It’s been a few months since we released the latest version of Windows Intune. Today I’d like to share some updates on customers we’re seeing turn to Windows Intune, why they’re choosing it and how they’re using it in their organizations.

On the Microsoft News Center today we announced some great new Windows Intune customers: worldwide nonprofit Save the Children, professional management services company goetzpartners and e-discovery firm eLitigation Solutions. I encourage you to check out the press release for all the details on how Windows Intune is helping these customers simplify their IT management and security, as well as move to the latest version of Windows.

Why Windows Intune?

In today’s work environment, IT professionals and end users need the freedom to work anytime, anywhere, with access to their information and resources. This means IT pros who are responsible for PC management and security in their organizations have a big job on their hands. They aim to not only “survive” PC management, but to better manage new workstyles while protecting their company’s corporate data and assets, keep employees productive and streamline the cost of delivering routine management and security.

Windows Intune is focused on enabling these emerging workstyles, helping employees do their jobs from virtually anywhere, at any time, while still satisfying IT pros’ need for management. With Windows 7 upgrade rights, Windows Intune also provides a great opportunity to move from Windows XP to Windows 7 Enterprise and get the benefits of the best, most modern operating system.

How Customers are Using Windows Intune

Customers across a range of industries are working together with our partners to get Windows Intune and begin their upgrades to Windows 7 Enterprise. We’re seeing a few business scenarios emerge from these customers and thought you might be interested to hear more about how businesses are getting the most value from Windows Intune.

Organizations with groups of field, off-network and contract employees who are full-time, or have groups of roaming employees who are using corporate PCs that don’t frequently connect to the corporate network, are finding that Windows Intune helps them secure and manage groups of PCs that would otherwise be less secure and not up-to-date. For example, many large companies have a significant number of sales personnel who are constantly on the road with their PCs or may not be joined to the company domain. Similarly, some international organizations have highly distributed workforces with a large number of geographically dispersed offices and workers that make management using a corporate-based infrastructure challenging. In both these scenarios Windows Intune is being used to expand security and management to areas uncovered in the past.

The “bring-your-own” device trend is another case where people use their computers for both work and personal use and bring their own PCs into the work environment. Windows Intune helps the IT staff simplify management for these PCs, and employees are happy and able to stay productive with their choice computers.

Windows Intune is also a great solution for companies with limited IT resources. A lot of IT departments have limited manpower to deploy and manage on-premise solutions and configure internet-facing infrastructures to manage from anywhere. Windows Intune is simple and quick to set up for IT staff and can be used right away to manage both corporate and mobile PCs. Another adoption setting we’re seeing with Windows Intune is companies that do frequent mergers and acquisitions. These organizations need a solution that can be set up very quickly, rolling out management and security to the acquired company rapidly and efficiently.

With the cloud becoming a mainstream movement; more and more businesses have made the strategic decision to be early cloud adopters, thinking about how they can integrate cloud solutions like Windows Intune into their businesses to reduce onsite management costs while enabling greater business agility and worker flexibility.

We continue to evolve Windows Intune to meet the changing needs of today’s businesses. Our vision is to always deliver the best Windows experience with enterprise-class management and security. Look into it and see if your business and IT staff could benefit, you might just be blown away.

How to Get Windows Intune

If you want to try or buy Windows Intune, sign up here to receive the latest version immediately or connect with a Microsoft partner trained to sell and support Windows Intune. For help, visit the Microsoft Pinpoint site to easily find a full list of partners in your local area.