What is a device owner in Microsoft Intune?

In Microsoft Intune, the term "device owner" refers to the ownership status of a mobile device that is enrolled and managed using Intune's mobile device management (MDM) capabilities. The concept of device ownership is important in the context of managing and securing devices within an organization's IT infrastructure. There are typically two main ownership scenarios: "personal" and "corporate" (or "company-owned").

1. Personal (User) Owned:

   • In a personal or user-owned scenario, the device is owned by an individual employee. The user enrolls their personal device in Intune to enable management capabilities such as enforcing security policies, deploying applications, and protecting corporate data. However, since it's a personal device, there may be limitations on the extent of control that IT administrators have over the device.

2. Corporate (Company-Owned) Owned:

   • In a corporate or company-owned scenario, the organization owns and provides the device to the user for work purposes. IT administrators have a higher level of control over company-owned devices, allowing them to enforce stricter security policies and configurations.

The device owner concept is relevant when implementing policies and configurations on the enrolled devices. For example, certain security policies or restrictions might be applied differently based on whether the device is personally owned or company-owned. This distinction allows organizations to tailor their device management approach to meet security and compliance requirements while respecting user privacy on personal devices.

Microsoft Intune supports both personal and corporate-owned device scenarios, providing organizations with flexibility in managing their mobile device fleet. The management capabilities extend to various platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows devices. The specific features and capabilities related to device ownership may evolve with updates to the Intune service, so it's advisable to refer to the official Microsoft Intune documentation for the latest and most accurate information.