Public Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Private Cloud, Windows Server 2015, System Center 2015, Azure, O365 vNext

 

2015 is a big year for Microsoft there are a lot of new product coming this year. This month there will be a lot of new releases of the new products ( see zdnet ) Microsoft has started to send out invites to its second Windows 10 event, which is being held in Redmond on January 21st 2015.

 

Microsoft has started to send out invites to its second Windows 10 event, which is being held in Redmond on January 21st

And as always new builds are ready for testing Windows 10 and Windows Server 2015. The Windows 10 version was OK but not rock shocking. But the Windows Server version will it be worth to upgrade from Windows Server 2012 R2 well as Microsoft Said “ it depends “ but for me it is a big YES there are so much cool things in Windows Server 2015 as Windows Volume Replication Storage Replica  https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/first-look-at-windows-volume-replication-storage-replica-in-windows-server-windows10-winserv-storage-wvr/

And a lot of nice blog post are waiting about the new stuff. And it Will take time to play with this.

But what about the Old stuff ?  I see a lot of Products that are EOL but Do you care ?

I guess not.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
Lifecycle Start Date 5/28/2003
Mainstream Support End Date 7/13/2010
Extended Support End Date 7/14/2015

So in 10 Years you are still running XP and 2003 Servers so why not ? why upgrade ?

Currently my server and my desktop are running fine on those products and I don’t need any other product to do my job.

Oh ok but what about large company’s or security ( hahaha yeh right XP and 2003 ) but what if my old hardware is broken is that the moment that you will use new Software ? does the ITPRO manage his servers or is he waiting that someone is calling he my app is not working.

So there is no need for migration ? but did you know when using Microsoft SA you can use the latest versions and even if you are using 2003 you are paying for 2012R2. So why not upgrading the old stuff.

 

So if you are running say Windows Server 2003 and it runs an application that is say .NET this can be easily migrated to 2012R2 but did you know that even .NET 4.5 has an Extended Support End Date 1/12/2016

And also  Microsoft Forefront Security for * are ending on 12/31/2015

and Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004 Enterprise Edition is also stopping on 4/14/2015

See the whole list http://support2.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default.aspx?sort=PN&alpha=&Filter=FilterES&esdate=12

IT company’s will try to help you to transfer your old “ legacy “ to a new modern datacenter

but don’t get fooled upgrading to Windows Server 2008 is as just as bad the Mainstream Support End Date 1/13/2015 

Is already Passed….

There is only one way so save costs step on the upgrade/renew highway Rolling Upgrades  We’re rolling out our first new build to the Windows Insider

But maybe Azure is the best place to start think about all the cost to run this server on premise. ? But is upgrading even possible ?

Windows Server 2003 is often x32 so there is no upgrade to Windows Server 2012R2 X64 Rebuilding is the best option and your only option.

and Some Migrations are not even migrations say you are running a 2003 DC with just placing a 2012 Server and make this a DC you are migrating the 2003 AD setting the FSMO roles over and you are done. and yes those apps all created by IT guys who are already retired but still this app is the Core app off your Company.  Just start over in 2012 R2.

 

Check your Applications and your servers with Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is an agentless inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations—including Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Office 2013, Office 2010, Office 365, Windows Server 2012 and Windows 2012 R2, SQL Server 2014, Hyper-V, Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track, and Windows Azure.

 

If you need more guidance check out the MVA site

Migrating Legacy Windows Server to 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 9.0 #MAP #MSA

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit. This release of the MAP Toolkit helps increase the agility and cost effectiveness of deploying the latest Microsoft technologies. It also enhances usage tracking to include accounting for Remote Desktop Services as well as Server and Cloud Enrollment licensed deployments. MAP 9.0 additionally helps organizations assess their environment for Office 2013 and Office 365, track usage of Windows Server 2012, Lync Server 2013, SharePoint Server 2013, Exchange Server 2013, System Center Configuration Manager 2012, and SQL Server 2012. The Windows Azure assessment report has also been updated to include the latest Azure sizing.

