Co-author of new ConfigMgr 2012 book

My WMUG colleague @PeterEgerton has asked me to be co-author on the upcoming book "Troubleshooting System Center Configuration Manager".

The book (published by Packt) will be available in early 2016. Thanks Peter. I'm honoured that you've asked me.

At the moment the content is as follows (although the detail is subject to change).

• The Troubleshooting Toolkit
• Configuration Manager Log Files
• Troubleshooting Configuration Manager Clients
• Troubleshooting Hierarchies and site servers
• Troubleshooting Management Points and Distribution Points
• Troubleshooting other Configuration Manager roles
• Troubleshooting Common tasks
• Disaster Recovery
• Avoiding Trouble

The book can be pre-ordered on Amazon or directly from Packt Publishing.

We hope that it is useful for you.

Microsoft Intune policy refresh intervals

EMS Landing page

What are the Microsoft Intune policy refresh intervals for the various device platforms?

I was asked this question recently and it's come up several times in the past on the TechNet forums.

The intervals are as follows:

iOS - Every 6hrs
Android - every 8hrs
Windows Phone – Every 8hrs
Full Windows OS - Every 24hrs

Original reference:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/beanexpert/archive/2015/07/07/microsoft-intune-standalone-device-policy-refresh-interval.aspx

Microsoft Intune - one less portal to manage

EMS Landing page

Last week on the Intune Team Blog Microsoft announced that, due to customer feedback, they will be simplifying the administrative experience by removing the Intune Account Portal.

You can read that announcement here

This is the Intune Account Portal which can be accessed at http://Account.manage.microsoft.com

This is where we manage our users......

.......our domains......

.......and our subscriptions. Clicking on the Admin Console opens (surprise, surprise) the Intune Admin Console http://admin.manage.microsoft.com

This is where we manage our devices, policies and apps.

In future user, domain and subscription management is to be carried out using the Office 365 Management Portal http://portal.office.com

 See EMS subscription in the Office 365 Admin Center.

You can also launch the Intune Admin Console from the Office 365 Admin Center.

The Account Portal will be discontinued in late September. This is great news. We now have one less portal to manage. Don't worry if you don't have Office 365. You will be able to manage your users, domains and subscriptions through the Azure Portal.

Conditional Access with Microsoft Intune just got better

EMS Landing page

The Microsoft Intune team made an announcement last week regarding improvements to the end-user experience using conditional access for Exchange Online. A new workflow has been introduced for users that are blocked from Exchange Online because their devices are not enrolled or compliant. The workflow walks the users through the steps to enrol the device and to address any compliance issues.

You can read this blog here

The original blog post "Conditional Access for Exchange Online using Microsoft Intune" has now been updated to include the new improved user experience.

See how it works on an Android device. The user tries to connect to Exchange Online and receives a single email in their Inbox. The user opens the email and follows the link.

The user is prompted to install the Company Portal and enrol the device. The user follows the "Get Started" link.

The user is prompted to Begin the process to enrol the device.

Once enrolled the user is prompted to resolve the compliance issues.

When the compliance issues have been resolved the user can continue and will be able to receive email on the device using Exchange Online. This is very straightforward and is now an impressive streamlined process.