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Microsoft Pulling Plug on SCCM 2007, Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) and Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (FEP) will both lose support on July 9, 2019, Microsoft warned organizations this week.

At that date, Microsoft will no longer issue updates for either product, including security patches. The products continue to work but are deemed insecure.

It really will be the end of FEP 2010, as Microsoft's notice made clear:

Microsoft plans to discontinue definition, engine, and platform updates for FEP 2010 once the end of support is reached. This discontinuation may occur without any notice.

Microsoft stopped selling its whole Forefront enterprise security products back in December 2012, and FEP 2010 likely is the last of the line. Microsoft's recommendation for FEP 2010 users is to "migrate to System Center Endpoint Protection (current branch)," according to this Microsoft Tech Community post.

FEP 2010 and SCCM 2007 could be used separately but typically were used together. The combination was conceived by Microsoft as a way to address the desktop management and desktop security IT roles in organizations.

SCCM 2007 users don't have an upgrade path to Microsoft's current service-enabled version of the SCCM product. The current SCCM product, part of the System Center 2019 suite, now gets upgrades three times per year in a "branch" upgrade model that's designed to keep pace with Windows 10 upgrades. Instead, IT pros have to move SCCM 2007 data to a new SCCM installation in a so-called "side-by-side" deployment, according to Microsoft's "Administrator Checklist" document.

SCCM 2007 at best still supports Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, which will fall out of support in January. That grim detail is highlighted in this support article.

Organizations with Microsoft Premier Support agreements can set up a migration plan with Microsoft. Others should seek partner support using this portal, Microsoft advised.

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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