Microsoft has been steering the endpoint management ecosystem toward Intune for years, and 2026 marks a decisive turning point. With SCCM (now Microsoft Configuration Manager) receiving only maintenance updates and Intune gaining new capabilities every month, Tampa Bay businesses that have not started planning their migration are falling behind. This guide walks you through every phase of the SCCM to Intune migration process, from the first readiness assessment through post-migration optimization, with specific considerations for organizations operating in the Tampa Bay metro area.
Whether you are a 50-person law firm in downtown Tampa, a 500-employee healthcare organization in Clearwater, or a mid-market financial services company in St. Petersburg, the migration path follows the same fundamental phases. What changes is the scale of effort and the specific compliance requirements your industry demands. This guide covers all of it.
Why 2026 is the year to migrate from SCCM to Intune
The pressure to move from SCCM to Intune has never been greater. Microsoft's investment in Intune has accelerated dramatically, with features like Intune Suite, Cloud PKI, Endpoint Privilege Management, and advanced analytics all launching as Intune-exclusive capabilities. Meanwhile, SCCM has not received a significant new feature in over two years. The message is clear: the future of Microsoft endpoint management is cloud-native.
For Tampa Bay businesses specifically, the shift to Intune addresses several regional pain points. Hurricane season makes on-premises infrastructure a liability. When a Category 4 storm threatens the Gulf Coast, organizations relying on SCCM servers in local data centers face real operational risk. Intune's cloud-native architecture eliminates that single point of failure entirely. Your device management continues uninterrupted whether your office is open or your team is working remotely from across the state.
The Tampa Bay area's rapid business growth also makes Intune compelling. The region added over 40,000 new jobs in the past year, and many of those businesses need to scale IT operations quickly. SCCM requires significant server infrastructure and specialized administration skills. Intune lets you manage 10 devices or 10,000 devices with the same cloud tenant, scaling your endpoint management without scaling your server footprint.
Additionally, the Tampa Bay area's strong healthcare, financial services, and legal sectors mean many local organizations operate under compliance frameworks that benefit from Intune's built-in compliance policies, conditional access integration, and audit-ready reporting. SCCM can enforce compliance, but Intune's integration with Entra ID Conditional Access creates a zero-trust architecture that is increasingly required by frameworks like HIPAA, SOC 2, and CMMC.
Pre-migration assessment: Know what you are working with
The most common reason SCCM to Intune migrations fail or stall is inadequate discovery. Organizations jump into the technical migration without fully understanding their current SCCM environment. Here is what a thorough pre-migration assessment covers.
Device inventory and health check
Export your complete device inventory from SCCM, including OS version, hardware model, domain join status, SCCM client health, and last communication date. You need to answer several critical questions. How many devices are running Windows 10 versus Windows 11? Are any devices running unsupported OS versions that Intune cannot manage? How many are domain-joined versus hybrid-joined versus workgroup? What percentage of devices have healthy SCCM clients communicating regularly?
For Tampa Bay organizations with remote workers (which is most of them given the region's hybrid work adoption), pay particular attention to devices that have not communicated with SCCM in 30 or more days. These might be remote machines that have fallen out of management scope, and they represent a particular challenge during migration because they may need manual intervention to enroll in Intune.
Application portfolio analysis
Pull a complete report of every application and package deployed through SCCM. Categorize each one by deployment type: MSI, EXE with silent switches, SCCM script-based deployment, or task sequence. This categorization directly determines your repackaging effort. MSI applications are straightforward to wrap for Intune. Script-based deployments need careful rework. Task sequences need to be decomposed entirely.
Document detection rules, dependencies, and supersedence relationships for each application. Intune's Win32 app model supports these concepts, but the configuration does not translate automatically. You will need to recreate each detection rule and dependency chain in the Intune console or via Graph API.
Configuration and compliance baseline mapping
SCCM configuration baselines and Intune configuration profiles are fundamentally different in how they work. SCCM baselines evaluate device state and report compliance. Intune configuration profiles actively enforce settings. You need to document every configuration baseline, every compliance policy, and every group policy object that SCCM references, then map each setting to its Intune equivalent.
Some settings have direct 1:1 mappings. Others require creative solutions. A few may not have Intune equivalents at all, which is where custom OMA-URI settings, PowerShell remediation scripts, or the Settings Catalog come in. The SCCM Readiness Assessment we provide covers this mapping comprehensively.
