Next Microsoft Intune Update to Bring New Windows 10 Management Features

As I noted in the recent exclusive about the future of System Center Configuration Manager, Microsoft Intune is now updated on a monthly basis. In that article, I exposed that the new capabilities coming in the next version of Configuration Manager (due out before the end of this calendar year) are to bring better alignment between Configuration Manager and Intune. Since Intune is updated once a month, functions in the next version of Configuration Manager allow it to be updated on the same schedule. This will ensure that both products share like feature sets and administrators can work across both products to fully manage the environment.

Unfortunately, the next version of Configuration Manager won’t be available in time for the next update to Intune, since that will be happening between today, October 28, and November 6. The next big update to Windows 10 will deliver early next month, so this update to Intune needs to include some additional Windows 10 management features. And, it does. According to Microsoft, here’s what you can expect in this next update…

Windows 10 Enterprise Data Protection (EDP) configuration policies – using this feature, administrators can create EDP policies such as the list of apps that should be protected by EDP, enterprise network locations, protection level, and encryption for Windows 10. A Windows 10-specific template is included.

Universal Windows app deployment – Intune will now have the capability to deploy and install Universal Windows app for all Windows 10 devices.

Intune Company Portal app for iOS – the app will be updated with a minor new function that allows end-users to send feedback and diagnostic information to administrators.

The reason Microsoft gives a date range instead of a single day for scheduled Intune updates is that Intune is provided across multiple datacenters that service multiple regions. To figure out when your region and datacenter will be upgraded, or to monitor the upgrade, you can visit the Microsoft Intune Status Page. Additionally, the company now also provides RSS feeds for each Intune instance so you can receive alerts and updates through your favorite RSS reader.