Microsoft Tightens Grip on Teams Devices with MDEP Rollout

Microsoft has made significant changes to its Teams platform, affecting meeting room management and device certification. The company has moved Android device management out of the Teams Admin Center and into the Pro Management Portal, which is now the central hub for managing all Teams devices, including rooms on Android.

The change was completed by the end of September across all clouds, with inventory, updates, health monitoring, and settings for Teams Rooms on Android, Teams phones, panels, and SIP phones now residing in the Pro Management Portal. This shift is significant because all newly certified Android devices for Teams will ship on Microsoft's Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP), which replaces older platforms like Android 10 and 11.

Neat has become one of Microsoft's fastest-growing hardware partners, with certification for its Neat Board 32, Neat Pad Pro, and Neat Pad Gen 2 as schedulers for Microsoft Teams. This marks an exciting milestone in their joint ecosystem. For buyers, the choice of devices is shifting from camera and audio specs towards how cleanly a device integrates into this single management plane.

Away from Microsoft, Zoom has announced native Zoom Rooms on Cisco hardware, expanding its reach beyond campuses to institutions using both platforms. This move aligns with Zoom's strategy to make its services compatible with various hardware devices, allowing institutions to get more value from their existing equipment.