Clearing up the clear and simple guidance about Configuration Manager and Intune

Brad Anderson of Microsoft recently highlighted a new post from the Intune team full of ridiculous flow charts which supposedy deliver “clear and simple guidance” about when to use System Center Configuration Manager vs. Intune for device management.

Hopefully the flow charts didn’t require much labor because they are completely unnecessary. Here’s the extracted clear and simple guidance about which tool is most appropriate for each scenario:

  • Configuration Manager: Corporate-owned device which is not mobile, already on the domain, or requires fine-grained settings control via GPO.
  • Azure Active Directory Join + Intune MDM: Corporate-owned device which is mobile, not on the domain today, and does not require fine-grained settings control via GPO.
  • Azure Active Directory “Add work account” + Intune MDM: Personal device not owned by the company.

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Some personal background, links to related projects, and other ways to connect.

Hi there. My name is Tom Pacyk and this is my small home on the web. I love the intersection of design, technology, and communication, which is a combination that led me to a career in sales and marketing roles at places like Zoom and ServiceNow. They're a bit old now, but I also had the opportunity to publish a couple of books along the way.

Portland, Oregon is home for me, my wife Beth, and our three kids, but I'm actually a Midwestern transplant—I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and went to school at Purdue and Illinois. When I find some free time I'm probably going to concerts, rooting for the Portland Timbers, or working on my Sunshine Burn Photography project.