Built-in mobile device management in Office 365 now available

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Tim Tetrick

Back in October, 2014 Microsoft announced that built-in mobile device management (MDM) capabilities were coming to Office 365.  I am pleased to announce that as of Monday, March 30 this is now generally available and included at no additional cost in all Office 365 commercial plans, including Business, Enterprise, EDU, and Government plans.  The rollout for these capabilities started this week and will be completed worldwide in another 4-6 weeks.

Some examples of how customers can use these new MDM capabilities to help keep their company data safe:

  • You can set up security policies on devices that connect to Office 365 to ensure that Office 365 corporate email and documents can be accessed only on phones and tablets that are managed by your company and are compliant.
  • You can also set and manage security policies such as device-level pin lock and jailbreak detection to help prevent unauthorized users from accessing corporate email and data on a device when it is lost or stolen.
  • In addition, you get the ability to do “selective wipe”, to easily remove Office 365 company data from an employee’s device while leaving their personal data in place.

These capabilities support a diverse range of phones and tablets including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices.

For detailed technical information on this new MDM support, including supported devices and apps, as well as a list of the specific policy settings supported across the difference devices, see Overview built-in Mobile Device Management for Office 365.

If your customers are looking for protection beyond what’s included in Office 365, they can subscribe to Microsoft Intune, part of the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite, and receive additional device and application management capabilities for phones, tablets and PCs.  If you have questions about which cloud-based mobile device management solution is the best fit for you or your customer’s needs, see Choose between Microsoft Intune and Built-in MDM for Office 365.

Encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to have a conversation with your customers about how Office 365 can help them keep their company data safe at no additional cost!