Your Office Apps Are Running — but Nobody Manages Them

Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams are the most-used applications in your organization. But who controls which version runs on which device? Who manages which macros are allowed to execute? Who ensures security patches are installed promptly?

In most mid-market environments, the answer is: nobody. Devices run different Office versions, macros from the internet are not blocked, add-ins are installed without oversight. On top of that: since the July 2026 release, Semi-Annual and Monthly Enterprise Channel are one channel. Devices moved without anyone touching a policy — and every report, script, and compliance rule still keyed to the old channel name breaks silently.

Microsoft provides the tools for central management: Cloud Policy and cloud update reach any Entra ID-targeted user, no device enrollment required. The Intune security baseline covers overlapping ground on managed devices — which is exactly why this project's conflict matrix decides, setting by setting, which mechanism owns each one, and why the baseline itself is an optional layer, not a default.