Laplink saves time for IT pros deploying new PCs or joining existing PCs to Azure Active Directory

Laplink Software announced its PCmover Enterprise solution now supports local Active Directory profile migrations to Azure Active Directory users.

This is something that is not currently supported by Microsoft and IT professionals can now leverage PCmover Enterprise to streamline local Active Directory profile transfers and save hours of time per new PC deployed or per existing PC joined to Azure Active Directory.

Traditionally, one of the most popular tools to migrate Windows user profiles from one PC to another is Microsoft’s User State Migration Tool (USMT). Without extensive (and expensive) customization, USMT does not easily support user profile migration on existing devices, which is necessary when transitioning these devices from Active Directory to Azure Active Directory.

“There are significant benefits to moving from on-premise-based Active Directory to cloud-based Azure Active Directory, including avoiding costs associated with hardware and software, as well as time and costs to maintain the infrastructure,” said Tom Coyle, Senior Solution Architect at Laplink.

“However, migrating user profiles can become very time-consuming for IT staff when they are forced to do so manually. Using PCmover for this process is a game changer, saving significant time and costs.”

Azure Active Directory enables each user with a single sign-on and multi-factor authentication to help protect their business from 99.9 percent of cybersecurity attacks. According to Microsoft, as of December 2019, Azure Active Directory provides services to over 250 million monthly active users.

Laplink has addressed a key point of friction compared to using USMT for those 250 million users: IT professionals can now leverage PCmover to transfer data between existing profiles on PCs moving from a local Active Directory to Azure Active Directory in addition to speeding up deployment of new PCs whether or not joined to Azure AD.

FLEXAMIT, a cloud-focused IT provider based in Belgium, is an advocate of PCmover. Wim van Sprundel, the founder, noted that in addition to significant time savings achieved by FLEXAMIT, PCmover eliminates the risk of human error and produces a consistent outcome.

When a profile is migrated, van Sprundel explained, the user becomes hyper-aware of any changes, such as with background images, file locations and more. “We’re focused on getting rid of these end user concerns and feedback,” van Sprundel said, which is exactly what PCmover accomplishes.

“We’ve heard from many IT professionals that migrating local Azure Active Directory profiles is a major pain point in managing PCs, which are a significant asset and investment for their businesses,” said Thomas Koll, Laplink Software CEO.

“By adding support for Active Directory to Azure Active Directory Profile migration to PCmover Enterprise, we’re solving this problem and freeing up valuable time for the IT department.”

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