Moving 600 Windows clients from baramundi to Intune/Autopilot – Any survivors? Help a newbie out!

Hey everyone,

My team is gearing up for a big project: We’re moving about 600 Windows endpoints from baramundi over to a full Microsoft Intune setup.

We’re a Hybrid environment (On-prem AD + Entra ID) and, honestly? We’re pretty green when it comes to Intune. We've got a tight deadline too—kicking off in May and hoping to be "production-ready" by the end of August.

(Side note: Our Macs are being migrated separately, so I’m purely focused on the Windows side for this one.)

The mission is to completely replace baramundi for:

• Software Distribution & Managed Software
• OS Deployment (Moving to Windows Autopilot)

Since the logic between these two is worlds apart, I’d love to hear your "Aha!" moments or things you wish you knew on day one. Specifically:

1. The Logic Shift: baramundi is very "assign software directly to the client." Intune is all about groups. How did you guys handle that transition without ending up in "Group Hell" in Entra ID?
2. Packaging Tools: We’re currently looking at RoboPack for packaging and patching because it seems like a lifesaver. Anyone here using it? Or are there other "must-have" tools for a 600-client hybrid shop?
3. Troubleshooting: I’m used to the super detailed baramundi logs. Intune sometimes feels like a black box. What’s your workflow for finding out why a deployment failed without losing your mind?
4. Hybrid Gotchas: Since we’re Hybrid, are there any specific Autopilot traps we should watch out for?
5. Lifecycle & Clean-up: How do you keep the environment from getting cluttered with stale objects/devices?

If you’ve made this specific jump (baramundi -> Intune), I’d love to hear your survival tips. Is our August deadline realistic, or should I start stocking up on extra coffee now?

Thanks in advance for any input!