Migrating to KACE Cloud

KACE Cloud is a cloud-based endpoint management solution that helps IT professionals achieve their organization’s goals for managing their modern endpoints. The solution currently supports operating systems from Apple (macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS), Google (Android) and Microsoft (Windows).

Many customers are already managing their mobile devices using other mobile device management (MDM) products, but want to experience the benefits of using KACE’s Unified Endpoint Management solution that combines best-in-case traditional endpoint management with the newer modern management approaches.

This section is designed to help you understand the process of migrating from other MDM solutions to KACE Cloud. It provides high-level guidance concerning other MDM of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) products in the marketplace along with specific guidance regarding KACE Cloud.

In this section we use terms that are specific to KACE Cloud, but may be different in other MDM products. If you come across a term that is unfamiliar in the context of another product, it is likely just named differently in ours. Here is a list of the terms and concepts that we use:

  • Device Enrollment: The term enroll describes the process of bringing a device under management by KACE Cloud. This process results in the installation of a management profile or agent app on the device by KACE Cloud (or another MDM product) so that the product may remotely control the device. Likewise, the term unenroll refers to removing the management profile or agent app from the device, after which the device can no longer be managed by the MDM product.
  • Management Levels: KACE Cloud supports two primary management levels on the device:

    A fully-managed device is a company-owned device that can be fully managed by the device administrator through MDM.

    A personal device is one that is owned by the end user, but the end-user has enrolled the device in MDM so that they can use special work apps, configurations or data supplied by the company.

    • Apple Operating Systems:
      • In iOS, the fully managed mode is often referred to as Supervised or DEP Enrolled (explained below).
      • On macOS, Apple does not distinguish between Supervised and non-supervised devices.
    • Android: In Android, the fully managed mode is simply referred to as Fully Managed. Android does offer a hybrid mode called COPE (corporate-owned, personally-enabled) that allows a company-owned device to have personal apps and data stored on it. The device remains fully managed, but the device administrator cannot see or touch any part of the personal end-user profile.
    • Microsoft: In Microsoft Windows, Microsoft provides an MDM only enrollment method which does enable management and provisioning of the device through MDM, but does not join the device to an Azure Active Directory (AD) domain. Other enrollment methods, such as Add Work Account or Join Azure AD Domain result in an awareness of the device within the company’s Azure AD environment, either as a joined machine or as a machine account. For more information about these enrollment methods, see Azure AD domains: Configure manual enrollment to join existing devices.
  • Automated Enrollment: Each OS vendor offers similar enrollment paths that are typically divided into three types: automated, fully managed and personal. The fully managed and personal management levels are covered above. Automated systems are as follows:
    • Apple: Previously known as the Device Enrollment Program or DEP for short, Apple’s automated enrollment system is now more commonly known as Apple Business Manager (ABM) or Apple School Manager (ASM). This program applies to both the mobile and desktop OS variants.
    • Google: Google’s automated enrollment offering is known as Zero-Touch Enrollment (ZTE).
    • Samsung: For Samsung devices running the Android OS, a special automated enrollment program is available. This program is called Samsung Knox, and functions very similarly to Google ZTE.
    • Microsoft: MS Windows devices can be auto-enrolled through a program called AutoPilot.