New Server and Cloud Enrollment scenario helps to simplify adoption

Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE) is a new offering under the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement that enables subscribers to standardize broadly on one or more Microsoft Server and Cloud technologies. The MAP Toolkit 9.0 features an assessment scenario to identify and inventory SCE supported products within an enterprise and help streamline enrollment.

New Remote Desktop Services Licensing Usage Tracking scenario creates a single view for enterprise wide licensing

With an increase in enterprises deploying Remote Desktop Services (RDS) across wider channels, RDS license management has become a focus point for organizations. With the new RDS Licensing scenario, the MAP Toolkit rolls up license information enterprise-wide into a single report, providing a simple alternative for assessing your RDS licensing position.

Support for software inventory via Software ID tags now available

As part of the Microsoft effort to support ISO 19770-2, the MAP Toolkit now supports inventory of Microsoft products by Software ID (SWID) tag. SWID enhanced reports will provide greater accuracy and assist large, complex environments to better manage their software compliance efforts by simplifying the software identification process and lowering the cost of managing software assets.

Improved Usage Tracking data collection for SQL Server Usage Tracking scenarios

As part of our ongoing improvement initiatives, Usage Tracking for SQL Server 2012 has been enhanced to use User Access Logging (UAL). UAL is a standard protocol in Windows Server 2012 that collects User Access information in near real time and stores the information in a local database, eliminating the need for log parsing to perform Usage Tracking assessments. UAL vastly improves the speed and helps to eliminate long lead times for environment preparation associated with running Usage Tracking assessments.

Download the MAP Toolkit 9.0 now!

MAP Toolkit 9.0 Beta is now available @mapblog ‏@MSSolutionAccel #mvpsummit #MVPBuzz

The MAP Toolkit 9.0 Beta is now available!

Keeping Track of Your IT Environment

Just after testing this new version I must say it it fast everything is running smooth.

This tool is the tool if you need more information in a environment or quickscan You will get a quick impression.

Go play with the tool ! and get it here

The MAP Toolkit is a FREE download from Microsoft. To download the current version and learn more about MAP:
Visit the MAP Toolkit site

 

The MAP Toolkit makes it easy to assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right technologies for your IT needs

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is a FREE, agentless tool designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments.

The new usage-tracking feature in the MAP Toolkit 6.5 provides consistent software usage reports for Microsoft servers, including Windows Server, SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, SQL Server and System Center Configuration Manager. The server inventory and software usage tracking reports enable you to track licenses and significantly simplify the “true-up” process for software asset management. The Usage Tracker reports provide detailed information that you can use to analyze usage trends and plan future growth and acquisition of the necessary licenses. You can also use the report’s data and analysis to help determine your server license and client access license (CAL) needs for server products, and simplify the inventory process for CAL reporting.

This release of the MAP Toolkit helps increase the agility and cost effectiveness of deploying the latest Microsoft technologies. It also enhances usage tracking to include accounting for Remote Desktop Services as well as Server and Cloud Enrollment licensed deployments. MAP 9.0 beta additionally helps organizations assess their environment for Office 2013 and Office 365, track usage of Windows Server 2012, Lync Server 2013, SharePoint Server 2013, Exchange Server 2013, System Center Configuration Manager 2012, and SQL Server 2012. The Windows Azure assessment report has also been updated to include the latest Azure sizing.

 

New Server and Cloud Enrollment scenario helps to simplify adoption

Server and Cloud Enrollment (SCE) is a new offering under the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement that enables subscribers to standardize broadly on one or more Microsoft Server and Cloud technologies. The MAP Toolkit 9.0 features an assessment scenario to identify and inventory SCE supported products within an enterprise and help streamline enrollment.

 

 

 

New Remote Desktop Services Licensing Usage Tracking scenario creates a single view for enterprise wide licensing

With an increase in enterprises deploying Remote Desktop Services (RDS) across wider channels, RDS license management has become a focus point for organizations. With the new RDS Licensing scenario, the MAP Toolkit rolls up license information enterprise-wide into a single report, providing a simple alternative for assessing your RDS licensing position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support for software inventory via Software ID tags now available

As part of the Microsoft effort to support ISO 19770-2, the MAP Toolkit now supports inventory of Microsoft products by Software ID (SWID) tag. SWID enhanced reports will provide greater accuracy and assist large, complex environments to better manage their software compliance efforts by simplifying the software identification process and lowering the cost of managing software assets.

