MAP 4.0 Released

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 is Now Available!

With Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 becoming available in the near future, the Solution Accelerators Team is offering customers and partners a head start on deployment planning with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0. Over 690,000 Microsoft customers and partners including Costco Wholesale Corporation, Continental Airlines, and Banque de Luxembourg have already downloaded and used this toolkit to help plan for their Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V virtualization deployment.

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 is an integrated planning toolkit that makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what clients, servers, and network devices are in their IT environment. This agentless and scalable toolkit has the ability to discover all computers within Active Directory and workgroup environments. It performs key functions that include hardware, device, and software inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, virtualization readiness planning, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for migration to most major Microsoft technologies.

What’s New with Version 4.0?

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 has the following new features:

· Windows 7 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment

· Windows Server 2008 R2 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment

· Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V R2 Server Consolidation

· Integration with the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Calculator

· Inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests

· User Interface and Proposal Customization for Partner co-branding

· Enhanced SQL Server Instance Discovery

· Enhanced Usability and Improved Inventory Performance

Additional Features

· Windows Vista Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment

· Windows Server 2008 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment

· 2007 Microsoft Office Readiness Assessment

· Desktop Security Assessment for Anti-virus and Anti-malware Programs Installation

· Forefront Client Security/NAP Readiness Assessment

· App-V Infrastructure Readiness Assessment

· Power Savings Analysis

Saves Pre-Sales and Planning Time. For most IT consultants and Microsoft Partners, a detailed network inventory and assessment of servers and desktops often takes days of manual labor. With the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, they can conduct an environment inventory of up to 100,000 computers in a matter of hours instead of days, giving customers and partners extra time to focus on critical planning or presales tasks. In addition, for IT professionals, this toolkit can significantly reduce the time it takes to gather the information necessary to make the business case for client, server, and virtualization projects.

Provides Actionable Recommendations and Reporting. This toolkit provides valuable inventory and readiness assessment reports with environment-specific upgrade recommendations and virtualization candidate reports, making it easier for IT migration and deployment projects to get off the ground and running.

Covers Wide Range of Scenarios—from Desktops to Servers. This toolkit offers technology assessments and planning recommendations for many Microsoft desktop and server products including Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, 2007 Microsoft Office, SQL Server 2008, Forefront Client Security, Network Access Protection, Microsoft Application Virtualization, and more.

Try the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 now and spread the word to your customers and partners today!

· Download the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0

· Learn more about this toolkit and read case studies on TechNet or Microsoft Partner Program portal

· Use this toolkit together with the Microsoft Integrated Virtualization ROI Calculator to get more virtualization POC wins

· Read the MAP Team Blog

· Check out other members of the Solution Accelerators family—Server, Desktop, Security, and Virtualization Solution Accelerators