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Quick Wins: Migrating Group Policies with Group Policy Analytics

In the journey to modernize IT infrastructure, migrating to the cloud presents numerous benefits such as enhanced scalability, security, and efficiency. The issue with migrating to the cloud from a well established On-Prem presence, is the end goal sometimes seems so far away, or there seems to be too many tasks to be complete to be considered. One of the most impactful quick wins is the migration of traditional Group Policies to Microsoft Intune. This article will discuss how to achieve this by leveraging Group Policy Analytics, and some of the direct benefits.

What is Group Policy Analytics?

One of the low-hanging fruits in cloud migration is transitioning your Group Policies to Microsoft Intune. This process is streamlined and efficient, and with the right tools, it can be accomplished with minimal effort and maximum results.

Group Policy Analytics is a tool within Microsoft Intune designed to help organizations transition from traditional on-premises Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to modern cloud-based management. Here's a breakdown of its key features and functionalities:

Key Features of Group Policy Analytics

  1. Import and Analyze GPOs: You can import existing on-premises GPOs into Intune. The tool analyzes these GPOs and provides a detailed report on the settings that are supported by cloud-based Mobile Device Management (MDM) providers, including Microsoft Intune.

  2. Identify Deprecated Settings: The tool highlights any settings that are deprecated or not available in the cloud environment. This helps in understanding which policies can be directly migrated and which ones need adjustments.

  3. Migration to Intune Policies: After analyzing the GPOs, you can migrate the supported settings to Intune's Configuration Profiles. This allows you to manage these settings in the cloud, ensuring consistency and compliance across your devices.

  4. Delta Comparison: Group Policy Analytics provides a delta comparison between your current GPOs and the MDM-supported configurations. This helps in identifying gaps and taking necessary actions to bridge them.

  5. Sharable Reports: The tool generates detailed, sharable reports for each GPO, showing settings, conflicts, usage, and Intune equivalent policies. This transparency aids in planning and executing the migration process.

  6. Scope Tags Support: For large organizations, the tool supports scope tags, allowing better control over who can analyze and migrate imported GPOs based on their scope of responsibility.

Benefits of Using Group Policy Analytics

  • Visibility and Control: Gain clear visibility into the current state and impact of your GPOs, making it easier to manage and migrate them. Group Policy Analytics provides detailed reports on the settings within your GPOs, highlighting which settings are supported by cloud-based MDM providers like Intune. This visibility allows administrators to make informed decisions about which policies to migrate and how to address any gaps or deprecated settings.

  • Simplified Migration: Reduce the complexity and risk involved in moving from Group Policy to Intune policies. The tool automates the analysis and conversion of GPOs to Intune Configuration Profiles, streamlining the migration process. By identifying unsupported or deprecated settings, administrators can focus on configuring equivalent policies in Intune, ensuring a smooth transition.

  • Cloud Readiness: Prepare your organization for a cloud-native environment by ensuring that your policies are compatible with modern management solutions. Group Policy Analytics helps organizations transition from on-premises Active Directory dependencies to cloud-based management. By analyzing and migrating GPOs to Intune, organizations can leverage the benefits of cloud-native Windows devices, such as improved security, scalability, and remote management capabilities.

Efficient Migration Process

The migration process involves converting existing Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to Intune Configuration Profiles. The good news is that this process takes only minutes to execute:

  1. Export your GPOs to an XML format. In GPMC, Right-click the GPO you want to migrate and choose Save report, and remember to choose XML as the file type

    Screenshot that shows how to open Group Policy management and save a GPO as an XML file report.

  2. Use the Group Policy Analytics tool (Microsoft Intune > Devices > Group Policy Analytics) to convert the XML file into the Microsoft Intune GUI. During this process you can select multiple files at the same time (see notes below for limitations). You can also set the scope tag you wish to apply; This can help with separation of duties by limiting who can see what scope tags within the Intune portal.

  3. Once the XML is within Microsoft Intune, the Analysis runs against the GPO and the following information is listed:

    • Group Policy name: The name is automatically generated using information in the GPO.

    • Active Directory Target: The target is automatically generated using the organizational unit (OU) target information in the GPO.

    • MDM Support: Shows the percentage of group policy settings in the GPO that have the same setting in Intune. This also displays the CSP which is relevant to that group policy setting.

    • Unknown Settings: There are some CSPs that can't be analyzed. Unknown Settings lists the GPOs that can't be analyzed.

    • Targeted in AD: Yes means the GPO is linked to an OU in on-premises group policy. No means the GPO isn't linked to an on-premises OU.

    • Last imported: Shows the date of the last import.

Note:

  • You can select multiple files at the same time.

  • Check the sizes of your individual GPO XML files. A single GPO can't be bigger than 4 MB. If a single GPO is larger than 4 MB, then the import fails.

  • XML files without the appropriate Unicode ending also fail.

Why do you keep saying CSP?

Intune utilizes Configuration Service Providers (CSPs) to manage device settings, much like Group Policies in an on-premise environment. This linkage ensures that the settings applied via Intune are consistent with legacy GPOs, making the transition smooth and reliable.

Utilizing MDM Support Export for Delta Comparison

The MDM Support Export feature provides a quick and effective method to compare your current Group Policy configurations against the Mobile Device Management (MDM) supported configurations:

  • Delta Comparison: Identify differences between your existing GPOs and Intune settings.

  • Gap Analysis: Determine which settings are not yet supported or configured in Intune and take steps to implement other controls as necessary.

You can Import more GPOs for analysis, Refresh the page, and Filter the output. You can also Export this view to a .csv file:

Screenshot that shows how to import, refresh, filter, or export a group policy object (GPO) to a CSV file in Microsoft Intune and Intune admin center.

Merging and Simplifying Group Policies

One challenge in managing Group Policies and migrating to modern management solutions is dealing with legacy settings that may no longer be relevant or efficient. Another challenge is avoiding the "lift and shift" approach, which can carry over the mess created by years of unplanned deployments and excessive Group Policies. Over time, these policies may have been built out to achieve a collective goal or to establish a Standard Operating Environment (SOE) Group Policy. This is where Group Policy Analytics offers merge capabilities that simplify and clean up these policies:

  • Consolidating Multiple GPOs: Group Policy Analytics allows you to consolidate multiple Group Policy Objects (GPOs) into a unified Intune Configuration Profile. This helps in reducing the complexity of managing numerous GPOs and ensures a more streamlined policy management process.

  • Eliminating Redundant or Conflicting Settings: The tool identifies and eliminates redundant or conflicting settings within your GPOs. This not only simplifies the policy structure but also enhances the overall efficiency and performance of your IT environment.

  • Streamlining Policy Management: By transitioning to a cloud-based interface, Group Policy Analytics enables more efficient policy management. Intune's modern management capabilities provide a centralized platform for managing and deploying policies, making it easier to maintain and update settings across your organization.

Advisory on Delegating Policies

An important aspect of policy management is delegation and scoping. When migrating to Intune, it's crucial to delegate policies appropriately. This approach not only assists in your eventual migration but also helps in the potential restructure of your environment. Here are some best practices, and my recommendations for scoping your Configuration Profiles:

  • Standard Operating Environment (SOE): Allocate policies that ensure all devices meet your organizational standards. This includes baseline security settings, application configurations, and compliance requirements.

  • Computer Scope: Apply policies directly to devices, regardless of the user logged in. This is particularly useful for settings that need to be enforced at the device level, such as security configurations, software installations, and hardware restrictions. This can be helpful in such systems as Kiosk Terminals (as an example).

  • User Scope: Tailor policies to specific user needs, providing flexibility and customization. This includes user-specific settings like desktop configurations, application preferences, and access controls.

Conclusion

Migrating Group Policies to Microsoft Intune is a strategic move that offers quick wins, enhancing your organization's cloud management capabilities. By understanding the core components, utilizing MDM Export for gap analysis, and leveraging Intune's merge capabilities, you can streamline policy management and ensure a smooth transition to the cloud.