What is Microsoft Autopilot? And do I need it?

The pandemic has taught us all a lot about the benefits of digitalisation and about the practicalities of remote working. In this context, it’s worth considering the advantages of Microsoft Windows Autopilot and whether it could benefit your organisation.

Windows Autopilot is a collection of Microsoft technologies that can be used to set up and pre-configure new devices, making them ready for productive use. Using Autopilot, devices can be set up and preconfigured remotely. This creates a “zero touch” experience when pushing out new devices to staff.

The benefits of zero touch deployment

What do we mean by zero touch? Well, it simply means that there is no need for your IT department to ever handle the device. 

To understand why this is beneficial, let’s consider how setting up and configuring a new laptop for a new member of staff is usually completed. The device will be shipped to your IT department. The new starter will be invited into the office, where the IT team will load the operating system, user profile and any necessary applications onto the machine. This is a time consuming (and rather boring) process for both IT and the new starter.

Using Windows Autopilot, this process is transformed. Instead, the device is shipped directly to the new starter. They unbox the device, connect to Wi-Fi and verify their credentials. The laptop will provide updates on the enrolment process and then, within minutes, the laptop is ready to use.

Imagine what a difference this makes to the new starter! The onboarding process has effortlessly been enhanced. The onboarding of the necessary technology tools has been seamless. 

And the IT team has just had a huge raft of time-consuming and unrewarding work taken off their hands. They can now divert all that extra IT time to more rewarding and value-adding work.

What are the other benefits of Windows Autopilot?

Of course there is a significant direct cost benefit to using Autopilot for device set up and configuration. You avoid the costs of shipping devices multiple times and / or travel into the office.

It is, of course, particularly useful for geographically distributed teams and / or remote workers, for whom those costs might be significant or for whom such travelling might be impossible.

As well as enabling set up and configuration, Autopilot also enables devices to be wiped and made ready for subsequent use. By using Autopilot reset, your IT team can easily get a device ready for its next user. This is equally useful if you intend to give away the device, for example to charity when it is no longer needed. Or for quickly wiping devices that are reported lost or stolen.

How does Windows Autopilot work?

Windows Autopilot is included in a large number of Microsoft subscription services, including Microsoft 365 Academic A1, A3 and A5 subscriptions, Microsoft Enterprise E3 and E5 subscriptions. Best of all, Microsoft Autopilot is also included in a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription – putting this advanced technology in the hands of even the smallest business.

Autopilot enables the remote set up of devices but, to manage the entire lifecycle of that device remotely, you’ll need to pair it with a mobile device management (MDM) solution.

The natural partner to Windows Autopilot is Microsoft Intune (we’ll look at Intune in more detail in a subsequent blog). However, contrary to popular understanding, it isn’t necessary to use Autopilot with Intune. You can use Autopilot with any MDM solution. 

We would recommend, however, that you opt for Intune with Autopilot. This way, you will be able to benefit from the full functionality of both solutions. 

What’s next?

If you’d like more information about Windows Autopilot, how it might be deployed or how it might benefit your organisation, please reach out to our team. We’re always on hand to help and answer your questions.

Call us: 0808 164 4142

Message us: https://www.grantmcgregor.co.uk/contact-us 

Further reading

Why not catch up on other recent topics on our blog?

•    A quick guide to “cloud native” solutions – and whether they’re something your business should be thinking about.

•    Some ideas about how to get more from your team’s video calls.

•    Plus, how to make sure your staff know to exercise online shopping caution.