 

 

 

 

 

Improved Usage Tracking data collection for SQL Server Usage Tracking scenarios

As part of our ongoing improvement initiatives, Usage Tracking for SQL Server 2012 has been enhanced to use User Access Logging (UAL). UAL is a standard protocol in Windows Server 2012 that collects User Access information in near real time and stores the information in a local database, eliminating the need for log parsing to perform Usage Tracking assessments. UAL vastly improves the speed and helps to eliminate long lead times for environment preparation associated with running Usage Tracking assessments.

Resources

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit
Microsoft Partner Network: Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit

Installation Questions

For questions about how to install the MAP Toolkit, including details about hardware and software prerequisites:
Read the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit release notes

Frequently Asked Questions

For answers to frequently asked questions about the MAP Toolkit:
Read the MAP Toolkit FAQ

Product Support

Support for the MAP Toolkit is provided through Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS). Premier customers should contact Premier Support for assistance. For support offerings and regional contact information:
Visit the Solution Accelerators Support site

Microsoft Assessment and Planning #MAP Toolkit 8.5 #Hyperv #WS2012 #SQL #Cloud

 

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 8.5 is now available for download!

Download MAP 8.5:

Download now!

Or visit the MAP Download Center page for more information including install instructions and system requirements.

 

The MAP team is pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 8.5! This release adds new scenarios to help organizations assess their environments with greater agility and lower their cost of delivery. MAP Toolkit 8.5 includes hardware and infrastructure readiness assessments to help organizations plan their Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 deployments. It also helps organizations assess their environment for Office 2013 and Office 365, track usage of Windows Server 2012, Lync Server 2013, SharePoint Server 2013, and Exchange Server 2013, and preparing a migration to Windows Azure virtual machines.

For a comprehensive list of features and benefits, click here.

Key Features and Benefits

Windows Volume Licensing scenario helps to assess license status of computers running Windows Vista SP1 and newer

For organizations licensing Windows, MAP Toolkit 8.5 detects and reports on the version of Windows running on client computers within the organization.  This helps customers to manage investments in Software Assurance and deploy upgrades appropriately.

Usage Tracking for Lync 2013, SharePoint 2013, and Exchange 2013

Groundbreaking releases of Lync, SharePoint, and Exchange were brought to market this year. MAP 8.5 leverages new usage tracking capabilities provided by these products to achieve greater accuracy collecting and reporting on end user access without the need to parse log files, resulting in a faster and more efficient usage tracking process.

Enhanced Virtual Machine discovery

As organizations leverage server virtualization to optimize their resources, availability, and agility, the added virtual machine discovery and reporting capabilities of MAP Toolkit 8.5 help organizations manage assets and license compliance across virtualized environments. Enhanced inventory reports list the virtual machines discovered and the number of virtual machines running on each host. Because licenses are allocated to the physical host specifying the number that can be run, these reports directly support license compliance. 

New and improved user interface

The updated user interface in MAP Toolkit 8.5 provides a more intuitive user experience. Scenario groups help users quickly navigate and view at-a-glance summaries on individual scenario tiles. Details for individual scenarios appear on the scenario detail pages along with a checklist of steps users can use to maximize results and enable one-click report generation.

Improved Documentation

As part of our ongoing attempt to improve documentation, the Getting Started Guide for the MAP Toolkit is now available as part of our MAP Toolkit Wiki.  Our new live documentation method allows us to deliver relevant and up-to-date product information, timely usage examples, and adapt to changing technologies between releases.

Download these resources to get you started with the MAP Toolkit:

• MAP Toolkit Readme
• Sample Reports
• MAP Training Kit

Learn more

Visit the MAP home page:www.microsoft.com/map

Get the latest news straight from the MAP team:http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog

MAP works with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Security Compliance Manager to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. Learn more at www.microsoft.com/solutionaccelerators.

