MMS 2012: Windows Intune Gets Enhanced Mobile Device Support

Brad Anderson once again took the keynote spotlight at the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) in Las Vegas this morning, this time focusing primarily on Microsoft's approach to cloud-connected devices and on the enhanced support for tablets and smartphones in an upcoming version of Windows InTune.

My colleague Jason Bovberg takes a more detailed look at Microsoft's new cloud-centric mobile device management approach, but I'd like to focus on what I'd argue is one of the most significant new features announced at the keynote today: the enhanced mobile device functionality in Windows Intune.

Part of the management headache for IT pros is being tasked with managing multiple mobile devices from different manufacturers running a variety of operating systems, including iOS, Android, and Linux devices. Anderson revealed that the next version of Intune would offer enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange Server and Active Directory.

Microsoft's Eric Main posted more details of the changes on the Windows for Business Blog this morning. Here's an excerpt with additional details:

Despite an early demo glitch that prevented Anderson from demonstrating how to deploy apps using Intune to the iPhone, they were able to demonstrate the feature towards the end of the keynote. (See photo from the demonstration below.)

Have any MMS stories or experiences to share? Add a comment to this blog post or contribute to a discussion about MMS on Twitter.