PepsiCo reduces downtime and costs, cuts device build time by 50% with Intune

At PepsiCo, the stakes for device reliability are enormous. Every day, thousands of frontline employees across more than 200 countries rely on mobile devices to keep production lines moving, trucks loaded, and products delivered. If devices fail, operations grind to a halt, costing the company not just money but momentum.

“The biggest challenge is making sure devices are ready to work every day, all the time,” observes Michal Bialas, Europe Frontline IT Support Lead at PepsiCo. “If a warehouse scanner stops working, trucks can’t be loaded, and sales can’t happen. That’s why reliability and fast support are so important.”

“Managing over 400,000 devices globally, including 230,000 mobile devices and 140,000 Windows devices, is no small feat,” says Sameer Rane, Director of Global Workplace Services at PepsiCo. “We needed a solution that would unify our approach and help us deliver a consistent, secure experience for every user, everywhere.”

With fragmented licensing and multiple vendors, PepsiCo’s IT leaders recognized the need for consolidation, not just to reduce costs and risks, but to support the kind of agility and innovation that would keep the company resilient and future ready.

The decision to select Microsoft Intune was driven by a forward-looking strategy and a strong relationship with Microsoft. “We decided on Microsoft because they are investing big in the Intune technology. It was about where we were going, not just solving for today’s needs,” says Ashok Paranjothi, VP, Digital Workplace Services at PepsiCo.

Intune offered PepsiCo a unified endpoint management platform capable of handling both mobile devices and workstations. This was critical for managing a global fleet that included everything from rugged warehouse scanners to frontline worker tablets and laptops. “The unified management console in Intune gives us visibility into every device, user role, and licensing status. It’s a single pane of glass for all our user devices,” says Bialas.

Managing complexity, streamlining onboarding

Frontline employees at PepsiCo rely on mobile devices for daily operations such as loading trucks, managing inventory, and making sales.

Before Intune, device management was cumbersome. The previous device management system lacked features like automated group assignment and check-in/check-out, making it hard to track devices and users. “With Intune, we can dynamically manage groups and tailor configurations for different user roles—sales, warehouse, management—across 800 organizational groups globally,” says Hemanth Kotha, Deputy Director of Global Workplace Services at PepsiCo. “Applications and policies are assigned based on user roles, ensuring everyone has the tools they need.”

For automated onboarding, Intune interoperates closely with Microsoft Entra ID, combining identity and endpoint management for seamless onboarding. With the single sign-on capability built into Entra ID and Intune, users simply enter their PepsiCo credentials to access devices, eliminating the need for multiple accounts and passwords. “The enrollment process is now seamless,” says Kotha. “Users are provisioned to the right groups automatically, and onboarding time has been reduced dramatically.”

For shift workers on shared devices, the check-in and check-out feature in Intune tracks usage, improves accountability, and reduces inventory loss. “Previously, every time a different user logged into a shared device, it could take 15 to 30 minutes to download and install everything,” says Bialas. “Now it’s just a matter of seconds for a shift worker to be fully operational on a device. All applications are preinstalled, and credentials persist until the user logs out.” This is a 99% improvement in shift worker sign-in time.

Remote support capabilities allow IT teams to troubleshoot devices from anywhere, reducing employee downtime and improving productivity. “Administrators can remotely connect to devices, track locations, and prioritize support for executives or critical business units,” notes Kotha. “This has made a huge difference in keeping our operations running smoothly.”

Security and compliance at scale

Security is a top priority for PepsiCo’s IT team. Conditional access policies and data loss prevention in Intune, along with interoperability with Entra ID, provide robust protection for devices and data. “With our old device management system and domain-based authentication, we couldn’t enforce a sort of conditional access,” explains Kotha. “With Entra ID and Intune, every user on every device accessing PepsiCo information is safer and more secure,” he continues.

Certificate-based network authentication allows devices to connect to PepsiCo’s network automatically, facilitating access for warehouse and plant operations. “Devices enrolled in Intune receive unique certificates, so users don’t need to enter credentials to connect to the network,” says Bialas. “It’s seamless and automated, which is a big improvement.” These security improvements align with Zero Trust principles, a security strategy that assumes breach and verifies explicitly.

Unified experience and business agility

With a unified, end-to-end solution, PepsiCo has streamlined device management from an admin perspective and vastly improved the user experience. “We wanted to create a consumer–like experience for our laptops,” explains Paranjothi. “With Intune, we use Windows Autopilot to provision laptops. Employees receive devices preconfigured with the apps they need, shipped directly to their homes, and can be productive within minutes.”

Cloud management capabilities in Intune are eliminating the need for local infrastructure, such as warehouses to store devices, so IT admins can enforce policies, deploy software, and monitor device health remotely. “We can scale device provisioning up or down quickly, supporting business agility during acquisitions or spin-offs,” adds Paranjothi. “It’s all about building for the future.”

Collaboration and support

The success of PepsiCo’s Intune migration was built on close collaboration with Microsoft engineering. “We spent months blueprinting and planning, working through policy compatibility, device types, and security requirements. The engineering-to-engineering connect was very helpful for resolving challenges,” says Kotha.

Rane echoes this sentiment, “Microsoft’s Customer Success team was there every step of the way, providing technical support and out-of-the-box development. Their commitment gave us the confidence to move forward.”

“With the collaboration and support of the right teams from Microsoft and PepsiCo we were able to migrate 220k devices in just 9 months which is a huge achievement for us,” explains Kotha.

Transformative results, building for the future

PepsiCo’s transformation has delivered measurable benefits. “We’ve seen a significant reduction in the build process and imaging times for devices—at least 50% faster with Intune,” reports Rane. “We’ve also reduced incidents related to software updates and security patches with Windows Autopatch. Users no longer need to connect to VPN or go to the office for updates, which improves the overall experience,” says Kotha.

The migration to Intune has also led to a reduction in physical infrastructure, with around half of local servers becoming redundant. “Taking advantage of our existing investment in Microsoft products allowed us to achieve cost savings and avoid additional expenses,” Rane says.

But for PepsiCo, the journey doesn’t end here. The company is preparing for the future with plans to add AI-based solutions and further automation. “We’re already working with Microsoft to understand new offerings like Security Copilot and Copilot in Intune,” says Rane. “Our goal is to eliminate repetitive tasks and provide a seamless, intelligent experience for our workforce.”

Paranjothi sums up the journey, “The last two-and-a-half years have been highly transformative for us in the user compute and collaboration space with Microsoft technologies. We’re building for the future, and Intune is paving the way.”

As PepsiCo continues to innovate, its collaboration with Microsoft ensures that security, agility, and user experience remain at the forefront, empowering every employee to do their best work, every day.

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