Accelerate your move to the Private Cloud with MAP 7.0 Beta

The latest release from the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) team provides organizations with tools to assess readiness for Windows and Windows Server 2012 Beta.

Accelerate your move to the Private Cloud with MAP 7.0 Beta

The MAP Toolkit’s new capabilities help you to assess the readiness of your environment for deploying Windows as well as Windows Server 2012 Beta.  This update adds new scenarios specifically, the ability to plan for virtualization assessment of Linux servers and readiness assessment for desktop virtualization. Along with the Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter and MAP 7.0, now you can easily migrate VMware VMs to Hyper-V for the best roadmap to the cloud. In addition to the above features, MAP 7.0 strengthens the SQL Server migration scenario with support for SQL Server 2012 discovery, and migration planning.

Key features and benefits of MAP 7.0 Beta help you:

· Understand your readiness to deploy Windows in your environment with hardware and device readiness assessments · Determine Windows Server 2012 Beta readiness · Investigate how Windows Server and System Center can manage your heterogeneous environment through VMware migration and Linux server virtualization assessments · Size your desktop virtualization needs for both Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and session-based virtualization using Remote Desktop Services · Ready your information platform for the cloud with the SQL Server 2012 discovery and migration assessment · Evaluate your licensing needs with usage tracking for Lync 2010,  active users and devices, SQL Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 Beta Learn more Visit the MAP home page: www.microsoft.com/map Get the latest news straight from the MAP team:http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog MAP works with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Security Compliance Manager to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. Learn more at www.microsoft.com/solutionaccelerators. Follow Solution Accelerators on Twitter to get the latest tips and updates: @MSSolutionAccel

MAP Toolkit saturates low-bandwidth networks or causes the machine running MAP to reboot

Source:  Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit Team Blog

Symptom/Cause:
MAP creates a worker thread to request information from a target machine. The number of simultaneous worker threads created is dependent on CPU and Memory availability, but MAP has a cap that prevents it from maxing out a CPU and will throttle itself if it exceeds that cap. If MAP is installed on a machine with a lot of resources, it is possible for MAP to reach the maximum thread count of 300 for 64-bit and 200 for 32-bit. However, MAP does not track how much network bandwidth it is using and, therefore, may saturate networking resources between the machine running MAP and the target computers which can lead to the symptoms mentioned in the title.

Workaround:
You can use the method below to throttle MAP so it uses less system and network resources. If this workaround does not solve the problem, please email us at the address provided in the support section.

1. Shutdown MAP if it is running
2. Edit the %Program Files%\Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit\bin\Microsoft.AssessmentPlatform.UI.Console.exe.config file and add the following lines into the “<appSettings>” section.

<add key="Microsoft.AssessmentPlatform.InventoryEngine.InventoryService.DefaultMaxThreadsX86" value="52" />
<add key="Microsoft.AssessmentPlatform.InventoryEngine.InventoryService.DefaultMaxThreads" value="52" />
<add key="Microsoft.AssessmentPlatform.InventoryEngine.InventoryService.DefaultMinThreads" value="3" />
<add key="Microsoft.AssessmentPlatform.InventoryEngine.InventoryService.MaxThreadsLowerBound" value="2" />

NOTES:
The first two lines will set the maximum number of machines to inventory at the same time. You can adjust the maximum value up or down as needed to maximize the performance while maintaining system stability. Changing these values may increase the inventory time.
The third line sets the minimum number of threads that MAP will use, changing this value is NOT recommended.

Simplify your cloud migration planning with MAP 6.5

The journey to the cloud is now smoother than ever with the MAP Toolkit 6.5. The MAP Toolkit’s new capabilities help users to securely assess heterogeneous IT environments while enabling the evaluation of workloads for migration to Microsoft’s private and public cloud platforms. Consolidate existing server workloads using the updated Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track capacity planning feature. The Database Consolidation Appliance Assessment allows you to simplify SQL Server migration planning for the private cloud. The revamped Azure Migration feature in MAP 6.5 provides more in-depth analysis of the suitability of migrating on-premises applications to the Windows Azure™ platform. Additional new features in MAP 6.5 include the discovery of active Windows® devices, Software Usage Tracking for Forefront® Endpoint Protection (FEP), and the discovery of Oracle instances on Itanium-based servers with HP-UX to assist in the planning of migration to SQL Server®.

