New ConfigMgr Hotfix Adds Immediate Client Notifications, Speeds Remote Wipe to Seconds

This seems to be less of a HotFix and more of a feature improvement update, but oh well. Microsoft has released a HotFix that brings a new feature and improvements in how remote retire and wipe operations work for System Center Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune (was Windows Intune until yesterday).

The functionality included in this HotFix is important and will be extremely valuable to customers using Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune.

First, off the HotFix allows administrators to centrally push notifications to the client computers and devices. A good example of how this feature could be used is for software deployments or critical updates. Configuration Manger administrators send out software and updates and generally expect end-users to comply – eventually – and allow software to install or systems to update. But, you know end-users, they'll delay things as long as possible. With this new functionality, administrators can notify end-users and say "Hey…really. This is important. Do this now." Of course, administrators have the ability to force updates through Configuration Manager, but that tends to make the end-user population irate, particularly if they're working on something important for the business, or haven't yet completed their latest Facebook post.

The second piece to this HotFix is improvements in the performance of remote wipe for devices. Without this HotFix, the operation could take up to 24 hours. After applying the HotFix to your System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager implementation, the communication to the client is improved to seconds. That's quite an enhancement. Also, for this to work, Configuration Manager must be tied to Microsoft Intune and the client must have an active Intune connection. The remote wipe feature works for iOS, Android, and Windows 8.1.

You can find the new HotFix here:  Hotfix adds client notification and provides fast channel communications to System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager