MAP 5.0 Community Technical Preview (CTP) Is Live

The first Community Technical Preview of Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit version 5.0 is now live on Microsoft Connect. With the MAP 5.0 CTP, customers will be able to get a taste of what is to come in the next iteration of the solution accelerator from Microsoft. The most notable aspect of the evolution to v5.0 is the fact that MAP is no longer limited to Microsoft technologies.

The Redmond-based company is constantly adapting to the necessities of its customers, and heterogeneous environments have sparked consistent interoperability focused measures, MAP 5.0 being just the latest example. With version 5.0 of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, the software giant is allowing customers to leverage the solution accelerator even in scenarios in which they are running Linux, UNIX or VMware products in their infrastructure.

“The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 (CTP) 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 tool makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what clients, servers, and network devices are in their IT environment, with the ability to discover all computers within Active Directory and workgroup environments,” Microsoft revealed.

The Toolkit is designed to perform asset inventory related not just to hardware but also to devices, and software solutions. Furthermore, MAP offers an insight into any hardware incompatibility problems it finds during its analysis and even guidance for virtualization readiness planning. But essentially, MAP is perfect when it comes down to evaluating an environment for migration or upgrade to major Microsoft technologies, including Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

“The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 (CTP) includes the following new features: Heterogeneous Server Environment Inventory for Technologies including Windows Server, Linux, UNIX and VMware; Ability to determine usage of deployed System Center Configuration Manager, a member of the Core Client Access License (Core CAL) Suite; Office 2010 Readiness Assessment,” Microsoft added