Mobile devices have changed the workplace, giving businesses increased flexibility but making them more vulnerable to malicious threats.
Microsoft Endpoint Manager supplies companies with tools to protect their employees’ mobile devices through management and monitoring. With Endpoint Manager in place, your organization can benefit from a comprehensive security solution to protect your business’s sensitive tools and systems.
An overview of Endpoint Manager
Endpoint Manager (EM) is a security solution that business owners can use to manage and secure their enterprise’s endpoints, including mobile devices, laptops, and desktops. It provides a centralized location for managing security policies and configuration settings, along with monitoring the status of devices. EM exists as a suite of tools, with each solution designed to work together to provide a comprehensive security framework.
In addition to mobile devices, EM can be used to secure each of the following:
- Servers
- Embedded devices
- Virtual machines
Your company’s endpoints are the devices that connect you and your employees to your systems and data—a direct path cybercriminals can walk to reach the center of your business. By managing these devices and ensuring that cybersecurity solutions protect them, you can safeguard your business from malicious threats.
What is included in Endpoint Manager?
Allowing your employees to work remotely can help you secure their loyalty, but it also makes your information and business more vulnerable. 54% of IT professionals believe remote workers are security risks. When it comes to the security of your organization’s systems, you can never leave anything to chance.
EM’s catalog of cybersecurity solutions is innovative and detailed, leveraging Microsoft’s anti-threat solutions to protect and manage your business’s endpoints no matter their location. By investing in EM, your business gains access to the following:
Configuration Manager
Configuration Manager (CM) is a device management solution emphasizing Windows operating systems. CM allows users to deploy, monitor, and update Windows servers, devices, and applications.
CM can also store information within inventories—databases that house information regarding the configurations of enrolled devices and software within your IT systems. The inventories can be used to track authorized devices.
Microsoft Intune
A cloud solution, Intune is a mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) program. Usable on several systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, Intune is a part of Microsoft’s enterprise mobility + security suite. It allows businesses to develop and implement protocols surrounding their staff’s mobile devices.
Desktop Analytics
Desktop Analytics (DA) is a service that runs alongside Configuration Manager. DA assesses organizations’ hardware upon deployment to determine if the infrastructure is ready to be updated. It also informs you of compatibility issues before advising you on how to fix any problems before they grow.
DA gives you in-depth insights into your business’s devices, updates, and applications, granting you a richer understanding of your company’s security status.
Co-management
An integration tool, co-management uses Microsoft Intune to bring your organization’s on-site configuration solutions to the cloud, allowing you to convert them into hybrid solutions. With co-management, you can take advantage of your company‘s on-premises and cloud technology for a more efficient and secure IT system.
Endpoint Manager Admin Center
Essentially the operations center of your organization’s mobile security network, EM’s admin center compiles your business’s MDM and MAM policies and its catalog of registered devices into a single location. The admin center allows you to customize your company’s security protocols, manage devices, and more.
Windows Autopilot
Windows Autopilot is a service that allows employees to use Windows 10 and 11 devices (and other related hardware) as soon as it lands in their hands. It enables you to automate the deployment process, streamline the setup of new devices, and ensure your staff can continue their work with authorized equipment.
As a business owner, you must keep your systems (and the data stored within them) safe from mobile threats. EM’s comprehensive suite of device security programs allows you to create a fully customizable security environment that satisfies company policies and external regulations.
What is not included in Endpoint Manager?
Microsoft’s products and services are renowned for their integration capabilities—they can create a cohesive technological framework for more reliable systems and programs that are guaranteed to work with each other. However, it can be easy to mistake individual solutions, mainly when it appears that their services overlap.
To simplify the process of understanding what solutions EM touches upon, keep in mind that the following cybersecurity products are not a part of EM’s core functionality:
- Azure Information Protection
- Azure Rights Management
Can Endpoint Manager users access Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)?
While not strictly an EM product, Azure AD‘s cloud-based functions are leveraged by EM to give users the ability to identify and manage authorized personnel and devices, such as in the form of multi-factor authentication.
Azure Active Directory’s premium editions, P1 and P2, enrich the functionality of your organization’s security network by providing you with additional security features, depending on the service you choose. For example, Premium P2 gives you access to identity governance while Premium P1 does not.
If your organization regularly uses Microsoft 365, you already have some form of access to Endpoint Manager and Azure AD.
Secure your endpoints with Microsoft specialists
Your organization’s mobile devices are doors for people (authorized and malicious) to access your systems and data. By cataloging these tools and protecting them with the latest cybersecurity practices, you can oversee and manage your business’s entire network for more transparency and regulatory safety.
The endpoint security services at IT Gurus can help you create a comprehensive mobile endpoint security strategy for your organization. Whether you are interested in enterprise mobility + security, Intune‘s mobile device management capabilities, or the general security benefits of a Microsoft-enhanced ecosystem, contact the team today and keep your data, employees, and customers protected throughout the year.
