Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 RTM in H1 2012, Beta Available for Download

The next major iteration of Forefront Identity Manager will be released approximately two years after the most recent version, Forefront Identity Manager 2010.

Microsoft has confirmed officially that Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2, the successor of Forefront Identity Manager 2010, will hit commercial availability in the first half of 2012. A specific launch deadline was not provided by the Redmond company.

Customers that are already leveraging FIM undoubtedly know that Forefront Identity Manager 2010 was released in March 2010.

“Following the successful release of Forefront Identity Manager 2010 last year, the R2 release will include key improvements in the areas of credential management, reporting, ease of use, and additional third party product and language support,” a Microsoft representative said.

More importantly, early adopters can already get a taste of Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2.

The software giant just released the first Beta development milestone of Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2, which testers can download via Microsoft Connect.

The Microsoft representative opted to highlight these “areas of enhancement for FIM 2010 R2:

- Credential Management • Web based password reset

- Reporting • Historical reporting for managed resources and System Center Service Manager data warehouse integration

- Ease of Use • Enhanced initial load performance; improved diagnostics; enhanced load and scale performance

- Additional Support • Support for Office Outlook 2010 and SharePoint Foundation 2010 and new Extensible Connectivity Management Agent Framework for MA development.”

With the Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 Beta now available, early adopters that grab the Build can also take testing to the next level.

According to Microsoft, the Forefront Identity Manager Community Evaluation Program is scheduled to start on the August 2nd, 2011.

“Community members are encouraged to attend and new members are certainly welcome. Community Evaluation Programs are a great technical resource for deeper understanding of Microsoft products and to connect with other users,” noted a member of the Forefront team.

“With over 2000 people engaged in various CEP programs, you’re able to not only connect directly with key engineering resources from Microsoft, but also a broad community of like-minded users.”