Understanding the Microsoft Managed Desktop

• The Microsoft Managed Desktop service provides management of Windows PCs using Microsoft 365 technologies.
• The service will be valuable to some organizations by outsourcing the friction of maintaining Windows PCs.
• Many customers will be excluded by the service’s limitations and prerequisites.
• Even organizations that do not buy the service could benefit from understanding how it works.

Microsoft Managed Desktop (MMD) could help some organizations streamline the management of their Windows PCs, if the organization can meet the software and hardware prerequisites. The service also includes management of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on these PCs, but it does not include any other security or device management. Microsoft’s claims improved performance and double the battery life for an MMD-imaged and managed device. The former is likely, given the focus on removing unnecessary software from the device. The battery life claims are dubious outside of a lab environment.