You know that moment when you're just trying to have a nice day, and suddenly someone drops "we need a workplace concept" on your desk like it's 2015 and you're still using SCCM and flip phones? ☎️

Yeah. That moment.

Let’s be real: if you’re reading this, you're not new to the workplace tech buzzword Olympics. You've danced the MDM-MAM two-step, AutoPiloted a few doomed devices, maybe even whispered sweet nothings to a cloud-only setup. But now? You’re starting from scratch. Again. Because someone decided greenfield means “start the chaos over but make it fashion.”

Now you're sitting there, chewing through your last nerve, muttering:

“Hybrid join or cloud-only? (Please not hybrid, nobody likes that guy.)
Device or user targeting?
Do I still have time to fake my own death?” 🫡

Take a breath, brave Intune Warrior. I've got you.

Where the Heck Do You Even Start?

First off: interrogate your stakeholders. Yeah, that’s right — take those suit-wearing, “we need synergies” saying folks and extract the truth. Internally or externally, doesn’t matter. If they have opinions, they need to answer the questions.

Here’s your workplace deployment FBI-style checklist:

🧠 Version 1: C-Level Executive Edition

(a.k.a. "No, you don’t need to know what OMA-URI means")

🎯 Business Goals

  • What’s the business purpose of this new workplace setup?
  • Which departments or regions are involved?
  • Are we replacing something or starting fresh?

💻 Devices

  • What kind of devices are employees using? (Laptops, phones, tablets?)
  • Are they company-owned or bring-your-own (BYOD)?
  • Should people be able to work from anywhere?

🧠 Apps

  • Which tools are essential for employees to do their jobs?
  • Any specialized tools that need extra care?

🔐 Security & Compliance

  • Are there security standards or certifications we need to meet?
  • Should devices be protected if lost or stolen?
  • Will we block risky logins or unapproved access?

🧑‍💼 Identity & Access

  • Is the employee directory (who works here, what they do) up to date and digital?
  • Should employees be able to install things themselves?

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Employee Experience

  • How should onboarding work for new employees?
  • How do we make sure people get help when things break?
  • Do we have a plan for training or communication?

🌐 Infrastructure

  • Any VPNs, firewalls, or old tools that could get in the way?
  • Are we still using older systems that need to be considered?

📊 Ongoing Management

  • Who is responsible for keeping the system up to date?
  • What reports or dashboards do we need?
  • What’s the process when someone needs help or something goes wrong?

👨‍💻 Version 2: IT Pro Edition

(a.k.a. “I’ve deployed Intune in anger before”)

1. 🔍 Business & Project Scope

  • What's the business case for Intune? Cost reduction? Security? Flexibility?
  • Which org units, user personas, or geos are in-scope?
  • Rip & replace or greenfield?

2. 🖥 Device Management Strategy

  • OS platforms: Win, macOS, iOS, Android?
  • BYOD vs. Corp-owned breakdown?
  • Enrollment methods (Autopilot, Apple DEP, zero-touch Android)?
  • Hybrid join or cloud-only (read: hybrid join = pain)?

3. 📦 Application Deployment

  • Core business apps (MS365, SAP, etc.)
  • LOB apps with special packaging needs?
  • Legacy dependencies (Win32, click-once, Web apps)?
  • Packaging strategy: Winget, .intunewin, PatchMyPC, RoboPack?

4. 🔐 Security & Compliance

  • Compliance baseline (CIS, NIST, internal policies)?
  • Conditional Access scope?
  • Defender stack (MDE, ASR, SmartScreen, AV config)?
  • BitLocker, Firewall, EDR exclusions, etc.

5. 👤 Identity & Access

  • Entra ID only or hybrid? Source of truth?
  • RBAC plans? Scoped roles for helpdesk?
  • Self-service portal? Enrollment restrictions?

6. 🎯 UX & Comms

  • Expected user onboarding flow (Out-of-box, manual, group-based)?
  • Training plans, tooltips, user guides?
  • Post-deployment support model?

7. 🌐 Network & Infra Dependencies

  • Proxy, split-tunnel VPNs, SSL interception?
  • Legacy JAMF, WorkspaceONE, Matrix42 coexistence?
  • DNS filtering, secure web gateways?

8. 📈 Governance & Ops

  • Policy lifecycle: Who owns testing, release, rollback?
  • Monitoring: Intune reporting, Log Analytics, custom KQL?
  • SLA & incident handling matrix?

Okay, You’ve Asked the Questions. Now What?

You’ve got your answers. You’ve probably also got some grey hairs. Now it’s time to build the damn thing. But don’t just charge in like a sheep on a sugar rush.

Start where you’re comfortable. Not when you’re burned out and half-caffeinated at 11 PM doom-scrolling Reddit.🫥

Need a solid place to start?
Grab the Open Intune Baseline. It’s 90% “safe defaults” and 10% “test before you nuke production.” Seriously — it’s like that work bro who always helps you and don't want to bill his time to the customer. Still: TEST THAT THING. Don’t deploy it blind and hope for the best. You’ll end up like that sheep running into a wall. Covered in wool, but emotionally broken.⛓️‍💥

App Packaging: Welcome to the Pain Zone

If you're thinking:

"I’ll just package everything myself, how hard can it be?"

Bro… unless you enjoy MSI transforms, InstallShield nightmares, and crying into your task sequence logs, go get a packaging solution. Robopack, Chocolatey, Patch My PC, Winget, anything — just not raw .intunewin files at 2 AM.

Get some more Infos about Robopack here:

App Management - Patch me if you can 🫣
💡This is not sponsored by Robopack. This is just my Opinion based on working multiple Years within Workplace Environments. Alright, picture this: it’s Monday morning. You’ve barely had your coffee, and suddenly your ticket queue lights up like a Christmas tree. Half the office can’t open their
CLOUDCOOKRoman Padrun

Yeah, it costs money. But so does therapy.

User vs Device Assignment: The Eternal Battle

You're now ready to assign your stuff. But wait:
User or device-based?

Ask yourself:

  • Is the device for one person or a community laptop used by a village?
  • Should apps/configs follow the user or stay glued to the hardware?
  • Kiosks? Labs? Shared desktops? (Hint: device-based)
  • Are your policies identity-driven or asset-driven?
  • Do you want BitLocker enforced no matter who logs in? Or just Steve?
  • Will the device be reassigned without wiping it like it’s been cursed?

Usually it ends up as:
“Standard stuff to device, weird edge-case stuff to users.”

TL;DR

  • Ask the right questions or suffer the consequences.
  • Test before deploy or get ready to rage-roll back.
  • Use baselines. Avoid hybrid join like it’s a phishing email.
  • Don’t DIY packaging unless you really hate yourself.
  • Assign smart. Default to device unless you’ve got a roaming use case.

And always remember: when things go wrong, just blame Intune.