What Windows 10 migration tools are available to IT?

Organizations must plan their final push to Windows 10 to meet the deadline for Windows 7 end of support, and they need the right tools to streamline the process.

There are plenty of Windows 10 migration tools to ensure a full readiness assessment of the environment prior to making the upgrade. This can prevent any costly incompatibility issues during a Windows 10 migration.

Ivanti Unified Endpoint Manager. Ivanti, formerly LANDESK, offers asset management and security tools, in addition to Windows 10 migration tools. Unified Endpoint Manager offers device management, asset tracking, security management, remote controls for end-user support and mobile device management.

The platform offers the ability to perform in-place upgrades to Windows 10, deploy apps, and configure user profiles and desktop policies. IT admins can also connect to Ivanti's cloud console to manage all their devices from anywhere.

ManageEngine Desktop Central. ManageEngine offers many tools, including those that address mobile device management, IT help desk and analytics. Its unified endpoint management tool, Desktop Central, has a variety of capabilities that are essential in a Windows 10 migration. Desktop Central includes a variety of hardware and software inventory management features, for example, that can help to prepare for a Windows 10 migration, such as scheduled device scanning, automated alerts to notify IT when end users install or uninstall software, and custom reporting tools.

ManageEngine documentation provides steps to deploy Windows 10 with Desktop Central, such as downloading the Windows 10 ISO file and pushing out the installation to the workstations. 

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager. This native tool provides complete end-to-end support for a Windows 10 migration and an in-place upgrade from Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. IT administrators can build a set of custom task sequences that can upgrade the OS, restart desktops and perform other post-installation steps, such as patching, software installations and other desktop configurations.

This platform requires on-premises installation, but can integrate with Microsoft Intune, which is hosted in Azure.