Overview of Intune

- [Instructor] Microsoft came out with Intune to assist in managing Windows and other devices, mostly for mobile device management such as laptops, mobile phones, as well as tablets. And that included Android as well as iPhone. It used to also include Windows operating systems for mobile, but that ended when Microsoft ended support. In 2019, Microsoft decided to go ahead and combine the Intune product into Endpoint Manager. This was a six product offering that combined all these different offerings into one admin center. So you could go to the Endpoint admin center and manage all these different products from one location. But then they reversed course again, and in October of 22, they decided to go ahead and change the name from Endpoint Manager to Intune. So Intune today means something different than it did in 2019. Intune includes all six plus other new features into the Intune product, which used to be called Endpoint Manager. It's a little bit confusing. But once you get used to it, it's going to have all the great features that Endpoint Manager had and give Microsoft the ability to add some new features as well. Microsoft's original Intune is and was a 100% cloud-based mobile device management product. But it also provides mobile application management as well. And that means basically that you can manage what applications can and can't be installed on which devices. It lets you control features and settings on Android, Android Enterprise, iOS, iPad, OS, MacOS, Windows 10 devices, and now Chrome devices. And Microsoft has decided to label Intune as Cloud Managed with Intune. And with Configuration Manager, which you can also link to Intune, It's now called co-managed with Configuration Manager. Configuration Manager also has a very interesting history. It started out as part of System Center Configuration Manager. Prior to that it was called Microsoft Mom, which stood for Microsoft Operations Manager. And before that in the 1990s it was called SMS for Managing Applications. But all that was done on premises. Now we can manage all these devices, whether they're mobile or whether they're desktops and servers, either on-premises or in the Cloud using Co-managed with Configuration Manager. We now also have Desktop Analytics. Now, this used to be called Endpoint Analytics but now it's called Desktop Analytics and it's a cloud-based service that integrates with Configuration Manager. So even though it's part of Configuration Manager and co-managed with it, you can now go ahead and manage it with Configuration Manager but all the information is coming from the Intune Cloud. This product can help you make more informed decisions about your update readiness for your Windows clients. So we're not just using mobile devices now. We're also using devices that are not considered mobile such as desktops and servers. Desktop Analytics provides information on security updates, apps and devices, and identifies compatibility issues with apps and drivers. Another great product is Windows Autopilot, and this sets up and pre-configures new devices that gets them ready for use. It's really designed to simplify the lifecycle from when you issue a Windows computer, whether that's a desktop or laptop, until it's time to retire it. And this can all be done without the IT person even touching that device. The way it works is when you order a new device and let's say in this case it's a laptop, you order the laptop from your vendor. And then there are certain ID information that's given to you from the vendor and then you enter that into Windows Autopilot in Microsoft Intune. When the user opens up that computer, the policies that you've already created for the installation of applications and configuration are going to be downloaded and installed the minute that user logs into the computer and connects into the internet. It can be a great time saver. We also have Azure Active Directory. And this is used by Intune for identity of devices, users, groups, multifactor authentication, and much more. You may need an Azure AD premium license depending on what type of features you enable, such as apps and data, including dynamic groups, auto enrollment and conditional access. And finally, we have the Intune Admin Center. Now, as of now, it's still called the Endpoint Admin Center when you log into it, but you can still get there by logging into intune.microsoft.com. And the Admin Center is a one-stop website to create policies and manage all of your different devices. The Admin Center also shows devices managed by Configuration Manager as well as Intune. Intune allows flexibility using existing Microsoft Cloud and on-premises products that you can quickly deploy.