Microsoft's Intune Suite: Next-Level IT or Overpriced Toolset?

[@ThisWeekinIT]

Thanks for watching! What do you think of the Intune Suite? Are the tools worth the asking price? Let me know what you think below. ⌚ Time Stamps 00:00 - Start 01:10 - What is Microsoft Intune Suite? 02:35 - Microsoft Intune Enterprise App Management 04:18 - Microsoft Intune Advanced Analytics 06:39 - Microsoft Cloud PKI 08:34 - Pricing and licensing 10:32 - Is Intune Suite worth the price?

[@rolandtaylor9661]

Subscribed not just for the useful breakdown I needed, but for the earnest request and share of analytics at the start! Great vid. I’ll be pushing for it at my org, because I need some form of each of these tools, and I prefer one portal.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

Thanks!

[@philly4yaa]

Enterprise app management is huge. This is going to save so much time and effort and help maintain compliance. The catalogue is ok, but needs more apps - which i think over time will help. thanks for advising about the addon cost for this, definitely be getting this. EPM needs more work to ensure a seamless feature.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

Have you tried it yet?

[@philly4yaa]

yes tried EPM and now trying out EAM. So far so good!@@ThisWeekinIT

[@Andrew-Peel-999]

@@ThisWeekinIT - I've started a trial but was really expecting more. It was initially marketed as a third-party patch management solution for applications but the initial release is more focused on the initial deployment of those applications as opposed to regular updates that we see in other solutions such as Patch My PC.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

@@Andrew-Peel-999 that's interesting because Microsoft has promised this solution manages apps through the full lifecycle, including updating. Are you saying it cannot update apps post initial deployment at this stage?

[@Andrew-Peel-999]

@@ThisWeekinIT - At the moment there are two options; a) you deploy the application using Intune and then it updates automatically over the internet using the application vendor's own self-updating mechanism (not via Intune) or b) you deploy the application using Intune, Microsoft publishes an updated version of the application that you then have to deploy through Intune. This in effect means you have to keep deploying each new version of an application as opposed to applying an update to take you from one version to the next.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

Just to be clear, and it's a mistake that should have been edited out at the beginning of the video, Intune Suite doesn't include the core feature set from Plan 1.

[@jonathang8571]

The Intune Suite is definitely too expensive for my employer to consider. We are implementing the EPM solution, however. We considered Remote Help, but its limitations made us decide to stay with our third party solution.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

What is your third party remote help solution?

[@scubascott32]

I’m curious about this also. What are the limitations. We using LogMeIn Rescue at 14k/year. I’d be curious to see how remote help stacks up against it. For example can I use remote help to a non domain pc to help a contractor for example on their personal device.

[@jonathang8571]

@@scubascott32Remote view for MacOS (full control coming in spring), and Windows session doesn't support switching users. Two big ones I've noticed so far.

[@jonathang8571]

@@ThisWeekinIT We've been using Connectwise Control.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

@@jonathang8571 What does it do for you that MS Remote Help doesn't?

[@Hans-gb4mv]

Wait, they put the enterprise app mgmt in the Suite? Damn you Microsoft. I was hoping it would come to Intune in general. Now I'm going to have to spend time to see if the money will be worth it, and that will greatly depend on how many of our applications are in there, and I assume the list will be minimal which is the reason I have stayed clear of other services that offer similar functionality.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

Are there any apps in particular that you need and you expect not to be there?

[@Andrew-Peel-999]

The obvious missing vendor is Adobe - currently there are just less then 100 applications listed and the list of applications is not even complete for Microsoft's own applications.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

@@Andrew-Peel-999 Incredible that Adobe products are not there. Not even Acrobat Reader?

[@Andrew-Peel-999]

@@ThisWeekinIT - Correct Adobe Reader is not yet available.

[@adrianbishop694]

go with Patch my pc, much cheaper option

[@nimeshingovender1150]

Too expensive and 3rd party has much more features. This feels like a pre-mature offering compared to third party. MS is playing catchup in this space and wants the consumer to pay while they add on features that other 3rd party software already have at much better prices.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

Which third parties offer all these features in a single product?

[@Andrew-Peel-999]

None but many customers have pre-existing investments with third-party solutions so would only consider the Intune Suite at renewal time. Also as mentioned above, these products cannot at the moment be classed as enterprise ready as they are lacking a number of key features; only when these products mature will they be considered as successors to the third-party solutions.

[@ThisWeekinIT]

@@Andrew-Peel-999 Great points. Even though there are some features missing, I guess these solutions might be enough for some customers. My concern would be whether Microsoft ever develops them further. Third-party products almost certainly will evolve. But these solutions, it's less certain IMO.

[@Andrew-Peel-999]

@@ThisWeekinIT - Agree. At the moment I would see the sweet spot to be for smaller to medium sized businesses that may not have large IT teams as opposed to large enterprises. Certainly the enterprise application management add-on reduces the need to repackage applications for deployment assuming that are you able to live with the limited customizations that can be made from a command line installer. I'm confident that Microsoft will develop the products further, we've seen that with the enhancements that have been made with Remote Help since it was launched last year when it only supported Windows (now supports Android and macOS as well). The other issue to consider is that this is another add-on license that is competing for your money. Would an organization select to purchase this add-on or would they opt instead for the Microsoft 365 Co-pilot add-on or one of the many enterprise security add-ons? A customer with 10K seats is looking at an additional cost of 1.2 million dollars per year for the Intune Suite.

[@Andrew-Peel-999]

@@ThisWeekinIT - Agree. At the moment I would see the sweet spot to be for smaller to medium sized businesses that may not have large IT teams as opposed to large enterprises. Certainly the enterprise application management add-on reduces the need to repackage applications for deployment assuming that are you able to live with the limited customizations that can be made from a command line installer. I'm confident that Microsoft will develop the products further, we've seen that with the enhancements that have been made with Remote Help since it was launched last year when it only supported Windows (now supports Android and macOS as well). The other issue to consider is that this is another add-on license that is competing for your money. Would an organization select to purchase this add-on or would they opt instead for the Microsoft 365 Co-pilot add-on or one of the many enterprise security add-ons? A customer with 10K seats is looking at an additional cost of 1.2 million dollars per year for the Intune Suite.

[@fbifido2]

Overpriced Toolset