Network and infrastructure readiness
Intune communicates over HTTPS to Microsoft cloud endpoints. Unlike SCCM, which can use local distribution points for content delivery, Intune downloads content from Microsoft's CDN and the Microsoft Connected Cache if you configure it. This means your internet bandwidth and firewall rules need review.
Verify that all required Intune, Entra ID, Windows Update, and Microsoft 365 endpoints are accessible through your firewall. Microsoft publishes and regularly updates this endpoint list. For Tampa Bay organizations with multiple office locations across Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties, confirm that each location has adequate bandwidth for simultaneous Intune policy sync and application downloads.
Phase 1: Infrastructure and licensing setup
With your assessment complete, the first active migration phase focuses on preparing the Intune environment to receive your devices and policies.
Licensing verification
Every user whose device will be managed by Intune needs an appropriate license. Intune is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, and Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) E3 and E5. Standalone Intune Plan 1 licenses are also available. If you need advanced features like remote help, endpoint privilege management, or advanced analytics, you will need Intune Plan 2 or the Intune Suite add-on.
Audit your current Microsoft 365 licensing and compare it against your device inventory. Licensing gaps are one of the most common blockers during migration. It is far better to resolve them before you start enrolling devices than to discover mid-migration that 30% of your users lack the required license.
Entra ID configuration
If you are running a hybrid environment with on-premises Active Directory, verify that Entra ID Connect (formerly Azure AD Connect) is healthy, syncing the correct OUs, and properly configured for hybrid join. Devices need to be either Entra ID joined or hybrid Entra ID joined to be managed by Intune.
Set up the dynamic Entra ID groups that will replace your SCCM collections. SCCM collections based on hardware inventory queries, AD site boundaries, or custom WQL will need equivalent dynamic membership rules in Entra ID. This is often more work than organizations expect, because Entra ID dynamic groups use a different query language and have different attribute availability than SCCM collections.
Intune tenant configuration
Configure your Intune tenant settings before enrolling any devices. This includes MDM authority (should be Intune), enrollment restrictions (which device types and OS versions you allow), device categories, scope tags for role-based access control, and automatic enrollment settings. Set up your Apple Push Notification service (APNs) certificate if you manage iOS devices, and your Android Enterprise enrollment if applicable.
Phase 2: Co-management enablement
Co-management is the bridge technology that lets SCCM and Intune manage the same devices simultaneously. It is the lowest-risk migration path because it lets you shift workloads incrementally rather than cutting over everything at once.
Enabling co-management in SCCM
Co-management is configured in the SCCM console under Cloud Services. You will specify your Entra ID tenant, configure automatic enrollment, and define the initial pilot group. Start with a small group of 10 to 20 devices that represent your hardware and user diversity. These pilot devices will have both the SCCM client and Intune MDM agent active simultaneously.
The co-management configuration includes workload sliders that control which management authority handles each capability. Initially, keep all sliders pointed at SCCM. You will shift them one at a time during Phase 3.
Validating co-management health
After enabling co-management for your pilot group, verify that all pilot devices show as co-managed in both the SCCM console and the Intune portal. Check that Entra ID device records are properly populated. Common issues at this stage include Entra ID Connect sync delays, hybrid join failures, and automatic enrollment errors. Resolve these for the pilot before expanding.
Phase 3: Workload migration (the core of the project)
This is where the actual migration happens. You shift each SCCM workload to Intune in a deliberate sequence, validating after each shift before proceeding to the next.
Workload 1: Compliance policies
Compliance policies are the safest starting point because they are declarative (they evaluate device state) rather than active (they do not change device configuration). Recreate your SCCM compliance baselines as Intune compliance policies. Test with your pilot group and verify that compliance status in Intune matches what SCCM was reporting. Once validated, shift the compliance policies workload slider to Intune.
Workload 2: Device configuration
Device configuration profiles in Intune replace SCCM configuration items. This includes Wi-Fi profiles, VPN profiles, email profiles, certificate profiles, and custom settings. Build these profiles in Intune, assign them to your pilot group, and validate that all settings apply correctly. Pay particular attention to certificate-based authentication profiles, as these often require additional infrastructure like NDES or Cloud PKI.
Workload 3: Windows Update policies
Moving from SCCM Software Update Point (SUP) to Windows Update for Business (WUfB) is a significant operational change. In SCCM, you approve specific updates and deploy them on your schedule. With WUfB, you define update rings that control deferral periods, and devices pull updates directly from Windows Update. Create your update rings in Intune with appropriate deferral periods for your pilot group. Monitor for two full patch cycles before expanding. This is detailed further in our SCCM vs Intune comparison.
