Home/Services/Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Deployment for Intune-Managed Devices

Security and ProtectionImplementation

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Deployment for Intune-Managed Devices

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Deployment for Intune-Managed Devices is a fixed-fee add-on that turns your Intune-managed Windows fleet into a monitored, defended estate. IT Partner onboards your devices to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint through Intune, deploys the endpoint security baseline — antivirus, endpoint detection and response, attack surface reduction, and tamper protection — validates it on a pilot, walks your administrators through the Defender portal, and stays available for one month of transition support. It extends the foundation built by Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Windows Device Management, alongside the Android and iPhone & iPad add-ons.

Timeline 15 daysService owner Roman SotnikOffice 365microsoft 365

01 — Overview

What this engagement is

Intune tells you a device is compliant; Microsoft Defender for Endpoint tells you when it is under attack. This service layers endpoint detection and response on top of your managed Windows fleet: every onboarded device streams its security signals to the Defender portal, enforces the approved protection baseline, and can be isolated or investigated the moment something looks wrong. Because your devices are already Intune-managed, deployment is clean: onboarding happens through an Intune EDR policy — no scripts on individual machines, no Group Policy archaeology. IT Partner configures the Defender for Endpoint tenant, deploys onboarding and the endpoint security baseline (Microsoft Defender Antivirus with cloud-delivered protection, endpoint detection and response, attack surface reduction rules, and tamper protection), validates on a pilot group, then supports the rollout across the agreed fleet and hands your team the portal. This service belongs to our Intune family. It assumes the Windows management foundation from Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Windows Device Management is in place, and it pairs naturally with the Android and iPhone & iPad add-ons — mobile threat defense for those platforms is scoped separately once they are managed. Who this is for: US commercial organizations of roughly 100–500 seats with an Intune-managed Windows fleet and Defender for Endpoint licensing (or a plan to get it). Who it is not for: estates without Intune management — build the foundation first — or teams looking for a 24×7 security operations service, which is a separate managed offering.

02 — Outcomes

Success criteria

01The Microsoft Defender for Endpoint tenant is configured with the approved settings and least-privilege administrative roles.

02Every agreed pilot device onboards through the Intune EDR policy, reports a healthy sensor, and appears in the Defender portal with the expected device group and risk visibility.

03The approved endpoint security baseline — antivirus, endpoint detection and response, attack surface reduction, and tamper protection — deploys through Intune and reports as applied on the pilot devices.

04A test detection generates the expected alert in the Defender portal and your administrators can locate, triage, and resolve it during the walkthrough.

05Rollout across the agreed fleet is underway with onboarding status visible per device, and exceptions are documented with owners.

06Your administrators can navigate device inventory, incidents and alerts, security recommendations, and vulnerability data using the delivered runbook.

03 — Deliverables

What you receive

✓Defender for Endpoint readiness assessment: licensing entitlement, tenant state, device population and operating systems, existing endpoint protection, exclusion candidates, and network access to Defender cloud endpoints.

✓Deployment design and decision record: device groups, onboarding sequence, baseline policy settings, exclusion and exception process, pilot population, and rollout plan.

✓Configured Microsoft Defender for Endpoint tenant: core settings, device groups, role-based access for designated administrators, and the Intune connection.

✓Intune EDR onboarding policy assigned per the rollout plan — no per-machine scripts on Intune-managed devices.

✓Endpoint security baseline deployed through Intune: Microsoft Defender Antivirus with cloud-delivered protection, endpoint detection and response settings, attack surface reduction rules in the agreed mode, and tamper protection.

✓Pilot validation report: sensor health, policy application, a verified test detection, and any conflicts found with existing security tools.

✓Rollout support for the agreed device fleet with onboarding status tracking and documented exceptions.

✓Defender portal walkthrough and administrator runbook — device inventory, incidents and alerts, security recommendations, vulnerability management, and the routine tasks your team owns after handoff.

✓One month of post-implementation transition support for questions and configuration follow-up within the implemented scope.

04 — Plan

How the work unfolds

Days 1–2 — Kickoff and readiness

Confirm objectives, licensing entitlement, device population, administrator contacts, and success measures. Verify the Intune foundation and network access to Defender cloud endpoints.

Days 3–4 — Design and tenant configuration

Agree device groups, baseline settings, exclusions, and rollout sequence. Configure the Defender for Endpoint tenant, role-based access, and the Intune connection.

