The problem
Duplicates are everywhere in an enterprise estate. A machine gets rebuilt and SCCM keeps the old record. A user reinstalls Windows and Entra ID registers a new device while the old one stays. A motherboard swap and Intune sees a brand new device.
- Compliance pollution — duplicates corrupt your compliance reports with phantom denominators.
- Double M365 licensing — each duplicate Entra ID record can consume a separate license.
- Silent deployment failures — policies push to the wrong record. The "why didn't this user get the policy?" ticket has a name.
Most enterprise estates carry 5-15% duplicate device pollution. Most teams have no visibility into it.