Key takeaways
What is Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based endpoint management platform for managing devices, applications and access to organisational data. It supports Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android and selected Linux scenarios.
Intune can enrol devices, deploy applications, configure settings, evaluate compliance, manage endpoint security controls and provide inventory and reporting. It also integrates with Microsoft Entra ID and Conditional Access so device state can influence access decisions.
Intune does not secure an environment by itself. Security comes from the policies, integrations, operating processes and decisions built around it.
Plan the deployment before creating policies
The first stage is to define what the organisation needs Intune to achieve. Common goals include reducing manual device setup, improving security consistency, supporting remote work, protecting data on personal devices, simplifying application delivery and creating reliable device inventory.
Define device personas
Separate standard users, executives, frontline workers, shared devices, kiosks, developers and privileged administrators.
Map ownership models
Identify corporate-owned, personally owned, shared and specialised devices, because each requires a different management approach.
Document applications
Record required applications, packaging methods, licensing, dependencies, update processes and business owners.
Set success measures
Define measurable outcomes such as enrolment coverage, compliance, provisioning time, patch performance and support volume.
Licensing and prerequisites
Intune Plan 1 is included in several Microsoft subscriptions, including Microsoft 365 Business Premium and selected enterprise plans. Advanced capabilities may require Intune Plan 2, Intune Suite components or newer Microsoft 365 licence bundles. Licensing should be verified against the exact features being deployed.
| Requirement | Why it matters | Deployment action |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Entra tenant | Provides identity, groups, device registration and access controls. | Confirm domains, users, groups and administrator roles. |
| Appropriate licences | Users and features must be licensed before enrolment and policy use. | Map licences to personas and advanced features. |
| MDM authority | Determines which service manages devices. | Confirm Intune is the active authority. |
| Role-based access control | Reduces unnecessary administrative privilege. | Use least-privileged built-in or custom roles. |
| Platform prerequisites | Apple and Android enrolment require platform-specific setup. | Configure Apple certificates, managed accounts and Android Enterprise. |
Design the Intune architecture
A maintainable architecture uses clear naming, assignment and ownership standards. Avoid building dozens of overlapping policies without understanding precedence, scope and conflict behaviour.
A practical Intune operating model
Choose the right enrolment method
Enrolment should reflect device ownership, operating system and user experience. A single method rarely suits every scenario.
| Scenario | Recommended approach | Key considerations |
|---|---|---|
| New corporate Windows devices | Windows Autopilot with automatic enrolment | Procurement registration, deployment profile, apps and enrolment status page. |
| Existing corporate Windows devices | Automatic enrolment, provisioning package, Group Policy or co-management | Current join state, legacy management and remediation effort. |
| Corporate Apple devices | Automated Device Enrolment through Apple Business Manager | Apple push certificate, enrolment profile and ownership. |
| Corporate Android devices | Android Enterprise fully managed, dedicated or corporate-owned work profile | Device use case, managed Google Play and reset requirements. |
| Personal mobile devices | App protection policies or user-driven enrolment | Privacy, minimum management, data separation and user communication. |
Use enrolment restrictions to prevent unsupported platforms, outdated operating systems or inappropriate personal-device enrolment.
Windows Autopilot deployment
Windows Autopilot provides a cloud-based provisioning experience for organisation-owned Windows devices. It uses the OEM Windows image and applies organisation settings during the out-of-box experience.
For most cloud-first organisations, Microsoft Entra joined Autopilot is simpler and more resilient than hybrid join. Hybrid deployment should be retained only where a clear dependency requires it.
Configuration profiles and policy design
Configuration profiles define how devices behave. They can configure operating-system features, browsers, security controls, certificates, Wi-Fi, VPN, restrictions and hundreds of platform-specific settings.
Use the Settings Catalog where practical
The Settings Catalog provides granular access to supported configuration service provider settings. It generally offers better visibility and flexibility than older templates, although templates remain useful for some workloads.
Keep policies purposeful
Each policy should have a clear objective, owner and target. Avoid one enormous policy containing unrelated settings, and avoid duplicating the same setting across several profiles.
Naming
Use consistent names that identify platform, purpose, audience and lifecycle stage.
Assignments
Use deliberate user or device targeting and document exclusions.
Conflict control
Review overlapping settings and resolve conflicts before broad rollout.
Change management
Record approvals, testing, rollback and expected user impact.
Compliance policies and Conditional Access
Compliance policies evaluate device health and configuration. They can assess encryption, operating-system version, password requirements, threat level and other criteria. On their own, compliance policies report state; Conditional Access turns that state into an access decision.