Days 5–7 — Pilot onboarding and baseline

Assign the Intune EDR onboarding policy and the endpoint security baseline to the pilot group. Verify sensor health, policy application, and a test detection.

Days 8–11 — Fleet rollout

Extend onboarding and the baseline across the agreed device fleet in waves, monitoring onboarding status and resolving in-scope issues as they surface.

Days 12–15 — Handoff and transition

Walk your administrators through the Defender portal and runbook, review results against the success criteria, document exceptions, and open the one-month transition support period.

05 — Before we start

Prerequisites

→An Intune-managed Windows fleet. The standard scope onboards devices through Intune — if your devices are not yet managed, start with Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Windows Device Management and add this service on top.

→Microsoft Defender for Endpoint entitlement for every in-scope user or device — Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 or Plan 2, standalone or via Microsoft 365 E5, E3 + E5 Security, or Business Premium. Licensing costs are not included.

→Administrative access to the Microsoft Defender portal and Intune with appropriate least-privilege roles for the agreed tasks.

→In-scope devices on Microsoft-supported operating system versions that meet Defender for Endpoint onboarding requirements.

→Required network access from endpoints to the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cloud services and URLs documented by Microsoft.

→Disclosure of existing endpoint protection products, planned coexistence or removal approach, business-critical applications, and known exclusion candidates before policy rollout.

→A pilot group of representative devices and users, plus application owners available to validate that protection policies do not disrupt line-of-business applications.

→A client project owner and technical decision-maker who can provide approvals, maintenance windows, and acceptance within the 15-day schedule.

06 — Working together

Who does what

IT Partner

Lead the readiness assessment, deployment design, implementation plan, pilot, rollout support, and acceptance review.
Configure the Defender for Endpoint tenant, device groups, role-based access, and Intune connection.
Build and assign the Intune EDR onboarding policy and the approved endpoint security baseline.
Validate pilot onboarding: sensor health, policy application, and a verified test detection.
Support fleet rollout, monitor onboarding status, and troubleshoot issues caused by the implemented configuration.
Deliver the portal walkthrough, administrator runbook, and deployment summary with documented exceptions.
Provide one month of post-implementation transition support within the implemented scope.

Your team

Provide and maintain Defender for Endpoint licensing and approve any licensing changes for in-scope users or devices.
Provide timely administrative access and security role assignments in the Defender portal and Intune.
Provide an accurate device inventory with operating systems, ownership, and any excluded or high-risk systems.
Identify business-critical applications, approve exclusions and attack surface reduction modes, and make application owners available for validation.
Coordinate maintenance windows, user communications, restarts where required, and pilot user availability.
Review and approve the deployment design, policy decisions, exceptions, and final acceptance.
Operate the environment after handoff — alert triage, incident response, tuning, and device lifecycle — unless covered by a separate managed service.

07 — Scope

What's not included

✕Intune implementation itself — the Windows management foundation is the separate service Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Windows Device Management; this add-on assumes it is in place.

✕Other platforms — mobile threat defense for Android and iPhone/iPad (scoped separately on top of Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Android Device Management and Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for iPhone & iPad Management), and macOS, Linux server, or unmanaged-device onboarding via Group Policy or local scripts.

✕Security operations — 24×7 monitoring, managed detection and response, incident-response retainers, and long-term alert triage are separate managed offerings available through IT Partner's NOC, third-party partnerships, and a Microsoft Premier Support agreement.

✕Incident remediation — cleanup of active compromises, malware outbreaks, or pre-existing incidents requires a separate incident-response engagement, as does large-scale endpoint cleanup, OS upgrades, or rebuilds of unhealthy devices.

✕Migration from third-party endpoint protection — uninstall automation, vendor-specific cleanup, coexistence engineering, and contract transition are separately scoped, as are SIEM/SOAR integrations, custom detection rule libraries, advanced hunting query development, and bespoke automation.

✕Commercial items — Microsoft licenses and subscriptions, compliance framework mapping and audit evidence packages, penetration testing, support beyond the included one-month transition period, travel, and taxes.

08 — Fine print

Limitations & technical notes

!What partners most often get wrong here — three warnings worth reading first: (1) Defender for Endpoint capability differs sharply by plan — Plan 1 lacks the EDR, vulnerability management, and advanced hunting that most buyers picture when they say "Defender", so licensing is verified before anything is designed; (2) attack surface reduction rules deployed straight to enforcement break real applications — the baseline starts rules in audit mode where prudent and promotes them deliberately; (3) removing the incumbent antivirus before Defender protection is verified leaves a gap — sequencing is part of the design, not an afterthought.

