Cybersecurity and IT effectiveness are fueled by the Microsoft Intune Suite.

Endpoint management and security have undergone a significant change today. The Microsoft Intune Suite, which combines mission-critical advanced endpoint management and security solutions into a single straightforward bundle, is being introduced. Our customers’ endpoint management experiences can be made simpler by the new Intune Suite, which can also strengthen their security posture and maintain exceptional user experiences. Intune Suite-integrated Microsoft Security and Microsoft 365 will enable data science and AI-aware IT and security teams to increase automation, enabling them to quickly transition from reactive to proactive approaches to endpoint management and other security challenges.

Organizations rely on Microsoft Intune as a market-leading, unified endpoint management solution to keep their hardware, operating systems, and apps secure and effective. However, organizations need more assistance in reducing complexity due to changing work habits, security risks, a more challenging economic environment, and an increase in device diversity. Take into account the fact that two-thirds of respondents in a recent survey managed and protected their digital estate using more than ten tools. Organizations need to cut costs on licensing, management overhead, and attack surface as a result of more individual tools.

In this blog, I want to share three reasons why the new Intune Suite will matter to you:

• By reducing attack vectors, security is improved even more.

• workflows for IT and security operations can be simplified by consolidation and automation.

• savings as a result of lower support costs and management overhead.

In order to give this new offer more context, I’ll also share some findings from our most recent survey of nearly 400 endpoint management and security professionals.

The Microsoft Intune Suite: What Is It?

Let’s first go over the features that the Intune Suite provides. You may recall that we announced our plans to introduce the Intune Suite in March 2023 with an initial set of advanced solutions at Microsoft Ignite 2022. These crucial capabilities have been under development for some time.

Help desks can benefit from Remote Help, which is particularly crucial given how frequently employees are now working remotely from the office. Users of Windows already have access to remote help, and future releases will also include support for Android and Mac. Based on a user’s current company identity, IT help desk teams can remotely troubleshoot their desktop and mobile devices. For managing the devices of frontline workers, the additional Android support will be especially helpful. Find out more about the most recent Windows Remote Help updates.

Endpoint Privilege Management will enable the controlled elevation of Windows standard users so that productivity is not hindered by security controls. It will be available in preview form in March 2023 and in full in April. By allowing greater self-service for simple tasks like setting up a local printer, the right users will have the proper privileges at the appropriate times to lower the security risk of overprivileged users and the burden on the help desk. Discover the first release capabilities of endpoint privilege management.

Advanced endpoint analytics features and data-driven insights provided by the Intune Suite also aid IT administrators in comprehending, planning for, and enhancing the organization’s staff members’ user experiences.

Employees can access corporate resources from their personal mobile devices when necessary thanks to Microsoft Tunnel for Mobile App Management, a micro-VPN that connects personal iOS/iPadOS and Android devices.

The Intune Suite enhances the management of specialized devices, allowing workers to select the tool they require to complete their tasks without running the risk of becoming vulnerable.

Advanced app management, which offers an enterprise app catalog and controls for simple app discovery, deployment, and automatic updating to mitigate risks introduced by out-of-date apps, will be added to the Intune Suite after its March 1, 2023, launch. To issue and manage VPN and Wi-Fi certificates from Intune to devices without on-premise infrastructure, we will also introduce a cloud certificate management solution later this year. Over time, we’ll keep adding new, more sophisticated features to the Intune Suite, giving it more endpoint automation, control over the user computing environment, and security.

Why does this matter to you now, then? Better security, simplicity, and cost savings are at the root of it.

1. Reduce attack vectors and increase security

Our surveys indicate that much more work needs to be done to enhance enterprise endpoint security, even though IT and security organizations are getting used to supporting and safeguarding remote and hybrid work. More than three-quarters of endpoints are actively managed by organizations, according to only 43% of those who work in this field. To put it another way, 57% of businesses lack visibility and control over at least 25% of their endpoints. Additionally, only 39 percent of organizations use Endpoint Privilege Management and 37 percent use patch management. Therefore, it is obvious that there is a chance to broaden the range of devices that businesses can use to better understand the state and effectiveness of their digital estate. Through increased Endpoint Privilege Management and more frequent patch updates, there is also a chance to increase the level of protection provided. Before any Zero Trust initiative can truly gain traction, this fundamental “cyber hygiene” is essential to how the suite enhances security.

Tighter product integration is viewed as a crucial step by security professionals. Integration was the top response in our survey when asked how they could strengthen the endpoint security of their company. Multiple levels of integration are provided by the Intune Suite, including with Microsoft 365, other Microsoft Security assets, and the various parts of the suite. Less attackable vulnerable areas result from better integration. With the Intune Suite, we are dedicated to continuing to create end-to-end value for users, IT, and security operations. Microsoft has learned to be intentional about creating integrated value across its portfolio.

There is one single dataset as opposed to numerous disparate streams of data, which is an additional benefit of using a single vendor for more of your endpoint security needs. Better security analytics and visibility into potential vulnerabilities and anomalies result from consistent, uniform data. What you cannot see cannot be mitigated. Your ability to evaluate, manage, and take action on potential risks across your device landscape improves when you combine the data and actionable insights into one place.

“We will be able to consolidate our endpoint management solutions with the aid of the Microsoft Intune Suite, saving money, simplifying our lives, and protecting hospital data.” Any organization looking to improve its security posture would be strongly advised to use the Microsoft Intune Suite, according to Ibrahim Mahmood, IT Cyber Security Manager at Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

A mobile tablet device is being used by two medical professionals to review a patient chart in the hospital examination room.

2. Endpoint management is simple

Over the past few years, numerous organizations have reported an increase in IT environment complexity. This makes sense given that complexity can be increased by smartphones, bring-your own device (BYOD), hybrid work, and changing security threats. However, more point solutions have been added in response to the current complexity, which is a step backward because more solutions necessitate greater vendor integration requirements and may increase the number of attack surfaces.

It makes sense why endpoint tools haven’t been consolidated yet given other top IT priorities, such as cloud migrations, cost reduction, AI, analytics, and staff retention. However, I believe that the simplification and consolidation of endpoint management tools is needed quickly. By choosing the Intune Suite, you can simplify your approach to advanced endpoint management, meaning more bandwidth to focus on other priorities in 2023 and beyond.

Simplification also enables the consolidation of your security vendors—A Gartner® survey reported in September 2022 that 75 percent of organizations are pursuing security vendor consolidation in 2022, up from 29 percent in 2020.2 This not only presents the opportunity to reduce risk and direct licensing costs but saves time and mental overhead in not having to manage so many supplier relationships.