Leadership wants a timeline, a budget, and a recommendation on co-management vs full migration. Not a range, not "it depends" -- real numbers tied to your actual SCCM scope.
This is the most important strategic decision in SCCM migration. The answer depends on your licensing, timeline pressure, environment complexity, and risk tolerance.
Move workloads one at a time. SCCM and Intune run side-by-side. Zero big-bang risk. Test each workload before committing. Best for: most organizations, complex environments, risk-averse leadership, teams new to Intune.
Move everything at once and decommission SCCM. Eliminates dual-platform cost and complexity. Best for: smaller environments (under 1,000 devices), SCCM license renewal upcoming, aging SCCM infrastructure, teams already experienced with Intune.
During co-management you pay for both platforms. After migration, drop System Center/SCCM licensing. Most organizations already have Intune through M365 E3/E5. Net annual savings: $50K-$200K in SCCM infrastructure costs alone.
Small (500 devices): 6-8 weeks. Medium (1,000-3,000): 3-6 months. Large (5,000+): 6-12 months. These timelines include assessment, migration, validation, and SCCM decommission. Our assessment gives you the exact number for your environment.
Standard apps (Office, Chrome, Teams) migrate easily. Custom LOB apps with task sequence dependencies, detection scripts, and conditional logic require repackaging. This is usually the biggest cost driver.
More devices means more testing scenarios. Mixed hardware (Dell, Lenovo, HP, Surface) and OS versions (Win10, Win11 mixed builds) increase the testing matrix significantly.
Heavily customized SCCM environments (custom client settings, complex boundaries, extensive task sequences) require more analysis and conversion effort than standard deployments.
If your team can handle day-to-day Intune management after migration, the engagement is shorter. If you need ongoing managed services, the project transitions into monthly retainer.
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A 500-device environment typically runs $30K-$60K. A 5,000-device environment can be $150K-$300K. Our readiness assessment provides a specific estimate based on your actual environment -- not a range, a number.
Co-management is almost always the right starting point. Full migration makes sense when your SCCM licensing is up for renewal, you have fewer than 1,000 devices, or your SCCM infrastructure is aging. We recommend 3-6 months of co-management before committing to full decommission.
Intune requires M365 E3/E5, EMS E3/E5, or standalone licenses. Many organizations already have Intune through M365 and are paying for both platforms. After full migration, dropping SCCM/System Center licensing often nets savings.
After all workloads are migrated (3-9 months), decommission takes 2-4 weeks. We recommend keeping SCCM in read-only mode for 30 days after final migration as a safety net.
Three pillars: 1) Cost avoidance -- SCCM infrastructure costs $50K-$200K/year, 2) Operational efficiency -- Intune reduces management overhead by 40-60%, 3) Risk reduction -- SCCM is approaching end-of-support. Our assessment includes an executive summary with specific ROI numbers.
Our readiness assessment delivers a specific timeline, cost estimate, and co-management recommendation tailored to your environment. Not a generic range -- your actual numbers.