Your customers are planning to start using Microsoft Intune endpoint management solution, maybe it is time for you as a MSP to start using Intune as efficiently as possible?

Your customers are planning to start using Microsoft Intune endpoint management solution, maybe it is time for you as a MSP to start using Intune as efficiently as possible?

Why Microsoft Intune has not previously been introduced as a standard part of a Managed Service Providers’ toolset? One reason might be that the Microsoft’s famous endpoint management solution Intune is not considered to be a rich enough with service management related features. Managed service providers tend to overlook Intune as workstation management tool and only use Intune for mobile device management. Why this is the case? 

In general, MSPs need tools for managing everyday operations, like  

  • Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR): Protect against data loss following a catastrophic event 
  • Cyber Security: Protection against cyber threats 
  • Remote Access: Enable end-users to securely access networks, devices, systems and well functioning remote support
  • Service Automation: Reducing the need of technical support and automating helpdesk tickets 
  • Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM): Monitoring customer environments in real-time 
  • Patch Management Automation (PMA): Keeping customer environments up to date with automatic provisioning and updates 
  • Application and Configuration Packages: Maintaining and enhancing user experience of customer environments with application and configuration packages 
  • Reporting: Analyzing customer environments and operational efficiency 

Picture 1 Riihicloud SaaS business platform. Read more about Riihicloud.

Building efficient bespoke MSP toolset starting from scratch requires time and money

Quite often MSP ends up using several tools in combination and none of them provides one common view to even one customer, furthermore, there really is no common view to all customers at once. However, even with these constraints, the managed service providers tools can help service providers reduce the time necessary to perform daily tasks, save money and drive efficiency.  

MSPs needs a full visibility into a customer’s operations and they need to organize customer data and inventory to their configuration management database (CMDB). The goal for MSPs is to get the most value out of the resources at its disposal. MSPs also wants to reduce the number of dissatisfied customers and improve their response time for service-level agreements. 

An efficient Remote Monitoring and Management RMM tool is the essential for MSP’s operational efficiency. With RMM a MSP can monitor its systems and devices in real-time and quickly identify incidents and alert stakeholders. MSPs can leverage the RMM tools to continuously monitor customer systems and operations. With constant monitoring, MSPs can identify an incident in its early stages and address the issue before it escalates. They can create an alert if an incident occurs, notify stakeholders and ensure the incident is immediately resolved. 

A patch management automation helps MSPs keep their systems and devices up to date and the tool ensures patches are automatically applied across systems and devices as soon as they become available.  As a result, this ensures the guard against the latest cyber threats. MSPs can plan tasks for workstations, detect and escalate driver updates and set up triggers to initiate automated processes. 

Maintaining customer environments with application and configuration packages requires weekly maintenance, development and testing work to produce up-to-date packages for patch management and provisioning. This work is tedious routine work for endpoint specialists and can be overwhelming for an endpoint management team after a while, especially, if technical resources would be needed in more end customer value adding work. Therefore, MSPs are looking for an outsourced solution especially for application package production. 

All these tools are needed and they have their good place in the MSP’s toolbox. However, especially if the tools are not integrated under the same user interface, having good reporting is crucial. Collecting data and generating insights from it enables developing operational efficiency, improve services and analyze customer environments for needed updates and enhancements. At the end of the day, this helps the MSP to meet or surpass its customers’ expectations. 

Picture 2 below is a graphical presentation of Riihicloud managed service provider tools for endpoint management. Supported operating systems for end points are Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android and (Linux Q2/2022). 

Picture 2 Riihicloud managed service provider tools for endpoint management

Why implementing Microsoft Intune is just one part of a total endpoint management solution?

Coming back to the original question; while Microsoft ecosystem and Microsoft 365 with Intune for endpoint management provides tools for some of the above-mentioned requirements, the implementation is designed for an end user perspective, thus lacking MSP requirements for an integrated solution with high operational efficiency. Therefore, Riihicloud has implemented a full set of integrated MSP tools and services to complement the Microsoft Intune and enrich the user experience to meet the MSP requirement level.  

Riihicloud MSP tools are providing one common multi-tenant view over all customers combined with turnkey SaaS delivery. Riihicloud for endpoint management is a unique business platform for MSPs capable of leveraging 20 times more revenue compared to stand-alone inhouse and legacy endpoint management solutions. 

Riihicloud for endpoint management SaaS platform modern architecture saves time and money

Riihicloud for endpoint management SaaS platform provides following managed service provider tools out of the box without any investment or additional license costs. 

Riihicloud Endpoint Analytics – Multitenant views to all customers and endpoints 

  • Health and security views for Windows, Mac and mobile endpoints 
  • Up-to-date status 
  • Software and hardware Inventory 
  • Warranty information  
  • Standard integration API (In/Out): Integrations and automation; e.g. service request functionality with integration to ticketing systems, integrations to other systems

Riihicloud Endpoint Management – Multitenant management tools to all customers and endpoints 

  • Provisioning standardized customer environments: Windows AutoPilot and pre-provisioning, mass provisioning tools for tenant mass provisioning and patch management 
  • Maintaining customer environments with application and configuration packages and on demand service automation 
  • Enhancing and updating customer environments with weekly maintenance routines 
  • Monitoring and analyzing customer environments to maintain high level security standards and end-user satisfaction
  • Cyber security certifications and audits for customer environments requires use of centralized endpoint management

Riihicloud Smart Packages Engine and Services – Application and configuration package factory  

  • Smart package engine: Riihicloud Smart Packages Engine is built by XML driven engine for Intune on Azure (MDM channel) providing highly automated way to provision updated application and configuration packages to endpoint devices  
  • Smart packages: Riihicloud smart packages both for application and configuration packages  
  • Weekly routines: Weekly maintenance, development and testing routines for updated application packages  
  • On-demand: Standard and custom packages development
  • Free/Fixed Price: Free generic use or fixed price customer specific smart packages
  • Product development: Combine smart application and configuration packages for different customer segments or LOBs into your tenant templates
  • Sustainable: Re-use existing legacy application & configuration packages
  • Automation: Automation with smart configuration packages

Picture 3 Riihicloud smart packages engine and services 

Free Riihicloud Proof of Concept is agile way to start Microsoft Intune customer implementation

Start using Riihicloud today! Demonstrating return on investment and onboarding new customers with free Riihicloud proof of concept is easy. 

We can demonstrate ROI without upfront investment already immediately after POC: 

Join the winning team and start using Riihicloud today! 

We offer you a free consultation about our Riihicloud endpoint management service. Book a free time from calendar so we can talk about solutions and opportunities of the service.

Our managed service provider partners interests are our topmost priority! 

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