Just to add more confusion, we are removing MDT from all customers and replacing with intune using the already created json templates we have plus then also deploying chocolatey with intune then calling powershell from intune to install other software. I’d say only 20% of our customers have on-premise AD the other 80% are all Microsoft Business Premium licensed unless over 300 staff, and that’s why we have been transitioning customers to only that for the last few years.
MDT is the right tool for AD on premises though so don’t be dissuaded from that, just more, you should know.
Oh because if an application doesn’t exist natively in azure, ie not a MS Store app, then you can only deploy by uploading the msi which of course is one version. At an MSP with thousands of devices in dozens if not a hundred tenancies, and new software versions being released daily, you need something that will update all that.
Chocolatey is just for the poorer customers, a best effort, immybot for soe management though if the customer is full. Whenever Microsoft finishes getting their own repository fixed though, using winget could be the new chocolatey. Right now it doesn’t do patching or at least it didn’t 12 months ago. It could install and report but not update.
So thinking of solution life cycle you want something that doesn’t need tons of manual innervation, and you can use PDQ or chocolatey or immybot or whatever. Microsoft can handle its first party software suites and rmm deployment but 3rd party at this stage is just not good enough.