Reimagining Surface Tools for Business

We’ve just launched the new Surface Pro for Business and Surface Laptop for Business devices, which come equipped with the Intel^® Core Ultra Series 3 processors and Snapdragon^® X2 processors. This exciting lineup features Secured-core PC protections and on-device AI processing. Plus, you can opt for an integrated privacy screen on the 13.8-inch models, enhancing your security and user experience. With choices of 13-inch, 13.8-inch, and 15-inch models, businesses can select the right devices tailored to their performance requirements and work styles.

However, having the latest hardware is just the beginning. Once these devices are in your workplace, IT teams must ensure they are effectively managed, protected, and recovered. That’s where Surface Tools for Business become essential.

We’ve recently updated the Surface Management Portal, Surface Support Portal, Surface IT Toolkit, and Surface Repair Tool. These enhancements now support the latest Surface for Business devices powered by Intel and Snapdragon, making it easier for IT teams to manage and support their devices.

Managing devices involves more than just deployment. IT teams need insight into the health of their fleet and access to resources that keep devices secure throughout their entire lifecycle. For teams in the United States, the Surface Management Portal now features Scorecard and Protection Plan capabilities. This helps administrators monitor crucial fleet health indicators and explore protection plan options available for eligible devices.

Note: The Scorecard and Protection Plan features in Surface Management Portal are currently only available to customers in the U.S.

The current insight dashboards provide a variety of metrics such as device counts, compliance percentages, and warranty status. While these figures offer valuable information, they don’t always clarify what actions need to be taken or what the next steps should be.

The new Scorecard in Surface Management Portal organizes fleet health insights into four key areas: security, coverage, reliability, and performance. Together, these categories provide a comprehensive view of fleet status within the portal.

Instead of just showing a static set of numbers, the Scorecard aims to provide additional context alongside those metrics.

Identifying a device that requires attention is just the first step; taking action is equally important.

The Surface Scorecard can highlight devices that may qualify for a protection plan purchase. IT administrators can review these devices, select appropriate plans, and submit requests through the portal.

Downloading Bare Metal Recovery (BMR) images can be cumbersome, especially given their size and the possibility of network interruptions.

The Surface IT Toolkit now includes features that allow you to pause and resume BMR downloads. Admins can pause a download before disconnecting from the network and resume it later. This feature ensures that downloads can continue from where they left off in compatible scenarios, making it easier to handle large recovery files.

When hardware issues occur, IT teams and technicians require a straightforward approach to diagnose, repair, and validate devices.

The Surface Repair Tool conducts diagnostic tests for subsystems and guides the repair or replacement of supported components such as batteries, motherboards, TDM, and touchpads.

Once a repair or replacement has been completed, the same tests can be re-run as a post-repair validation step. This process helps confirm that the repaired subsystem is functioning correctly before the device goes back into service.

These capabilities enhance diagnostics, repair guidance, and post-repair checks within the Surface IT ecosystem.

Both the Surface Management Portal and Surface IT Toolkit also feature links to the Surface Repair Tool, device support resources, and Microsoft’s policy regarding integrated privacy screen settings on supported devices.

These updates represent our commitment to making the necessary tools, resources, and policies easier to access across the Surface management experience.

If you’re a Surface user with Intune, be sure to check the latest updates in the Surface Management Portal. Discover how these new features can streamline your device management process. For further information, you can explore the resources below: