Microsoft MDM Hybrid Option Deprecated for Intune on Azure

Microsoft has tracked a steady decline in the number of companies using Hybrid Mobile Device Management (MDM) in customer organizations. The company indicated they are seeing more of their Enterprise Mobility + Security customers move this workload to Intune on Azure and as a result, the company is deprecating the Hybrid MDM option.

The deprecation officially began on Tuesday, August 14, according to Microsoft. Any customers using Hybrid Mobile Device Management as their Microsoft MDM option will need to make a full move to Intune on Azure by September 1, 2019.

Microsoft makes it clear that this change does not impact on-premises customers using System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) or the co-management of Windows 10 devices in ConfigMgr.

For those IT pros and system admins that need to begin planning a migration from this hybrid Microsoft MDM setup and push their organization to Intune on Azure, the path to migration is quite straightforward.

Intune has been on Azure for more than a year now according to Microsoft and they believe with proper planning and preparation, this new setup will surpass what those organizations are used to within the ConfigMgr MDM setup.

Microsoft suggests the following steps to begin the migration process over the next year:

- Review Microsoft’s own case study about how they made this same move for their entire company.

- Look at Microsoft’s tools and the documentation they created as a result of their own migration in order to integrate some of that into your own plan.

- If you work with a Microsoft Partner contact them for assistance in planning and executing the migration to Intune on Azure. FastTrack for Microsoft 365 can also assist you in this process.

Support for your current hybrid Microsoft MDM configuration will remain in effect over the course of this year-long deprecation process – the end of August 2019. That means your organization will continue to receive bug fixes and support for the way you manage your mobile devices in this hybrid environment. Microsoft will also provide updates to ensure full capabilities are supported on appropriate OS versions such as the upcoming iOS 12 and Android 9 Pie.

There are no plans for new features for the hybrid MDM configurations and as of November 2018, you will no longer be able to add new devices to this hybrid setup. Those devices will need to be managed using Intune on Azure at that point.

Of course, your organization should target completing your migration to Intune on Azure a couple of months ahead of the September 1, 2019 deadline. This will give you some flexibility in case you hit any delays along the way. There is no room to miss that date because you will be unable to push policy, apps or security updates to any devices that have not moved to Intune on Azure by that time.

Microsoft has a Frequently Asked Questions page available to address any other areas you might need to find out about concerning this feature deprecation.