Workload 4: Resource access policies
Resource access workloads include Wi-Fi, VPN, and certificate profiles that control how devices connect to corporate resources. These often overlap with device configuration profiles but are managed separately in the co-management workload model. Shift these after device configuration is stable.
Workload 5: Endpoint protection
If you are using SCCM to manage Windows Defender settings and policies, shift this workload to Intune's endpoint security node. Intune provides a dedicated security management experience with attack surface reduction rules, endpoint detection and response configuration, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint integration. For Tampa Bay healthcare organizations subject to HIPAA, this is often the most compliance-critical workload to get right.
Phase 4: Application migration
Application migration is consistently the most time-consuming phase. SCCM supports a broader range of deployment types than Intune, so every application needs evaluation and often repackaging.
Converting MSI applications
MSI-based applications are the simplest to migrate. Use the Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool (IntuneWinAppUtil.exe) to wrap the MSI into an .intunewin package. Create the app in Intune with the appropriate install command (msiexec /i "app.msi" /qn), uninstall command (msiexec /x "{ProductCode}" /qn), and MSI-based detection rule. Test on a clean device before deploying broadly.
Converting EXE and script-based deployments
EXE installers and script-based deployments require more work. You need to identify the silent install switches, create appropriate detection rules (registry key, file existence, or custom script), and test the complete install/uninstall cycle. PowerShell-based install scripts are common in SCCM environments and generally translate well to Intune Win32 app deployments, but the execution context differs. SCCM runs scripts in the SYSTEM context with access to SCCM variables. Intune runs them in SYSTEM context but without SCCM's variable framework.
Handling task sequence replacements
SCCM task sequences used for application installation sequences need to be decomposed into individual Intune app deployments with dependency chains. If App C requires App B, which requires App A, you create three separate Win32 apps in Intune and set up the dependency relationships. Intune will install them in the correct order.
For OS deployment task sequences, Windows Autopilot is the Intune-native replacement. Autopilot does not create custom images the way SCCM OSD does. Instead, it starts from the factory Windows image and layers on your apps, settings, and policies during the out-of-box experience. This is a fundamental architectural shift that typically requires rethinking your provisioning process entirely. See our Intune services page for more detail on how we handle this transition.
Phase 5: Testing and validation protocols
Thorough testing is what separates a smooth migration from a disaster. Here is the testing protocol we use for every migration.
Device enrollment validation
For each device type in your inventory, verify that enrollment completes successfully, all configuration profiles apply, compliance policies evaluate correctly, and the device reaches a compliant state within 30 minutes of enrollment. Document the expected enrollment experience so your help desk can support users during the broader rollout.
Application deployment testing
Test every application deployment on at least two different hardware models. Verify that install, detection, and uninstall all work correctly. Check that dependency chains resolve in the correct order. For required deployments, verify that installation happens within the expected time window. For available deployments, verify that the application appears in the Company Portal.
Compliance and conditional access testing
If you are using Entra ID Conditional Access (and you should be), test that compliant devices can access corporate resources and non-compliant devices are blocked. Test the remediation flow: when a device falls out of compliance, does the user receive appropriate notification and guidance to remediate?
Performance and user experience testing
Measure login times, policy sync times, and application installation times on pilot devices. Compare these to the SCCM baseline. Intune policy sync happens on a different schedule than SCCM client cycles, so users may notice timing differences. Document any changes in user experience and prepare communications.
Rollback strategies and safety nets
Every migration phase should have a defined rollback procedure. Here is how to build safety nets into your migration plan.
Co-management rollback
The primary advantage of co-management is that rollback is simple. If a workload is not performing as expected in Intune, slide it back to SCCM. Devices will revert to SCCM management for that workload within the next policy cycle. Keep your SCCM infrastructure fully operational until at least 90 days after the last device is fully migrated to Intune.
Application rollback
Maintain your SCCM application deployments in a "disabled" state rather than deleting them during migration. If an Intune application deployment fails for a group of devices, you can re-enable the SCCM deployment as an immediate fallback while you troubleshoot the Intune version.
Full rollback procedure
In a worst-case scenario, you can pull all workload sliders back to SCCM and remove devices from Intune enrollment. Document this procedure before you start migration and ensure your IT team has practiced it. A rehearsed rollback that takes 30 minutes is infinitely better than an improvised one that takes a full day.
Post-migration optimization
Migration is not complete when the last device enrolls in Intune. Post-migration optimization is where you unlock the full value of the platform.
