Walking around new and existing client offices and buildings, I take note of what sort and type of devices staff are using these days. It really is such a plethora of mobile types, laptops, tablets and of course desktops. Then I think about the huge growth in the remote-office worker and know there is even more device-diversity outside of the physical boundaries of the enterprise -out of sight.
This spiral in devices is referred to as “Consumerization” is growing and here to stay, colleagues are bringing their own devices to the enterprise work space (BYOD).
Digging up some supporting figures, Market intelligence says by 2016 shipped smart connected devices is forecast to top 1.84 billion!
I see clients all having the same sent of pain-points:
- Employees are spread out in many physical locations
- Many configuration types on their devices and licensing concerns
- Security can be compromised on these unmanaged devices
- Popularity of user owned devices is gaining in the corporate environment
- Traditionally high infrastructure costs to manage these mixed devices
- There is no control of application deployment on these devices
So, how do you take control of this situation? I am such a fan of Windows Intune – it really lets you embrace the consumerization of these devices in your environment.
Windows Intune is a cloud based service (so no investments or management of equipment for your IT staff!) that operates on a subscription service, per user.
I see clients getting such rich benefits, and on both sides of the fence – IT and Users. I summarize these here:
IT benefits:
- Intune allows policies to be set that secure mobile devices – passwords, remote wipe etc.
- IT can target applications to user profiles – sideload
Users’ benefits:
- Users can bring their own choice of mobile device into the workplace
- Users can access targeted applications through the Intune self-service portal
Windows Intune not only covers mobile devices, but also PC’s, laptops and tablets. This is a strength when you think about your home workforce part of your organization. IT can reach into the home offices and have the same peace of mind as if they are sitting in a cube down the hallway.
Due to the way Windows Intune work, it’s a no brainer when you think about both setup costs and operating costs:
- Super-low infrastructure overhead from a cloud service
- Reduced maintenance costs as PC’s are managed
- Automatic updates to Windows Intune cloud service – you don’t need to do anything
- Back-end integration with Office 365
- Instant insight into your device environment you can report and analyze
- 5 devices per user – more than enough!
- Straightforward predictable billing – per user per year
I’ll leave you with some more Market Insight Data I dug up, which will hit home more on cost savings:
“In a recent study from IDC in which Windows Intune testers were surveyed, research showed that businesses using Windows Intune can save nearly $700 annually per PC through improvements in IT and user productivity.”
