The trouble with enterprise-class software is that you need an enterprise-class IT department to run it. For small and medium sized businesses, that means many useful features of Windows Enterprise edition are simply impractical, not to mention too costly. The result is that PCs in those smaller organizations are managed piecemeal, with inconsistent results and, paradoxically, a greater burden on IT staff and consultants to clean up messes that could have been avoided with more consistent management.
As an alternative, Microsoft unveiled a new product this week that offers some of those enterprise-grade features in a subscription-based package aimed at businesses with 25 to 500 PCs. I got a sneak peek at Windows Intune last week and then had a chance to install the beta release on a handful of PCs here when it was officially available yesterday. Here’s what you can expect.
Windows Intune is the latest addition to the Microsoft Online Services portfolio, which already includes the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS), offering online versions of Exchange, SharePoint, Office Live Meeting, and Office Communications Online. The new offering is a cloud-based service that allows an in-house IT department or off-premises IT consultant to manage and secure PCs remotely. (The Windows Intune home page offers more information about the service. It also includes details about how to sign up for the beta, which is open to customers and partners in North America only, specifically the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.) [Update 20-Apr: After 30 hours, the beta program was filled and is now officially closed.]
Windows Intune includes a web-based console (powered by Silverlight) that gathers information from client PCs with the help of a small stack of Windows Intune software modules. Client support requires one of the business editions of Windows: XP Professional (SP2 or later, with SP3 preferred), Vista Business, or Windows 7 Professional. It runs on x86 and x64 editions.
From the console, an administrator can:
- Track hardware and software configurations, drilling down into details about individual systems and also seeing overall usage—making it easier to manage software licensing, for example.
- Manage antivirus protection using the integrated Windows Intune Malware Protection engine.
- Review available updates and then push approved updates to client systems automatically.
- Provide remote assistance to clients who need help.
Microsoft expects the beta program to run for about a year. When it launches officially, subscribers will also gain access to two additional benefits: upgrade rights to Windows 7 Enterprise edition and access to the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, which includes the incredibly useful Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT), as well as application virtualization capabilities. Currently, those features are available only to Microsoft Volume License customers who also sign up for the Software Assurance package. (How much will it cost? For a discussion of pricing, see the last page of this post.)
So what’s inside Windows Intune? My hands-on report begins on the next page.
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