If you’re a Windows for Your Business blog reader, I probably don’t have to tell you how dramatically the way we work has changed. Employees expect their PCs to work efficiently, whether they’re in the office or on the road, so they have the tools they need to get their jobs done. They need access to their information and resources regardless of where they’re working. They want to use their computers for both work and personal use. At the same time, businesses need to ensure that PCs are highly secure and well-managed to help protect corporate data and assets, reduce support calls and streamline the cost of delivering routine management and security.

This is where Windows Intune can help – Windows Intune brings together Windows cloud services and a Windows 7 Enterprise subscription to help businesses simplify PC management and security, all while getting the benefits of a modern operating system. At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in July, we announced the beta for the next release of Windows Intune. Today we are excited to share with you that our next release of Windows Intune, which includes the new features and updates of the July 2011 beta, will be available on October 17 of this year!

We hope you have been enjoying your experience with the beta and we thank those of you who have provided valuable feedback. If you aren’t familiar with the service I encourage you to learn more about Windows Intune and see how it can help your business. As a reminder, each update we make to Windows Intune is built on the previous version, so customers will always get the latest features regardless of when the service was purchased.

Here is a quick reminder of some of the features included in the next version – and these are just a few of them. For a full list of features visit Windows Intune on Springboard.

• Software Distribution: With this release, administrators can deploy most Microsoft and third-party updates or applications to PCs nearly anywhere over the Internet.
• Remote Tasks: IT can remotely perform the following tasks on Windows Intune managed PCs from the administration console: Full scan, Quick scan, Update Malware Definition, and Restart.
• Read-Only Access: IT pros and partners can give select administrators read-only access to the administration console so they can view PC information as needed, but not perform any configuration tasks.
• Enhanced Reporting: Create hardware reports based on new hardware filters for common hardware characteristics. Additionally, you can now create and save report parameters to make it easy and efficient to run a report again in the future.

How do you get this next release?

• Current Subscribing Windows Intune Customers: Your service will be automatically upgraded in the few weeks following October 17; no action is required of you. Two weeks prior to your upgrade date, you’ll see an alert displayed in the Windows Intune administration console indicating the exact date and time when your subscription will be upgraded.
• New Windows Intune Customers: Sign up on October 17 to receive the latest version immediately.
• Beta Customers: The beta service will conclude on November 17. After this date, you will not be able to access your beta account and all account data will be deleted. We highly recommend that you remove the client software and restore computers to their pre-beta state.

If you’d like to get in touch with a Microsoft partner to help navigate the Windows Intune waters for your business, visit the Microsoft Pinpoint site for a full list of partners in your area.

Windows Intune can help solve several business challenges and delivers the best Windows experience. I hope you’ll check it out and see how it could be useful in your business.