Microsoft Intune Suite consolidates endpoint management and protection

Microsoft has launched the general availability of Microsoft Intune Suite, a consolidation of its endpoint management and security solutions to streamline protection for cloud-connected and on-premises endpoints.

The consolidation is intended to serve as a single supplier for all endpoint security needs for the customers analysisrather than multiple disparate datasets, with consistent visibility of potential vulnerabilities and anomalies, according to a company blog post.

“Microsoft Intune is a leading, unified endpoint management solution that organizations rely on to ensure their devices, operating systems and apps are up to date, protected and performing,” said Michael Wallent, corporate vice president, Management, in the blog post.

Intune Suite, first announced at Microsoft Ignite 2022, has a customer-specific, tiered subscription model.

Intune’s core capabilities include managing cloud-connected devices across operating systems such as Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, and Linux. It also includes Microsoft Configuration Manager to manage on-premises endpoints such as Windows PCs and servers.

Intune also provides endpoint analytics to help IT admins understand and customize the user experience. The new product comes with features such as “Remote Help” that allows IT help desk teams to remotely diagnose and resolve issues with a user’s desktop and mobile devices, leveraging their existing corporate identity. Currently Remote Assistance is only accessible to Windows users, but will soon be accessible to Android and Mac endpoints in future editions.

Currently in preview, Endpoint Privileged managementwill be part of the Intune Suite in April and will enable organizations to automate controlled elevation of Windows standard users for timely privileges without compromising security.

To streamline access, Intune added Microsoft Tunnel for mobile app management, which routes secure access from personal mobile devices to corporate resources through a micro-Virtual private network (VPN). This capability has also been extended to Intune’s dedicated devices, including AR/VR headsets, wearable headsets, conference room conferencing devices, and devices with large smart displays.

In the future, Intune will add Advanced App Management to provide an enterprise application catalog and management tools to simplify application discovery, deployment and automatic updates to reduce the risks of legacy applications, Wallent said. By the end of the year, Intune will include a Cloud Certificate Management solution to issue and manage Intune VPN and Wi-Fi certificates to devices without on-premises infrastructure.

Features on Intune Suite are available as tiered subscriptions. The Intune Suite can be purchased as an add-on to any subscription that includes Intune, which most customers get through their Microsoft 365 subscription. Individual solutions within the suite will also be available as standalone add-ons for Intune.

The three subscription tiers for Intune include Plan 1, Plan 2, and Intune Suite. The base tier for Intune called Plan 1 includes the core capabilities of Intune and is available to customers with subscriptions to Microsoft 365 E3, E5, F1, and F3; Enterprise Mobility + Security E3 and E5; and Business Premium subscriptions. This plan costs $8 per user per month.

Plan 2 will be an add-on, available only to Plan 1 subscribers and will only provide advanced capabilities such as dedicated device management and Microsoft Tunnel for Mobile Application Management. This tier requires subscribers to pay $4 per user per month in addition to the Plan 1 cost.

Microsoft Intune Suite — the highest tier — will similarly be available as an add-on for Plan 1 customers and includes Microsoft Intune Remote Help, Microsoft Intune Endpoint Privilege Management, Microsoft Tunnel for Mobile Application Management, dedicated device management, and select Microsoft Intune advanced endpoint analytics features. This top tier can be subscribed for $10 per user per month, in addition to the cost of plan 1.