New changes for Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility plus Security (EMS)

IT leaders are being asked to ensure their businesses are secure and their end-users are productive wherever they are working. The Microsoft 365 E3 plan provides the flexibility to adapt and thrive through societal and economic disruptions because it combines best-in-class productivity apps with core security and compliance capabilities. One of the most powerful tools in the Microsoft 365 toolkit is Microsoft Endpoint Manager.

Microsoft announced earlier this year their plans to increase the price of its Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility plus Security (EMS) subscriptions starting in July. Microsoft is raising the Enterprise Mobility + Security E3 license from $9 to $11 per user per month and Intune subscription from $6 to $8 per user per month.

Organizations may be using EMS and Intune in Microsoft’s bundled Microsoft 365 E3 plan, which also provides access to Office 365 applications and Windows 10 Enterprise. However, Microsoft doesn’t plan to increase the price of the Microsoft 365 E3 plan in July, even though the cost will rise for the two standalone offerings.

The price increase was attributed to several investments Microsoft made over last 18 months for these two products.

Here are some highlights of recent announcements, with even more coming very soon:

• Microsoft Tunnel virtual private network (VPN) capabilities, extending Conditional Access to workers to use Android and iOS devices to access on-premises data remotely – a key principle of Zero Trust security.
• Broadened endpoint management, including adding support for virtual desktops and kiosks and shared devices, in addition to Windows PCs, Macs, and mobile devices.
• Expanded MacOS management to deliver more apps securely, collect better telemetry to improve management decisions, and improve security with enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) and file encryption.
• Endpoint analytics to help you understand how performance and health issues with your organization’s hardware and software may be impacting your end-user’s productivity. Further, Endpoint analytics connects insights from Productivity Score with Microsoft Endpoint Manager to ensure everyone can do their best work with Microsoft 365.
• Unified endpoint security management that reduces the friction between end-user computing teams and security operations by providing deep integration between Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as well as enabling specialized security roles for security managers to view and manage their day-to-day tasks within the Configuration Manager Console.
• Modernize your IT by bringing intelligent security value to all endpoints, whether managed on-premises or in the cloud.

Microsoft 365 helps foster a culture of collaboration with connected experiences while protecting company data, increasing employee satisfaction, and optimizing the administration of security and management.

If you have a subscription in place, the price is only allowed to change at the renewal date of the subscription. So, any subscriptions that start before the August 1, 2021, date would be locked-in until the annual renewal date at the current price.

Contact us if you want to take advantage of today’s pricing.