Migrate SCCM to Intune or Migrate as Azure VM?

Question

Hi Folks,

I have existing SCCM Server OnPremise servers that are currently managing the OnPremise Servers & Desktop OS update + App Deployments.
Would it be possible to migrate the settings to Intune or this will be better converted into Azure VM with the Azure Migrate lift & shift method?

Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

First, to directly answer the question posed, no there is no direct migration path as the two tools are different, are configured differently, and have different capabilities all of which you must arbitrate per your requirements. "Your requirements" is always key when moving from one system to another, simply translating (or attempting to translate) the actual knobs, switches, bells and whistles from one to another is rarely a recipe for success even if possible on the surface. The configuration in system is the realization of your requirements and not the requirements themselves. Thus, you always need to take a step back to what your requirements are (and define them if you never have) and then translate those into the capabilities of the new system.

Next, there is no Windows Server management in Intune (and there are no plans to ever add this either). Server OS management from the cloud is part of Azure ARC: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-arc/overview.

Finally, yes, there technically is an agent for Intune, but this is (more or less) built into each of the managed OSes. The entire point of MDM is to use the built-in management capabilities of the managed OS instead of the MDM itself having to create its own management stack. Intune does supplement the built in management stack on Windows though using a separate agent called the Intune Management Extension (IME). The IME builds on top of and extend some capabilities of the built-in Windows MDM stack; the IME is automatically installed on Intune enrolled Windows endpoints and for most intents and purposes, is completely transparent to the end user and Intune admin.

Answer 2

Hi @EnterpriseArchitect

You could take a look at deploying your Configuration Manager settings to Microsoft Intune (see your options which are Option 1: Add tenant attach, Option 2: Set up co-management, Option 3: Move from Configuration Manager to Intune):

Currently use Configuration Manager

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/intune/fundamentals/deployment-guide-intune-setup#currently-use-configuration-manager

I think it completely depends on what you are comfortable with. If you are really familiar with SCCM then it might be more beneficial to set up a co-management scenario. If you do go down the Intune route, you will need to re-program your environment's SCCM settings or use a migration tool (I'd probably recommend doing this the slow way to learn and absorb the Intune material).

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