Key features and benefits of MAP 6.5 help you:

• Accelerate private and public cloud planning with Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track Onboarding.
• Simplify SQL Server migration planning for the private cloud through the Database Consolidation Appliance
• Analyze your portfolio of applications for a move to the Windows Azure platform.
• Identify migration opportunities with enhanced heterogeneous server environment inventory.
• Assess your usage of Microsoft software with the Software Usage Tracking feature.
• Discover Oracle instances on Itanium-based servers for migration to SQL Server.

Download the MAP Toolkit 6.5: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=217916

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=7826

Learn more
Visit the MAP home page: www.microsoft.com/map
Get the latest news straight from the MAP team: http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog

MAP works with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Security Compliance Manager to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. Learn more atwww.microsoft.com/solutionaccelerators

.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 6.5 Beta

 

As we know the map tools they will get better all the time, better with inventory, virtualization, Security. the MAP 6.5 toolkitis a must for every good inventory, and it is free. set it up on a VM and test the product.

The Microsoft^® Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit helps you understand your current information technology (IT) infrastructure and determine the Microsoft technologies that best fit your IT needs. The MAP Toolkit is a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that helps securely inventory small or large IT environments without requiring the installation of agent software in your environment. The data and analysis that this toolkit provides can significantly simplify the planning process for a wide range of migration projects.

The journey to the cloud is now smoother than ever with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 6.5 Beta. The MAP Toolkit’s new capabilities help users to securely assess heterogeneous IT environments while enabling the evaluation of workloads for migration to Microsoft’s private and public cloud platforms. Consolidate existing server workloads using the updated Hyper-V^® Cloud Fast Track capacity planning feature. The revamped Azure Migration feature in MAP 6.5 provides more in-depth analysis of the suitability of migrating on-premises applications to the Windows Azure^™ platform. Other significant new features in MAP 6.5 include the discovery of active Windows^® devices, Software Usage Tracking for Forefront^® Endpoint Protection (FEP), and the discovery of Oracle instances on Itanium-based servers with HP-UX to assist in the planning of migration to SQL Server^®.

 

   

Sample screen shot of the logfile overview and a screen shot of the software inventory count by user and computer you can make also any selection that you want.

 

A shot overview of the product layout.

Desktop · Windows 7 Readiness · Microsoft Office 2010 Readiness · Internet Explorer Discovery	Data Collection · Machine Summary · Application Summary
Server · Windows Server 2008 R2 Readiness · Windows Server 2008 Readiness · Windows Server Roles Discovery · Web Application Discovery	Database · SQL Server Discovery · MySQL Discovery · Oracle Discovery · Sybase Discovery
Virtualization · Virtual Machine Discovery	Cloud · Office 365 Readiness

But how about the Cloud ? yes it is there nice tools to scan your environment and get ready for the cloud. 

1. Public/Private Cloud Capacity and Migration Planning – Once performance data has been collected, virtualization and cloud scenarios are available for use.

· Hardware Configuration – The Hardware Library Wizard allows you to define host infrastructures for use with the Hyper-V Cloud FastTrack Wizard.

· Hyper-V Cloud FastTrack – Select a pre-configured Hyper-V Cloud FastTrack Infrastructure to evaluate server consolidation on these Infrastructures.

· Windows Azure Application Migration Portfolio – Create an Application scenario by choosing the web applications, SQL Databases, and Servers that compose an Application deployed in your environment. Using this information, MAP will provide an estimate of the capacity required to support your Application after migrating it to the Windows Azure platform as well as insight into critical issues that must be taken into consideration when migrating the Application.

 

Integration with SCCM and other products you can put the security credentials for every product and you can point the user to a special product, even VMware can be scaned.

 

Hyper-V Cloud FastTrack

Choose a Hyper-V Cloud FastTrack. Use the wizard to select a preconfigured Hyper-V Cloud FastTrack Infrastructure to use for evaluating server consolidation on different OEM infrastructures. The Microsoft Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track Program is a joint effort between Microsoft and its OEM partners to help organizations quickly develop and implement private clouds, while reducing both the cost and the risk. Each OEM partner will provide Fast Track infrastructures (also known as private cloud or rack) per the Fast Track reference architecture and the infrastructures will be running Windows Server, Hyper-V, and System Center.

Windows Azure Application Migration

View Windows Azure Migration Portfolio. The MAP Toolkit will gather performance details for web applications and databases deployed in your environment. You then create an application scenario by choosing the web applications, SQL databases, and servers that compose an application deployed in your environment. Using this information, MAP will provide an estimate of the capacity required to support your application after migrating it to the Windows Azure platform as well as insight into critical issues that must be taken into consideration when migrating the application.

Calculate Potential Return on Investment (ROI)

You can evaluate potential ROI associated with the Windows Azure Application Migration recommendations the MAP Toolkit makes using Microsoft’s Windows Azure TCO and ROI Calculator. The MAP Toolkit generates an XML file when an Azure Application Summary report is generated. Click the link and import the appropriate XML file into the Aliening ROI Calculator to analyze potential ROI. For more information, see Microsoft Windows Azure ROI Analysis.

As you all know SQL is a great product but what about the security, oh yes the DB admin has full control eh yes full control and he has an SA account with “P@ssw0rd” eh duh ok you need security scanning yes tools SCOM system center operations manager is a great tool , oh you want a free tool and logging only yes use MAP how easy.

 

SQL Server Usage

SQL Server 2008 Enterprise and Datacenter Editions introduced audit event configuration for Windows security logging, which enabled SQL Server 2008 to log logon events to the Windows Security log. The MAP Toolkit can parse these logs to track usage for SQL Server 2008 Enterprise and Datacenter Editions.

To enable SQL Server 2008 to log audit events to the Windows security log

On each SQL Server 2008 instance for which you need to track usage, run the following SQL command:

/* Turn LOGIN logging on */

USE MASTER

GO

/* Note: the name ‘Server_Audit’ is your choice */

CREATE SERVER AUDIT [Server_Audit]

TO SECURITY_LOG WITH ( QUEUE_DELAY = 1000, ON_FAILURE = CONTINUE);

ALTER SERVER AUDIT [Server_Audit]

WITH (STATE = ON);

USE MASTER

GO

/* Note: the name ‘login_audit’ is your choice */

CREATE SERVER AUDIT SPECIFICATION [login_audit]

FOR SERVER AUDIT Server_Audit

ADD (SUCCESSFUL_LOGIN_GROUP) WITH (STATE = ON);

 

See there is no reason not to use the MAP toolkit.

Learn more

Visit the MAP home page: www.microsoft.com/map

Get the latest news straight from the MAP team: http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog

MAP works with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Security Compliance Manager to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. Learn more at www.microsoft.com/solutionaccelerators.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1 is still open

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1 is still open. If you haven’t already, be sure to download the tool today and tell us what you think. We want to hear from you! Use MAP 5.0 to plan your infrastructure, accelerate IT planning, and assess multiple products and scenarios from a single tool-helping you and your organization save valuable time and money.

To download the MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1, visit Microsoft Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com

MAP Toolkit 5.0 is an agentless tool designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments. This Solution Accelerator performs an inventory of heterogeneous server environments and provides you with usage information for servers in the Core CAL Suite, a data center infrastructure assessment survey, and a readiness assessment for the most widely used Microsoft technologies-now including Office 2010.

Is your organization spending valuable resources planning its IT infrastructure? Participate in the MAP Toolkit 5.0 Beta 1. Take an early look at this release, and provide timely feedback to help ensure that our development team best meets your needs.

Tell us what you think!

Please send us your constructive feedback. We value your input; this is the perfect opportunity to be heard. Send your comments to the development team: MAPfdbk@microsoft.com.

Availability

The beta 1 review period will run through mid-May, 2010.

Tell your friends
To join the beta review program for Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0, visit Microsoft Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=1668&InvitationID=M32B-GBGR-HHFG&SiteID=297.