Summary
Organizations that must deploy new devices typically end up creating their own custom Windows image. To prepare a custom image, organizations must get the right drivers, apps, policies, and settings. They must then maintain an image for every device type they support. For every new PC they deploy, they wipe the Windows image that came pre-installed. At that point, they can either replace it with their custom image, or manually set up a device.
As the IT owner, an organization may apply a custom image or manually set up a device on their own. Or, they may have their hardware vendor do it for them. Either way, these deployment methods cost time and money. They also add significant complexity and effort to the process of deploying new devices.
This module examined how Microsoft addresses this deployment issue with Windows Autopilot, which simplifies the process of enrolling devices in Intune. Building and maintaining customized operating system images is a time-consuming process. You may also spend time applying these custom operating system images to new devices to prepare them for use before giving them to your end users.
You learned that with Microsoft Intune and Autopilot, you can give new devices to your end users without the need to build, maintain, and apply custom operating system images to the devices. You also learned that when you use Intune to manage Autopilot devices, you can manage policies, profiles, apps, and more after they're enrolled.
This module not only introduced you to Windows Autopilot, but it examined how to configure and deploy it, and how to validate its requirements. You also learned how to create and assign a Windows Autopilot profile that's used during the deployment process.
The module then introduced the three methods of deploying Autopilot:
- Self-deployment model. You learned how the Autopilot self-deployment model deploys Windows 10 and 11 with little or no user interaction.
- Pre-provisioned deployment model. The module examined how the Autopilot pre-provisioned deployment model enables end users to provision new devices by using the preinstalled OEM image and drivers.
- User-driven deployment model. You reviewed how the Autopilot user-driven deployment model enables new Windows 10 and 11 devices to be transformed from their initial factory state without requiring IT personnel to ever touch the device.
The module concluded with a review of BitLocker encryption for Autopiloted devices. You learned that with Windows Autopilot, you can configure the BitLocker encryption settings to be applied before automatic encryption is started.