Microsoft Connect: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) 7.0 Beta Now Available.

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit team is pleased to announce that MAP 7.0 Beta is now available for download.

Get ready for the private cloud with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0 Beta. This update adds several new private cloud planning scenarios that help you build for the future with agility and focus while lowering the cost of delivering IT. Download the MAP Toolkit 7.0 Beta and begin your cloud transformation today!

New capabilities allow you to:

· Understand your readiness to deploy Windows in your environment with hardware and device readiness assessment

· 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

Determine Windows readiness

MAP 7.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT environment for your Windows deployment. This feature evaluates your existing hardware against the recommended system requirements for Windows. It provides recommendations detailing which machines meet the requirements and which machines may require hardware upgrades.

Key benefits include:

· Assessment report and summary proposal to help you to understand the scope and benefits of a Windows deployment.

· Inventory of desktop computers, deployed operating systems, and applications.

Assess Windows Server 2012 Beta readiness

MAP 7.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT infrastructure for a Windows Server 2012 Beta deployment. This feature includes detailed and actionable recommendations indicating the machines that meet Windows Server 2012 Beta system requirements and which may require hardware updates. A comprehensive inventory of servers, operating systems, workloads, devices, and server roles is included to help in your planning efforts.

Virtualize your Linux servers on Hyper-V

MAP 7.0 Beta extends its server virtualization scenario to include Linux operating systems. Now, MAP enables you to gather performance data for Linux-based physical and virtual machines and use that information to perform virtualization and private cloud planning analysis for both Windows and Linux-based machines within the Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track scenario.

Key features allow you to:

· Incorporate non-Windows machines into your virtualization planning.

· View consolidation guidance and validated configurations with preconfigured Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures, including computing power, network, and storage architectures.

· Get a quick analysis of server consolidation on Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures to help accelerate your planning of physical to virtual (P2V) migration to Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.

· Review recommended guidance and next steps using Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.

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

Next steps:

· Join the beta.

· Download the current version of the MAP Toolkit.

· Send your comments to the MAP Team.

· Learn moreabout MAP.