What Is Microsoft Intune and Does Your Small Business Actually Need It?
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based device management platform. It lets you control what devices can access your Microsoft 365 environment, push configuration and security policies to those devices, and remotely manage them if something goes wrong. Whether a small business needs it depends on one thing: what kind of devices are accessing your corporate data, and what happens if something goes wrong with one of them.
What Intune actually does
Intune provides two main capabilities: Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM).
MDM means the device is enrolled in Intune and managed. You can push configuration profiles (Wi-Fi settings, VPN, email setup), enforce security policies (require screen lock PIN, require encryption, minimum OS version), deploy applications silently, and wipe the device if it is lost or stolen. This works for both company-owned and personal devices, though the scope of what you can control is typically broader for company-owned devices.
MAM means you manage specific applications on the device without necessarily managing the device itself. For BYOD scenarios — personal phones and laptops accessing work email and Teams — you can apply policies that prevent corporate data being copied from Outlook to a personal app or stored outside managed storage, without touching the rest of the device.
Five scenarios where Intune is clearly necessary
- 01
Staff use personal devices to access corporate email and data
If a staff member's personal phone or laptop accesses Microsoft 365, you have no visibility or control over what happens to that data if the device is lost, compromised, or if the person leaves. Intune's MAM policies let you protect corporate data on personal devices without full device management.
- 02
You want to remotely wipe a lost or stolen device
Without Intune, losing a laptop with access to your Microsoft 365 environment is a significant risk. With Intune, you can force a remote wipe — or at minimum a selective wipe of corporate data — from the admin console within minutes of being notified.
- 03
You want to enforce minimum device security standards
Intune compliance policies let you define what a compliant device looks like: encryption enabled, minimum OS version, PIN or biometric required, no known malware. Combined with Conditional Access, non-compliant devices can be blocked from accessing corporate data entirely.
- 04
You are deploying new computers and want them configured automatically
Intune integrates with Windows Autopilot to let new computers configure themselves when a staff member signs in for the first time. Apps install automatically, settings are applied, email is configured. No manual IT setup needed per device.
- 05
You have compliance, insurance, or regulatory requirements
Cyber insurance policies increasingly ask specifically about device management. Regulated industries (healthcare, financial services, legal) often have requirements around data on devices. Intune is the Microsoft tool for meeting these requirements in a documented, auditable way.
When Intune is probably not necessary
If your organisation has a small number of users, all of whom work exclusively on company-owned desktop computers that never leave the building, with no personal devices accessing corporate email, and no compliance requirements, Intune adds less obvious value. The management overhead may not be justified.
That said, this describes an increasingly uncommon situation. Remote work, personal devices accessing Teams and email, and cyber insurance requirements have made device management relevant for most businesses with 10 or more employees.
What it costs and where it comes from
Microsoft Intune is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, and Microsoft 365 E5. If your organisation is on Business Premium, you already have Intune — it is part of the licence you are paying for.
If you are on Business Standard or another plan that does not include Intune, you can purchase it as a standalone add-on (Microsoft Intune Plan 1) at around $10–12 per user per month, or you can consider upgrading your base licence to Business Premium, which may be more cost-effective depending on what else Premium includes that you need.
What Intune can manage
| Device type | MDM (full management) | MAM (app management only) |
|---|---|---|
| Windows PCs (company-owned) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows PCs (personal/BYOD) | ✓ (user opt-in) | ✓ |
| macOS (company-owned) | ✓ | Partial |
| iOS / iPadOS (personal or company) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android (personal or company) | ✓ | ✓ |
If you are on Business Premium and Intune is not configured, you are paying for device management capability that is doing nothing. The licence is there. The question is whether the tool has been set up.
Next step
Microsoft 365 Health Check
A Health Check reviews your full Microsoft 365 environment, including whether Intune is enabled and configured, what devices are accessing corporate data, and what gaps exist in your device management posture.
Learn more