SMB Options For Migrating From Windows 7 and Office 2010 Part 1

This is going to be an extended set of blog posts for those still working their way through migration options from Windows 7 and Office 2010 to Windows 10 and Office 365 Business on the desktop, with the target target being a Microsoft 365 Business migration/deployment as part of the process. The first posts are going to focus on the basics of upgrading from Windows 7, as that is the deadline that many are still working towards. Then I will loop back around to dig into more details of enhancements that can be leveraged with the various options presented.

Let’s start by taking a look at the main options I’ll be covering, which you will see build on some typical Windows 7 environment, and build out from there. Because this post is targeting SMB, it isn’t going to cover Configuration Manager scenarios, but here are some of the scenarios I’ll be discussing:

• Local Account Only
• Active Directory + Domain Joined PCs
• Active Directory + Hybrid Domain Joined PCs using GPO
• Active Directory + Hybrid Domain Joined PCs using GPO + Intune policies
• Active Directory + Azure Active Directory Joined PCs with Intune
• Azure Active Directory Joined +Intune

There will be some common elements that I will be making with each of these scenarios, starting off with the use of Windows Analytics, which is going to require an Azure subscription. When the Desktop Analytics preview supports non-Configuration Manager environments I’ll also include information on that, but for now it will be Windows Analytics.

Once I start rolling in Office readiness assessments, in-place upgrades versus new OS deployments, including Windows Autopilot, you can see that there are a few things to cover, and that’s before we start rolling in the additional features that Microsoft 365 Business brings in. I’ll drop a few bullet points in to each of the scenarios for Microsoft 365 Business features that could be rolled in easily during each scenario, before covering those in more detail as there have been quite a few new features that should be leveraged.

That’s it for this post, I’ll get the Windows 7 to Windows 10 migration posts done first, so keep an eye out for them. Windows 10 features that Windows 7 administrators may not know about will be discussed where relevant, with the goal of making sure that migrations do leverage new features where possible.