7th August 2020

Microsoft Intune – weighing up the pros and cons.

For organisations considering migrating to the cloud, Microsoft Intune might appear to be the logical choice for Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM). However, Intune may not fulfil all your business needs with the right level of security.

Intune is cloud-based so another solution will probably be preferable if your organisation mainly runs services on premises, especially in the highly-regulated legal and financial sectors. In addition, many mobile offerings such as Android Enterprise are not fully compatible with Intune.

Moving to a Microsoft suite with Intune may limit your mobile security and operational flexibility and can even slow growth plans for a modern digital workplace. So, before migrating from your MobileIron or BlackBerry UEM to Intune, you need to carefully weigh up the pros and cons.

If you’re looking to move to Intune, consider the following:

• As your organisation shifts from an on-premise datacentre to SaaS apps, you need a security platform that accommodates all your needs, while still securing on-premise apps.
• Can your UEM transform your device into a secure ID, enabling secure access to the enterprise? Intune can’t support this capability.
• Organisations that choose other UEM platforms over Intune appreciate the tighter integration with ISV and ecosystem partners.
• The complexity and cost of an Intune integration is significant as there’s no easy tool to migrate. Everything you’ve set up on your existing platform will have to be migrated to Intune at an estimated cost of up to £115 per user, per device.
• The importance of end-user choice and experience: working on any device with any app from any vendor requires a level of flexibility that Intune cannot provide.
• Your digital world goes beyond Microsoft. Deploying Microsoft for everything limits your purchasing options for renewals and locks you into shifts in their technology roadmap.