If you currently use SCCM (System Centre Configuration Manager), you will be familiar with the decision of if and when you should migrate to Intune. In this blog, we are going to make the case for migrating to Intune now.
However, we’re not going to do so by listing out all the pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages of each, as the relevance of those sorts of points varies from organisation to organisation.
Instead, we are going to focus on three arguments that we believe make a compelling case for migrating to the Intune endpoint management platform. These particularly apply if you are planning a large-scale migration project in your organisation, such as a VDI migration or operating system upgrade.
The Era of Hybrid
The word “hybrid” is currently having a moment. According to Google Trends, interest in the word has increased by about 800 percent since the mid-2000s. Hybrid cars are now commonplace, and many organisations have adopted hybrid working practices. The word hybrid also applies to the technology environments in most organisations.
Long gone are the days when all or most of the endpoints in an organisation were similar. Modern organisations have endpoint device inventories that are not only extensive, but also varied as they can include:
- Physical desktops
- Laptops
- Virtual desktops
- DaaS
- Azure Virtual Desktops
- Windows 365 Cloud PC
- AWS virtual machines
- Apple Macs
- iOS mobile phones and tablet devices
- Android mobile phones and tablet devices
- Both company-owned and BYOD devices
Furthermore, the hybrid nature of technology infrastructures is only going to increase given the expectations of users and the benefits that can be realised in terms of productivity, collaboration, cost savings, and more.
Which endpoint management platform is better at handling various devices, operating systems, and methods of operation? Intune is the winner, hands down. In fact, it was originally developed with a focus on mobile devices, but Microsoft has been enhancing its capabilities to cover all types of devices.
So, in summary, as the future of technology environments in modern organisations is hybrid, the future of endpoint management is Intune.
The Importance of Being Agile
Agility in business has never been more important for competitiveness and profitability. Therefore, it makes sense to use tools and platforms that facilitate and enhance agility.
The problem with endpoint management platforms is they are not always as agile as you need them to be. This particularly applies to SCCM. That isn’t necessarily a criticism, as it has been around for a long time and has served many organisations well over the years.
The fact is, though, technologies, customer expectations, marketplace opportunities, and more are all moving on. This makes the bloaty and complex SCCM platform increasingly unsuitable.
Intune, on the other hand, is agile by its very nature, as it is designed to adapt to different infrastructure and endpoint requirements while ensuring you have optimised operational management command and control.
The Future of Microsoft’s Endpoint Management Tools
Looking at the current situation between SCCM and Intune brings to mind a memorable moment in British politics from 2005.
To briefly set the scene, Prime Minister Tony Blair was coming to the end of his tenure in office after sweeping to power in 1997 in a wave of youthful energy, enthusiasm, and ambition. The new opposition leader, David Cameron, was facing Blair for the first time at the typically raucous weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions, or PMQs. Most commentators viewed Blair as an experienced and skilled practitioner of the verbal combat that is PMQs, but he was left initially stunned and ultimately flustered when Cameron delivered the now famous line in reference to Blair:
“I want to talk about the future, he was the future once.”
SCCM was the future once, but today’s future is most definitely Intune. It is the fresh-faced and younger offering compared to SCCM, and it is far from the finished product. But Microsoft is continuing to enhance Intune’s features, and it will soon accelerate past SCCM in terms of its capabilities.
It’s true to say that SCCM is not past its usefulness yet. In fact, it can only be described as feature-rich. That said, the future is Intune.
When to Switch?
The points presented in this blog so far have focused on why you should migrate from SCCM to Intune. What about the question of when?
Taking a hybrid approach (that word hybrid again!) is one option, where you use both SCCM and Intune depending on the task. Another approach we have seen is to complete a major VDI or OS project using SCCM and then migrate to Intune.
However, given the hybrid nature of technology environments in most modern organisations, the growing capabilities of Intune, and the agile nature of the platform, it increasingly makes sense to migrate to Intune now. By migrating to Intune now, you will have all its command and control features ready at your fingertips to support all endpoints in your organisation. You can also utilise the packaging and automation features available in Access Capture to enhance your capabilities even further.
In summary, SCCM is being overtaken, Intune is the future, but the most optimised approach is Intune plus Access Capture.
