Beyond the Sync Button: Inside Windows and Intune Device Management

Speakers

• Mattias Melkersen
• Rudy Ooms

About this session

What actually happens when a Windows device synchronizes with Microsoft Intune? Windows management is no longer based on a single protocol or configuration channel. Traditional OMA-DM and SyncML coexist with the Intune Management Extension, Policy CSP, ADMX-backed policies, security baselines, and the emerging Declarative Device Management model. Each channel has its own processing logic, reporting behavior, troubleshooting methods, and potential failure points. In this Level 500 session, Mattias Melkersen and Rudy Ooms will take you deep inside the communication between Windows and Intune. We will follow policies from assignment and delivery through local processing, enforcement, and status reporting, exposing what happens behind the green check marks and generic error messages in the Intune portal. We will examine why some policies apply immediately while others remain pending, conflict, fail silently, or report success without producing the expected result. We will also challenge some of the assumptions administrators make when working with imported ADMX templates, settings catalog policies, configuration profiles, and Microsoft security baselines. As Windows gradually moves from command-based SyncML processing toward declarative configuration, the management architecture is changing. We will explore how declarative management differs from the traditional request-and-response model, what problems it is intended to solve, and why it could make device management more reliable and predictable. Expect protocol-level explanations, real-world failures, log analysis, and live troubleshooting. No introductory portal tour. No “click here to create a policy.” This session is about understanding what Windows and Intune are actually doing, so you can diagnose configuration problems instead of repeatedly pressing Sync and hoping for the best.