How to make the most of your existing tech investments: Microsoft 365 and Windows 10
A more empowered workforce is a strong one. A VMWare survey found empowered employees spend 17 percent less time on manual processes. It also increases collaboration and decision making by 16 percent.
But at the same time, there’s a constant drive within organisations to ensure they stick to their budgets, or save costs. A great way to do this is to realise the value of your existing technology investments. In this blog, I’ll share some of the tools that are available to you as part of your Microsoft 365 and Windows 10 subscriptions to engage your workforce and help your organisation be more productive.
Productivity from day one
Windows Autopilot is a self-service cloud deployment platform in Windows 10. Using Windows Autopilot, IT admins can remotely deploy and configure devices in a zero-touch process right out of the box, whilst utilising your Microsoft 365 and Windows 10 investment.
This means all new users need is their credentials and a device. When they log in, all the tools and apps they need to work are automatically downloaded. They can get started on the important work sooner. No longer do they have to sit waiting for multiple downloads, or login approvals for the IT team.
For your IT team, this means they no longer have to maintain custom images and drivers for every device being used. This reduces the amount of time that IT needs to spend on these processes and the amount of infrastructure that they need to maintain them.
Leveraging cloud-based services, Windows Autopilot can reduce the overall costs for deploying, managing, and retiring devices. It can be managed remotely by tools such as Intune, Windows Update for Business, and the System Center Configuration Manager. This means the whole lifecycle of your organisation’s devices are looked after.
Get Surface devices ready-to-go
The single and best way to use your Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5 subscriptions and Windows 10 Enterprise is to deploy Surface through Windows Autopilot.
Surface devices and Microsoft 365 work together to give your employees the freedom to work their way. It makes it easier to collaborate and communicate while being protected by the best modern security and manageability platform we have.
With Surface devices, you can choose to register your devices at the time of purchase when purchasing from a Surface partner enabled for Windows Autopilot. New devices are shipped directly to your frontline employees, with a clean build. When employees turn it on for the first time, they are automatically enrolled and configured.
Windows Autopilot automatically sets users up with a Surface that contains all the apps and tools they need to do their work. This means employees are immediately productive right from day one. For those that work remotely or for frontline workers, this means they don’t lose time waiting for a device – they’re able to hit the ground running.
This also lets your organisation’s IT team implement new, agile methods of device management and distribution without having to spend time setting up each device individually.
Empower your employees
Organisations that provide employees with the tools and apps they need outperform those who don’t. 63 percent of employees using these apps said they increased their personal productivity. They are also four times more likely to report their organisation as a desirable place to work.
To unleash these gains, make sure you’re empowering your employees from their very first day with the tools and apps they need by investing in the inbuilt features of Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5 subscriptions and Windows 10 Enterprise.
By deploying devices through Windows Autopilot, organisations are empowered to achieve more, quicker. And by using Surface devices, your employees will have the freedom to work their way on flexible and secure devices.
When Surface is paired with Autopilot, it makes for a positive complete out-of-the box experience – giving your employees the confidence knowing they have everything they need to accomplish their personal and business goals from day one.
Licensing requirements
Windows Autopilot depends on specific capabilities available in Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 or E5 subscriptions. It requires Windows 10, Azure Active Directory and an MDM service such as Microsoft Intune.
Software requirements
- Windows 10 version 1703 (semi-annual channel) or higher.
The following editions are supported:
- Windows 10 Pro
- Windows 10 Pro Education
- Windows 10 Pro for Workstations
- Windows 10 Enterprise
- Windows 10 Education
- Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC
Networking requirements
- Ensure DNS name resolution for internet DNS names
- Allow access to all hosts via port 80 (HTTP), 443 (HTTPS), and 123 (UDP/NTP)
Find out more
| Windows Autopilot deployment |
Microsoft 365 Enterprise documentation and resources
About the author
Gareth aims to connect people with the tools they need to thrive, so that they feel inspired to contribute and have a sense of belonging to the community around them.
With over a decade of experience in the IT industry, technology adoption is the single biggest driver for him.
As a Surface Specialist at Microsoft, Gareth has the opportunity to showcase best in class technology to a wide variety of customers with the goal of producing meaningful outcomes for all.