Policy rationalization
Most organizations discover during migration that they have accumulated redundant and conflicting SCCM policies over the years. The migration is an opportunity to consolidate. Review every Intune configuration profile and compliance policy for overlap, conflict, and relevance. A clean, rationalized policy set is easier to manage and troubleshoot.
Autopilot deployment
With Intune managing all your devices, implement Windows Autopilot for new device provisioning. Register your hardware vendors to submit device hashes automatically. Configure Autopilot profiles for your standard deployment scenarios. For Tampa Bay organizations with multiple locations, Autopilot means a new employee in your Sarasota office gets the exact same provisioning experience as someone in your Tampa headquarters, with zero IT hands on the device.
Advanced security features
Once the core migration is stable, explore Intune's advanced security capabilities. Endpoint privilege management lets you elevate specific applications without giving users full local admin. Attack surface reduction rules provide pre-breach protection. Microsoft Tunnel provides modern VPN for mobile devices. These features are Intune-exclusive and represent the real value of completing the migration.
Reporting and automation
Set up Intune reporting dashboards for device compliance, application deployment status, and update compliance. Configure proactive remediation scripts to detect and fix common issues automatically. Integrate Intune data with your SIEM or monitoring platform for centralized visibility. For more on getting your Intune environment optimized, see our Intune migration cost analysis.
Tampa Bay-specific migration considerations
Working with Tampa Bay organizations over the years, we have identified several regional factors that influence migration planning.
Hurricane and disaster preparedness
Tampa Bay's hurricane risk makes cloud-native management especially valuable. During hurricane season (June through November), organizations need confidence that device management continues even if office locations are inaccessible. Intune's cloud architecture provides this inherently, but you need to plan for scenarios where devices may be offline for extended periods after a storm. Configure compliance policy grace periods and offline access policies accordingly.
Multi-location sprawl
Many Tampa Bay businesses have offices spread across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, and Pasco counties. SCCM's distribution point model required server infrastructure at each location for efficient content delivery. Intune eliminates this requirement entirely. Content comes from Microsoft's CDN, and Delivery Optimization handles peer-to-peer sharing within each office. This alone can significantly reduce your infrastructure footprint and costs.
Compliance requirements for Florida industries
Tampa Bay's strong healthcare sector means many organizations need HIPAA-compliant device management. The region's growing financial services industry requires SOC 2 and sometimes CMMC compliance. Intune's built-in compliance policies, conditional access integration, and audit logging are purpose-built for these frameworks. Plan your compliance policies during migration rather than retrofitting them after.
Common migration mistakes to avoid
After completing dozens of SCCM to Intune migrations, here are the most common mistakes we see Tampa Bay organizations make.
Skipping the application inventory. Organizations that do not do a thorough application analysis before starting migration inevitably stall in Phase 4 when they discover applications that are difficult to repackage. Do the discovery work upfront.
Migrating too many workloads simultaneously. Shift one workload at a time and validate for at least one week before moving to the next. Trying to shift three workloads in one week makes it impossible to isolate issues when they arise.
Ignoring the help desk. Your help desk team will receive the first calls when something does not work post-migration. Train them on Intune troubleshooting before the broader rollout, not after. Provide them with documented escalation procedures and common issue resolutions.
Decommissioning SCCM too early. Keep your SCCM infrastructure running for at least 90 days after the last device migrates. This gives you a safety net if issues emerge that were not caught during testing.
Neglecting network preparation. Intune relies on internet connectivity to Microsoft endpoints. Firewall rules, proxy configurations, and bandwidth capacity all need verification before migration begins. This is especially important for Tampa Bay organizations with older office buildings that may have constrained internet infrastructure.
Working with BluetechGreen on your migration
BluetechGreen is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has completed SCCM to Intune migrations for Tampa Bay organizations ranging from 50 to 3,000 devices. We offer flexible engagement models: full project management and execution, co-management with your internal IT team, or advisory and review services where we provide the runbook and your team executes.
Every engagement starts with our SCCM Readiness Assessment, a comprehensive evaluation of your current environment that produces a detailed migration plan with timeline, risk assessment, and cost estimate. The assessment typically takes 5 to 10 business days depending on environment complexity.
Whether you are managing 50 devices in a single Tampa office or 3,000 endpoints across the entire Tampa Bay metro area, the migration from SCCM to Intune follows the same proven methodology. The difference is in the details, and getting those details right is what separates a smooth migration from a painful one.