Gaining even the slightest advantage over your competitors can make a massive difference to the success of your business. With so much technology available, you need to choose the right solutions for the growth of your organization. Windows Autopilot is a collection of technologies that helps you to make better use of your time. It does this by helping you to pre-configure new devices and thus reducing the time to productivity.

So, not only is this going to simplify the operations of your IT department, but it will also empower your employees. Below we’ll go over the top 10 benefits of Windows Autopilot to your business.

1.    Self-deployment

There are few better ways to enhance your productivity than by having new devices ready for business straight off the shelf. Any new Windows 10 devices that have been pre-enrolled in the Windows Autopilot program will be ready to use on arrival with zero-touch and no involvement from your IT team. When a user takes possession of such a device, all they’ll need to do is turn it on, connect to a network, and then wait a little.

2.    No OS re-imaging

This part of setting up new devices is one that has always taken up a significant amount of time. With IT departments having to manually install apps and drivers, manage infrastructure, and set policies, the process took relatively long. But, Windows Autopilot does away with all that. By using a smart and easy pre-configuration, all of this becomes an automatic process. Once you have set up an Autopilot profile in Microsoft Intune, all the Windows devices that you have under that profile will have these settings applied.

3.    Customize OOB experience

To save time, Autopilot allows you to customize the out-of-the-box experience (OOBE) in advance. All you need to do is set your organization’s preferences. And this will simplify things for end-users by eliminating entire sections during setup that previously required manual input. So now they’ll be able to get through the setup process much faster and with a lot less hassle. With this kind of capability, you can ship devices directly to end-users and they’ll be up and running in no time.

4.    Enrollment status

Bypassing IT when setting up devices is something that will understandably concern some people. However, Autopilot has an enrollment status feature to alleviate those concerns. What this feature does is to ensure that a device is fully configured, compliant, and secure before the end-user gains access. That way, IT still gets to assess devices, make sure that they are properly set up, and resolve any errors when issues arise.

5.    Independent of MDM

Can you use Autopilot if your organization doesn’t use Microsoft Endpoint Manager/Microsoft Intune? The answer is yes you can. Any MDM will work with Autopilot but for an optimum experience with all the features then Intune would be best. So for any business that prefers other non-Microsoft technologies, you can still reap the benefits that Autopilot offers. You may be missing out on using this fantastic technology because of some of the misconceptions that people have.

6.    Available for existing devices

This is another area that often requires clarification as some existing devices can qualify. To be specific, users with Windows 1809 and above can also benefit from Windows Autopilot for existing devices. IT people can now facilitate processes like Windows 7 to Windows 10 migration through Autopilot. They can do this by using a ConfigMgr task sequence and then followed by an Autopilot user-driven mode.

7.    Simple redeployment

Occasionally, certain devices will need to be given to new users or repurposed entirely. Autopilot makes wiping a device a simple process that you can do in minutes. And once that is done, you’ll have a device back in OOBE status and ready to be handed over to someone else. This new user will receive the device with the specific configurations that they need already in place. By making resetting devices this easy, Autopilot further empowers IT teams and enhances their productivity.

8.    Avails latest technology

By pre-configuring devices, Autopilot enables end-users to immediately gain access to the latest versions of essential tools. These include Microsoft technologies such as Teams, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc. And so without the need to wait on IT, end-users will have all the essential apps they need with all the necessary settings already applied. Furthermore, you no longer need to worry about third-party bloatware that is often a nightmare to deal with. 

9.    No maintenance of images and drivers

Custom images require a significant time investment to create and maintain. And they will need you to wipe every single device that your organization acquires. Undoubtedly, they place a lot of work on the schedules of your IT people. With Autopilot, however, these custom images become unnecessary. All you have to do during provisioning is to get in touch with the manufacturer to get the device ID.