intune to prevent issues before they disrupt your business. A key part of our service is licensing optimisation; we help clients select the most cost-effective plan to maximise value and avoid unnecessary expenditure. Our 24/7 follow-the-sun support and presence in offices across the UK (Peterborough, London and Lincoln) gives us a global reach and a local touch. We don’t just deliver a tool. We are your technology partner, ensuring your technology is secure, compliant, and working for your business in the way you need it to.
If you’re ready to take control of every device, make IT simple and save money, talk to Microbyte today to arrange a no-obligation Microsoft Intune consultation to see how we can help you future-proof your business.