A staged design is safer than immediately blocking all non-compliant devices. Begin with reporting and user notifications, validate results, then progressively enforce access requirements.
| Control | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Configuration policy | Sets or manages a device setting. | Enable BitLocker and configure recovery-key escrow. |
| Compliance policy | Evaluates whether a device meets a requirement. | Require encryption and a minimum supported operating-system version. |
| Conditional Access | Controls access based on identity, device and risk signals. | Require a compliant device for Microsoft 365 access. |
| App protection policy | Protects work data inside supported applications. | Prevent copying corporate data into personal applications. |
Endpoint security and Microsoft Defender integration
Intune endpoint security policies can manage antivirus, firewall, disk encryption, attack-surface reduction, account protection and other security controls. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint integration adds device-risk signals and can support remediation of identified weaknesses.
Security baselines provide Microsoft-recommended starting points, but they should not be assigned unchanged to production without testing. Baselines can affect authentication, legacy applications, network behaviour and user workflows.
Application deployment and protection
Application management is often the most time-consuming part of an Intune rollout. Build an application catalogue that records package type, source, owner, deployment intent, dependencies, detection rules, uninstall commands and support notes.
Windows applications
Win32 application packaging is appropriate for many desktop applications. Detection rules must accurately identify successful installation, and supersedence or dependency relationships should be tested carefully.
Mobile application management
App protection policies can protect organisational data in supported mobile applications, including on devices that are not fully enrolled. Controls can require a PIN, restrict data transfer, encrypt application data and remove corporate data selectively.
Enterprise Application Management
Organisations using applicable advanced Intune licensing can use Enterprise Application Management to simplify discovery, packaging and updating for supported applications. Licensing and catalogue coverage should be verified before relying on it.
Windows updates and servicing
Intune can manage Windows Update client policies, including update rings, feature updates, quality update acceleration and driver updates. The strategy should define deployment rings, deadlines, restart behaviour, rollback and exception handling.
Validation ring
Small group of IT and technical users who receive changes first.
Pilot ring
Representative users and devices across departments and hardware models.
Broad ring
Most production devices after validation criteria are met.
Exception ring
Devices with justified dependencies and a defined remediation date.
Windows 10 reached end of support on 14 October 2025. Remaining Windows 10 devices should have a documented upgrade, replacement or exception plan.
Reporting, support and ongoing operations
A deployment is not complete when devices enrol. Intune requires ongoing monitoring, policy maintenance, incident handling and lifecycle management.
Common Intune deployment mistakes
Deploying too broadly
Policies are assigned to all users or devices before representative testing.
Using groups without a design
Assignments become difficult to understand because user, device and dynamic groups overlap.
Confusing configuration with compliance
Settings are evaluated but not enforced, or enforced without a clear access strategy.
Overloading Autopilot
Too many required applications make provisioning slow and fragile.
Ignoring operations
No team is responsible for monitoring, remediation, updates and policy maintenance.
Leaving legacy management unresolved
Group Policy, scripts, Configuration Manager and Intune compete to configure the same settings.
A practical Intune deployment roadmap
Discovery and requirements
Inventory devices, applications, platforms, ownership models, network dependencies and business requirements.
Tenant and identity preparation
Confirm licensing, domains, groups, roles, MDM authority and platform prerequisites.
Architecture and standards
Define naming, assignments, scope, policy ownership, change control and security principles.
Build the minimum viable baseline
Create essential enrolment, configuration, compliance, security, application and update policies.
Technical validation
Test with lab devices across each supported platform and representative hardware.
Pilot rollout
Deploy to a small business pilot group, measure results and resolve user-impact issues.
Staged production rollout
Expand by department, location, device type or lifecycle event with clear support coverage.
Operational handover
Establish monitoring, reporting, support, change management and regular policy review.
Microsoft Intune deployment checklist
Frequently asked questions
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based endpoint management service for devices, applications, configuration, compliance and organisational data protection.
A small focused rollout may take several weeks. A complex multi-platform deployment with legacy applications and broad organisational change can take several months.
Not usually, although unsupported operating systems, incompatible hardware and heavily customised legacy builds may require remediation or replacement.
No. It is one of several enrolment methods, but it is generally recommended for new organisation-owned Windows devices.
Configuration policies manage settings. Compliance policies evaluate whether a device meets defined requirements and can feed that result into Conditional Access.
Yes. Organisations can use full or limited enrolment, or protect work data through app protection policies without managing the entire device.
No. Use technical validation, pilot groups and staged production deployment.
No. Intune configures security controls and integrates with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, but it is not itself a complete endpoint detection and response platform.
Planning an Intune deployment?
Fedelta can help assess readiness, design the architecture, configure policies, pilot the rollout and establish ongoing endpoint management.