Migrating a large device fleet to a new MDM platform is one of those projects that sounds straightforward on a slide and gets complicated fast in practice. The devices in question are usually in active daily use — which means you can't just flip a switch. I led exactly this kind of migration: 4,800+ tablets across 100 locations, moved onto Intune in under five months, with devices staying in service throughout. Here's the approach that made that possible.
Before touching a single device, get an accurate picture of what you actually have: device models, current OS versions, current enrollment status, and which locations they're at. Fleets that have grown organically over years almost always have surprises hiding in them — devices no one remembers deploying, locations running slightly different configurations than everyone assumes.
Pick a small number of representative locations and run the full migration process there first — not a lab test, an actual production migration. This surfaces the real issues (a policy that doesn't translate cleanly, a app that needs reconfiguring, a training gap) while the blast radius is still small.
With 100 locations, migrating everything simultaneously isn't realistic or safe. I sequenced the rollout in batches, grouping locations by similarity in setup and giving each batch enough time to surface issues before moving to the next. This is what let the project stay on a five-month timeline instead of stalling out or rushing into problems.
It's tempting to try to replicate your old platform's policy configuration exactly in the new one. In practice, the platforms don't map one-to-one, and trying to force an exact copy usually creates more problems than it solves. I rebuilt policies and app deployments natively in the new platform, matching the intent of the old configuration rather than every technical detail.
A migration that's technically flawless can still feel disruptive if the people using the devices don't know what's happening. Simple, clear communication to on-site staff about what to expect — and a support path if something looks wrong — prevents a technical non-event from turning into a wave of support tickets.
Each batch got a verification pass: confirming devices were actually enrolled correctly, policies applied as expected, and no devices were silently left behind. Skipping this step is how migrations end up with a long tail of unmigrated stragglers months later.
Whether it's 100 devices or several thousand, I can help you build a sequencing and rollout plan that doesn't disrupt daily operations.
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