Microsoft Events presents a detailed session by Jason Smith at MS Ignite 2025, diving into modern user environment management for Entra ID–joined organizations, focusing on ProfileUnity and policy-driven cloud workspace solutions.

Modernizing User Environment Management in Entra ID with ProfileUnity

As organizations move to Entra ID–joined or hybrid environments, the reliance on traditional Group Policy Preferences (GPP) diminishes. This session outlines the challenges of maintaining drive mappings, printers, shortcuts, and registry settings, and how ProfileUnity offers scalable, policy-driven alternatives for cloud workspaces.

Session Overview

  • Adoption Growth: Entra ID and the industry’s shift toward Zero Trust hybrid management.
  • ProfileUnity Features: Overview of the interface, flexible policy delivery, and advanced management.
  • Cloud Integration: Utilizes Azure Blob Storage and FlexApp versions for more resilient and scalable data management.
  • Configuration Reports: Steps to generate and review ProfileUnity configuration reports for better oversight and troubleshooting.
  • Intune Comparison: Analyzes ProfileUnity versus Intune in terms of application and policy delivery, pinpointing scenarios where each excels.
  • User Data Management: Strategies to synchronize user data and settings across on-premises and cloud environments.
  • FlexApp Capabilities: Discussion of on-demand and offline support for applications to ensure a consistent user experience.

Key Takeaways

  • Managing user environments in the cloud requires new tools and approaches
  • ProfileUnity provides scalable policy enforcement and flexible configuration options
  • Integrates deeply with Azure and supports hybrid workspaces
  • Offers reporting, data synchronization, and robust offline functionality
  • Successfully bridges the gap left by legacy GPP in modern Microsoft deployments

Additional Resources

Speaker

  • Jason Smith

Community Engagement

  • Join discussions and discover resources for advancing cloud workspace management