14 DAY TRIAL // A new testing program for System Center Orchestrator 2012 is designed to provide early adopters with insight into the new System Center component that was born through the integration of Opalis.
The System Center Orchestrator 2012 Community Evaluation Program (CEP) is accepting participation requests, according to Adam Hall, Microsoft Senior Technical Product Manager.
Early adopters interested in testing the evolution of Opalis need to head over to Microsoft Connect and fill in the Orchestrator 2012 Community Evaluation Program Application.
Hall revealed that the Orchestrator CEP Connect site is scheduled to open later this week, on June 10th, 2011.
“This program is designed to take you on a guided tour and evaluation of Orchestrator. There is a lot of new functionality since its predecessor Opalis 6.3 and we want to ensure you have a way to learn and explore the new product,” he noted.
As of next week, Orchestrator 2012 CEP testers will get the chance to meet with the Product Team building the product.
Then, participants will be able to access a range of content offered by the software giant including scenarios such as: The New Installer Experience, Migrating from Opalis and the New Runbook Designer, Working with the New Silverlight web Orchestration Console and the ODATA Web Service, and Extending and Developing with Orchestrator, working with the Quick Integration Kit.
“One of the key values of being a participant in the CEP is the access you gain directly to the Orchestrator product team, and for each topic the associated product manager will be available to answer your questions and explain how the functionality came about, how it works and what the use scenarios are,” Hall added.
In late August 2011, System Center Orchestrator 2012 CEP will shift gears, as the solution evolves from Beta to Release Candidate stage.
Customers should navigate to the Orchestrator CEP sign-up page and request to participate into the program if they want to follow closely the development process and connect with the team behind the new System Center component.
After you sign up “you will receive an e-mail when the Connect site opens and the content becomes available, along with all the details for the calls. We realize that this is a global program, and that in some cases the time zone will be at an unusual time. We apologize for this and have tried to find the best times to run the meetings, and we will be recording them all and uploading them to the Connect site,” Hall said.