!Defender for Endpoint capabilities depend on your licensing plan, device operating systems, and Microsoft service availability. The design records which capabilities your entitlement actually provides.

!Onboarding success depends on device connectivity, health, operating system support, and network access to the documented Microsoft cloud endpoints. Devices that are offline or unhealthy during rollout are documented as exceptions with owners.

!Protection policies can affect application behavior, performance, and user experience. Pilot validation and the exception process exist precisely to catch this before broad enforcement.

!The 15-day schedule assumes timely access, approvals, device availability, licensing readiness, and a reasonably healthy Intune-managed fleet. Client-side delays move the completion date.

!The fixed fee covers one tenant, the agreed Windows device fleet, the standard baseline, and the included one-month transition support. Additional platforms, integrations, or remediation require a written, approved change in scope.

!Defender for Endpoint materially improves detection and response, but no security product guarantees prevention of every threat, attack, or data-loss event.

!Technical content reviewed August 2026.

09 — Questions

Frequently asked questions

How does this service relate to the rest of the Intune family?

It is the security add-on. Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Windows Device Management builds the management foundation; the Android and iPhone & iPad add-ons extend that tenant to mobile; this service layers Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detection and response onto the managed Windows fleet. Windows Autopilot zero-touch deployment is a further separate engagement on the same foundation.

Do we need Intune before this service?

For the standard scope, yes — onboarding and the security baseline deploy through Intune policies, which is what makes the rollout clean and repeatable. If your devices are not yet managed, start with Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Windows Device Management; we can schedule the two back-to-back so Defender lands the week the foundation is verified. Onboarding unmanaged estates via Group Policy or scripts is possible but separately scoped.

What is included in the deployment?

Tenant configuration, device groups and role-based access, the Intune EDR onboarding policy, the endpoint security baseline (Microsoft Defender Antivirus with cloud-delivered protection, endpoint detection and response, attack surface reduction, tamper protection), pilot validation with a verified test detection, rollout support across the agreed fleet, a portal walkthrough with runbook, and one month of transition support.

What licensing do we need?

Every in-scope user or device needs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint entitlement — Plan 1 or Plan 2, standalone or through Microsoft 365 E5, E3 + E5 Security, or Business Premium. The plans differ materially: Plan 1 covers protection basics, while Plan 2 adds the EDR, vulnerability management, and hunting capabilities most organizations actually want. We verify your entitlement during readiness and design to what your licenses really provide.

How much does the service cost?

The fee is fixed per project — see the price on this page. It covers one tenant, the agreed Windows fleet, the standard baseline, and one month of transition support. Microsoft licensing, 24×7 monitoring, incident remediation, and third-party migration are not included, and no out-of-scope work is performed without your written approval.

Will the security policies break our applications?

That risk is exactly what the pilot and the exception process are for. Attack surface reduction rules start in audit mode where prudent, application owners validate the pilot, exclusions are documented and approved by you, and enforcement is promoted deliberately — not flipped on across the fleet on day one.

We already run another antivirus — what happens to it?

The design accounts for it. Defender protection is verified on pilot devices before the incumbent is removed, so no device sits unprotected. The mechanics of removing the old product at scale — uninstall automation and vendor-specific cleanup — are separately scoped, and we sequence the two so coverage never gaps.

Does this include 24×7 monitoring or incident response?

No. This service deploys and validates the platform and hands your team the portal. Around-the-clock monitoring, managed detection and response, and incident-response retainers are separate managed offerings available through IT Partner's NOC, third-party partnerships, and a Microsoft Premier Support agreement — ask us to quote them alongside the deployment.

What happens after the 15 days?

You get the deployed platform, the validation report, the runbook, and one month of transition support for questions within the implemented scope. Natural next steps, each separately scoped: mobile threat defense on the Android and iPhone/iPad add-ons, vulnerability remediation based on Defender's data, and a managed monitoring arrangement if you would rather not staff the portal yourself.

Often combined with

Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Windows Device Management8 weeks Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for Android Device Management1 week Microsoft Intune Initial Setup for iPhone & iPad Management10 days Microsoft 365 E5Subscription Microsoft 365 Business PremiumSubscription Fixing vulnerabilities on devices based on Defender for Endpoint data5 days

$3,500 per project

15 days

Book a Defender scoping call