Systems manager after License Period, what will happen?

[RobustMeraki]

Hi Team,

I would like to know what will happen to the licenses after License period? I have a customer using 200 Licenses and does not want to renew them and he wants to know what will happend it he doesnt do it.

1. Will the settings remain on the smartphones that he has already setup?

2. will the installed apps remain on smartphones?

3. Is there anything that he has to take care of that may happen if licenses are not renewed?

There is unfortunately no clear information related to this. Looking forward to response.

[ConnorL]

Hello @RobustMeraki ,

Once your 30-day grace period expires (which starts after your license expiry date), you'll lose management over the device but all existing apps and profiles will remain installed. However, you will not be able to add, remove or edit profiles & apps, nor use any of the live tools. 

If the customer does not wish to renew their license, I'd advise removing it from Systems Manager before the license expires.

[nbv · Accepted solution]

Though I don't have experience specifically with this happening after license expiration, I have had to deal with orphaned MDM devices which I would assume would occur once the Systems Manager license expires. Assuming that's what would occur:

1. Will the settings remain on the smartphones that he has already setup?

Answer: Yes. To remove the settings, you will need to either unenroll them first via Systems Manager, unenroll them on each device (if you allowed to be removed from the device), or erase each device AFTER the license has expired.

2. will the installed apps remain on smartphones?

Answer: Yes, unless it is an app set to remove with MDM and you or the client were able to remove the MDM profile from the device.

3. Is there anything that he has to take care of that may happen if licenses are not renewed?

Answer: No, if you unenroll the devices BEFORE the expiration period. Otherwise, they will need to remove the MDM profile on each device or erase it.

If I were you, I would start unenrolling them a couple of weeks before the expiration to give enough time to take care of any devices that may be turned off/lost network. If they are tied to something like Apple Business Manager, remove those as well. And if I were your client, I would erase the devices anyways.

[BlakeRichardson]

Sound like this is going to be messy.