News
        
        Office 365 ProPlus Apps Get Intune Deployment Option
        
        
        
			- By Kurt Mackie
- August 15, 2017
Intune, Microsoft's  mobile  management service, now has the ability to launch  Office 365 ProPlus productivity applications for end users.
Announced the last week, the capability means IT pros can configure the  Office applications to be used via the Intune management interface within the  Azure Portal. It's possible to add Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio applications  to the mix, too. 
Once the applications are added and the configurations are  specified, end users will be able to install Office 365 ProPlus applications using  the Intune "Company Portal." Alternatively, there's a "silent  install" option that will push down the application suite to end users. 
While this method of distributing Office 365 ProPlus applications  (namely Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word) may seem simple, Microsoft described  some important caveats to note. Intune distribution only works for Office 365  ProPlus users that are also using Windows 10 "Creators Update"  (version 1703) or later versions of the operating system. 
Moreover, this method only works "for devices without  an existing version of Office" installed. IT pros should "remove all  versions of Office prior to enrollment," Microsoft's announcement  explained regarding the new Intune deployment method. "We are working with  Windows and Office teams on future enhancements to support devices with  existing Office deployments," it added.
If an end user is using Office apps during the app suite  installation, it possibly could result in data loss, Microsoft warned. 
"If any Office apps are open when Intune installs the  app suite, end users might lose data from unsaved files," Microsoft explained  in its Intune  documentation.
Similarly, "data loss or corruption" could occur  if Office 365 desktop apps get deployed from the Windows Store after Office 365  ProPlus applications have been deployed to devices using the Microsoft Intune  method.
Microsoft also explained in the comments section of its  Intune documentation that this method of distributing Office 365 ProPlus  applications currently just works with the standalone version of Microsoft  Intune. The hybrid approach, using the combination of Intune with System Center  Configuration Manager, doesn't appear to be supported.
The ability to assign the application type as  "Available" within the Azure Portal when configuring the Office 365  ProPlus application suite is currently missing. It "cannot be used  yet," according to Microsoft, in comments section of its Intune  documentation. Microsoft is planning to add that capability to "a future  release."
Lastly, this method of distributing Office 365 ProPlus  applications only seems possible for client devices that are purely under mobile  device management control. It may not be available for domain-joined devices.
Microsoft also seems to be recommending that IT pros have  the latest Office 2016 Deployment Tool installed to perform any needed  troubleshooting steps. It's available from the Microsoft Download Center here. The main reason  this tool is needed is because "Office does the installation, not  Intune," according to Rob Stack of Microsoft, in the Intune documentation's  comments section. 
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
            
        
        
                
                    About the Author
                    
                
                    
                    Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.