Is BitLocker the same as a password manager?

No. A password manager stores credentials; BitLocker encrypts the laptop disk. If stolen without BitLocker, local files and caches are readable. You decide the requirements; Floor ICT configures Intune policy and key escrow.

Must every office desktop get BitLocker too?

Not always on day one. Priority is laptops that travel. Fixed office PCs without removable data can follow later — or still join if insurance or compliance requires it. That is a business choice.

What if someone forgets the BitLocker PIN?

Support retrieves the recovery key from Entra ID / Intune (if escrow was set up) and helps the employee back in. Without escrow the disk may be unreachable. Floor ICT tests that path before a wide rollout.

Does Floor ICT do this by default with Microsoft 365 management?

At intake or when Microsoft 365 and Intune are in scope, we propose BitLocker enforcement where Windows company laptops or sensitive local data justify it. Which groups are hard-enforced stays yours. Essential/Advanced/Elite say nothing about BitLocker; that is tenant and device configuration beside the MSP package.

BitLocker via Intune in Microsoft 365: when an SME should enforce disk encryption

A stolen laptop without disk encryption is open OneDrive, Outlook cache and local folders — even if multifactor authentication was perfect. BitLocker via Intune is when you stop leaving that disk to chance.

What BitLocker via Intune actually is

BitLocker encrypts the Windows system drive (and optionally data volumes). If someone steals the laptop or pulls the drive, files stay inaccessible without the BitLocker key or recovery key. Microsoft Intune can enforce BitLocker through device configuration or as part of compliance policy: “this device must be encrypted” — otherwise it is non-compliant.

BitLocker is not a substitute for multifactor authentication and not a cloud backup. It protects data on the device when that device goes physically missing. Cloud accounts stay secured separately; see also why the cloud is not a backup.

When an SME should take this seriously

Three signals keep coming back. You issue Windows company laptops with Outlook, OneDrive or local project folders. Staff travel, work from home, or leave laptops in cars or the office after hours. Or you have compliance or insurance requirements that name disk encryption explicitly. Then “everyone has multifactor authentication” is still not enough: the offline disk stays readable without BitLocker.

Not every micro-business with three Chromebooks or browser-only sessions needs BitLocker everywhere tomorrow. You do need a conscious choice: which Windows devices may hold company data locally, and must those be encrypted before they count as “compliant”? Directors, finance and project leads with customer folders often first; see also device compliance with Intune.

What to enforce first — and what not to over-engineer

Keep the first BitLocker set short enough to go live this quarter:

BitLocker required on company-owned Windows laptops that use Microsoft 365;
recovery keys safely stored in Entra ID / the Intune tenant (escrow), so support can help with a forgotten PIN;
link to compliance: an unencrypted device is non-compliant;
optionally Conditional Access “require compliant device” for chosen groups — after enrollment works;
clear user communication: what happens at reboot, PIN, and who to call for support.

What you do not stack on day one: complex network-unlock scenarios for every office, BitLocker on every old desktop that already sits fixed without local data, or “only approved USB sticks worldwide” without an exception path. Prefer encryption that is actually on for laptops that travel over twenty policies nobody understands.

Recovery keys, TPM and support

The typical MSP step: Intune policy that turns BitLocker on, uses the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) where present, and writes the recovery key to the tenant. Without escrow you lose the data if the user forgets the PIN and nobody holds the key — worse than no BitLocker. Test the support path: who may view recovery keys, how do you help after a BIOS update or hardware change?

Mac devices use FileVault instead of BitLocker; treat them in the same compliance story, not as “later someday”. Phones have their own OS encryption — BitLocker is the Windows piece of the device boundary.

How Floor ICT rolls this out — and what you decide

In the Microsoft 365 tenant we typically: set Intune encryption policy for Windows; escrow recovery keys; verify BitLocker is actually active (not only “policy assigned”); link to device compliance where agreed; and a runbook for forgotten PIN or hardware failure. We explain what employees see on the first encryption pass (time, reboot, PIN).

You still decide: whether private Windows PCs may still reach mail without BitLocker, which groups are hard-enforced, and whether Conditional Access only hard-blocks after a pilot group. Technical toggles without ownership create angry tickets; policy without working key escrow makes data unreachable for you too.

More depth

Checklist for SME directors

1) List Windows company laptops that travel or sit at home. 2) Decide: must those disks be encrypted before Microsoft 365 access? 3) Ensure recovery-key escrow in the tenant. 4) Pilot on a small group. 5) Link to device compliance / Conditional Access. 6) Arrange a support path for PIN and recovery.

BitLocker versus only a Windows sign-in password

A Windows sign-in stops a curious colleague; it does not stop a thief who mounts the drive in another computer. BitLocker encrypts the data on the disk itself. Both belong in a baseline — not one or the other.

Licences

Enforcing BitLocker via Intune needs matching Microsoft 365 or Intune licences (often Business Premium or equivalent) and Windows editions that support BitLocker. Floor ICT checks whether your devices and licences cover the rollout before we hard-enforce.

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