Audi is reimagining endpoint management and security with Microsoft Intune

Fostering a culture of autonomy and efficiency

The Audi Group is among the world’s leading producers of premium cars. Comprising the brands Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati, which are produced at 21 locations in 12 countries, the Audi Group is present in more than 100 markets worldwide. Audi stands for sporty vehicles, premium workmanship, and progressive design, and reflects its brand promise, “Vorsprung durch Technik” (a German expression meaning “Progress through Technology”).

In its dedication to innovation and design excellence, Audi ensures its vehicles not only stand out for their aesthetics and performance but also embody a commitment to enhancing every customer’s experience. This commitment also extends into Audi’s IT ecosystem, where the brand pursues groundbreaking technologies and approaches to improve its employees’ lives through advanced mobility and forward-thinking solutions. By continuously challenging the status quo, Audi explores every avenue for advancement far beyond the confines of vehicle design and sales.

In line with this innovative approach, the Audi IT department wanted to refine the employee experience by streamlining its device management processes, aiming to cut costs and emphasize synergies while adhering to the Volkswagen Group’s stringent security policies. Audi wanted more self-managing features for device management, epitomizing the company’s commitment to empowering its employees and reducing the need for IT intervention while fostering a culture of autonomy, innovation, and efficiency. The initiative to consolidate all its mobile clients across the Volkswagen Group’s brands marks a significant step toward achieving a unified client approach, showcasing Audi’s role as a catalyst for integration and efficiency within the company.

Audi IT was also seeking solutions to consolidate its reporting capabilities even faster and manage its tenant environment more effectively. Fragmented data sources and the need for extensive coordination among multiple report resources made it complex to manage applications and devices.

Through these efforts, Audi IT embodies the “Vorsprung” philosophy, leveraging technology to not only advance its operational framework but also to enrich the lives of its global community. “We’ll always look into what’s feasible, what’s groundbreaking, and what’s the best possible approach,” says Florian Weisenberger, Product Owner of Mobile Workplace iOS at Audi. “If there are any chances to improve users’ experience, we will take advantage of them, and we’ll always stay hungry for possible innovations. We love to deliver great services—being the best might not be good enough.”

Driving toward cloud-based device management

To embark on its IT infrastructure journey, Audi wanted device management to happen without user intervention, emphasizing cloud clients and enabling seamless access to resources from anywhere. “We were very interested in simplification of the user experience,” explains Stefan Lenz, Head of IT Supply at Audi. “We needed a device management solution that could easily handle huge complexity and in parallel, ensure that little to no user interaction would be needed for security and access.” The company realized Microsoft Intune would provide simplified endpoint management and protection of its hybrid workforce while ensuring a great user experience.

Using Intune, Audi employees can reset their passwords and access company apps themselves without tying up the IT team’s time, making things smoother with less friction for employees. Also, the solution’s strong compliance and reporting features align with Audi’s Zero Trust security model, providing highly secure access and better protecting both company and private data. Conditional Access (through Microsoft Entra ID), Managed Open In from Apple, and mobile application management from Microsoft are the company’s fundamentals for building a best-in-class client and user experience. ”Intune is now fully capable of delivering everything we need in order to have satisfied and productive employees out there and also be a best-in-class unified endpoint management platform,” says Weisenberger.

But before adopting Intune, Audi needed to migrate 45,000 devices from its previous endpoint management system to Intune. To do this, the company created a bespoke app that facilitated the switch without necessitating a hard reset of any device, ensuring that employees’ personal settings and data—including photos, contacts, and even all private app configurations and data—were untouched. This approach not only increased employees’ satisfaction but it preserved the integrity of both personal and company data on the devices.

The migration process took less than five minutes and is an outstanding benchmark in the industry. It also highlights the importance of a smooth transition, as Audi was the first within the Volkswagen Group to implement such a large-scale shift to a single-device management platform. The innovative migration app not only made the transfer process automatic but also gave users all the information they needed for an easy transition to Intune. This ensured users didn’t face the annoyances usually related to manual migrations, such as data loss or the need to set up devices from scratch. “If you’re doing a migration of a platform, you have a one-time shot approach to ensure user satisfaction and trust in the platform,” says Weisenberger. “This understanding led us to develop a migration application designed to streamline the process.”

Intune’s compliance and reporting capabilities are pivotal in embodying the Zero Trust security model, which operates under the principle of “Never trust, always verify.” By bringing security management and data analysis together in one platform, Intune makes it easier to keep devices safe and monitor application activities. This simplification helps security teams quickly find and fix risks, improving the ability to apply policy compliance and deal with threats in real time. Instead of using traditional security methods that depend on separate data sources and make coordination difficult among multiple administrators, Intune allows fast action and policy changes with minimal effort. By enabling direct, platform-based intervention, Intune not only makes security measures easier to put in place but also matches the Zero Trust model’s focus on constant verification and adapting to evolving cybersecurity situations. This move to a more connected and responsive security framework significantly boosts Audi’s ability to protect its digital assets against sophisticated threats. “What Intune gives us is this single pane of glass where you can look into and manage all the devices,” explains Lenz. “This provides a lot of benefit for IT because it saves us effort with manual processes, and we can move forward and put our resources to other activities.”

Beyond device management and Intune, the Audi IT team was convinced that making a software ecosystem as seamless as possible—encompassing everything from device management to the various applications people use, all from a single source—would enhance security. ”We have one partner, Microsoft, who takes care that all these software components interoperate well,” says Lenz.

Audi has demonstrated its leadership in the Volkswagen Group by creating a platform for all companies to work together, simplifying procurement and improving productivity. By transitioning Windows management to Intune and working with Microsoft 365 more deeply (plus the plan to move 60,000 Windows PCs to a cloud client), Audi is leading the way in innovation and technology in IT solutions. As an example, the company is using Microsoft SharePoint as its central document management system to consolidate different document handling processes into one system. This streamlines work processes, enhances functionality, and eliminates the need to manage multiple systems—all of which promote operational efficiency.

“You can work from everywhere—whether you’re at home, at an airport, or at a hotel—and you can make Microsoft Teams calls, check emails, and access your company files and apps,” notes Lenz. “And this highly secure cloud client, this trusted client, is one of the most important development goals that we have reached.”

Streamlining operations and enhancing the user experience

The transformation of Audi’s IT department reflects a broader shift toward agility and innovation. By emphasizing a user-independent strategy for managing devices and organizing user workplaces (supported by cloud-based clients and seamless resource access), Audi is ensuring its IT solutions are closely aligned with the core business needs. Initiatives such as simplifying the employee IT experience, consolidating endpoint management, and enabling cloud-based, device-independent work have reduced support calls and improved employees’ confidence in IT solutions. These efforts have saved costs and efforts while improving the internal perception of the IT department. With the right tools and approach, large migrations can be done with high efficiency, security, and user satisfaction. “A really cool thing about Intune is that we’ve lowered the administrative impact,” says Weisenberger. He explains that with a single console sign-in, administrators can now see everything in one place, with Intune automatically addressing compliance issues or informing users about any device problems. “Intune is often self-healing,” Weisenberger adds. ”As an employee, most of the time a problem on your device gets corrected by Intune even before you notice that something has gone wrong.”

By introducing a unified client approach for the first time, facilitated by the Intune environment, Audi is setting a precedent within the Volkswagen Group, showcasing its inventive spirit as a catalyst for change and a model for integration. While currently using Intune for mobile devices, PCs, and other devices like Microsoft Surface and Microsoft HoloLens, the company aims to manage all its devices with Intune. This strategic initiative has not only streamlined operations but has also ensured a seamless and consistent user experience across the Volkswagen Group’s diverse portfolio, further cementing Audi’s reputation as a leader in innovation.

Audi’s vision for the future of IT is ambitious and proactive. Exploring the potential of AI and Microsoft Copilot for software development signifies a commitment to both efficiency and developer satisfaction. This formation of a flexible, secure, and efficient IT ecosystem aligns with Audi’s goal of leading innovation in both the Volkswagen Group and the larger automotive industry, ensuring its continued success and leadership in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

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