Hello IT Pros!

February 27 is a big day.  Windows Server 2008 will be officially launching in Los Angeles with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, kicking off in just a few hours. 

In support of this very important technology milestone as well as the Windows Vista SP1 release, the Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team has just released the third-generation of the agent-less infrastructure assessment platform called Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator 3.0 (or simply MAP).  Through the use of remote WMI calls and secure inventory engines, the MAP tool enables you to quickly inventory a wide variety of networks (AD-managed, IP ranges, and workgroups), securely assess IT environments of servers, desktops, applications and devices, and auto-generate specific and actionable reports and proposal documents in a matter of hours.

 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE BLOG POST...

GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD MICROSOFT ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING (RTM BITS)

Thank you,

Baldwin Ng (Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Assessment and Planning)

Introducing Microsoft Assessment and Planning 3.0 

For those of you who are considering the migration of your desktop and server infrastructure to Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008, we have good news for you!

As we’ve announced at TechEd IT Forum 2007 in Barcelona last November, the Microsoft Solution Accelerators team is going to release the expanded version of Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.1 called Microsoft Assessment and Planning 3.0 (aka MAP).

In short, MAP is an automated agent-less network-wide inventory and assessment tool that can quickly determine if your organization’s desktops and servers are ready for migration to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

What do I mean by AGENT-LESS inventory?  Simply put, it means that you do not need to launch any software agents on any of those machines you want this tool to inventory and query - so no more security concerns and user interruption!

It offers quick network-wide inventory of machines and generate hardware and device compatibility reports with actionable recommendations in the form of auto-generated proposal documents - perfect documentation for your IT project planning in the new fiscal year!

The best part is that you can use this tool to inventory your environments ONCE and get multiple assessments and reports for not just server and desktop migration, but also various virtualization options from Microsoft (see our Virtualization Day Summit blog post here)! 

How it Works? 

Through the use of a sophisticated, agent-less and network-wide inventory engine, Microsoft Assessment and Planning will be able to discover machines on your network whether they are in workgroups or managed AD environments.  By way of WMI, Win32, SNMP and other protocols, we can then securely collect hardware and device attributes of each machine and auto-generate migration readiness reports in Microsoft Word and Excel for the user. 

What a great way to help you jump-start your planning process when you know your manager is waiting for your IT project plans for the New Year!

What’s New with MAP 3.0? 

• Full incorporation of the features of Windows Vista Hardware Assessment including the generation of reports and proposals in 7 languages including N. American English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Portuguese
• Windows Server 2008 migration hardware assessment
• Windows server virtualization assessment (supports Virtual Server 2005 R2; will also add Hyper-V assessment in later this year)
• Application virtualization infrastructure assessment for Microsoft Application Virtualization (formerly SoftGrid)
• New Graphical User Interface

Check it Out! 

• Download the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Beta Refresh today, give us your feedback, and see how you may get a free copy of Windows Vista software and more!
• Visit the MAP Team Blog to learn more or check out other great Solution Accelerators!
• Subscribe to the Windows Vista Team Blog & MAP Team Blog RSS feeds to make sure you’re the FIRST to know when MAP 3.0 will RTM (target date: February 27, 2008)
• Sign up to join our weekly Live Meetings and chat directly with our development team
• Download the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment - if you can’t wait for MAP RTM version (RTM on Feb 27)

See you next time!

Baldwin Ng - Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Assessment and Planning + Virtualization Solution Accelerators 

Hi all! It’s been a little bit over 2 months since my last blog on the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.1 (WVHA) release back in August. You may wonder what our dev team is up to. Well, aside from getting the much needed rest, we have been busy working Read More……(read more)

Hi all!  It’s been a little bit over 2 months since my last blog on the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.1 (WVHA) release back in August.  You may wonder what our dev team is up to. Well, aside from getting the much needed rest, we have been busy working on the NEXT version of the tool.  Yes, we’re talking about a major expansion here.  For those of you who haven’t heard of WVHA, it’s basically a network-wide readiness assessment tool that goes out to your network and securely assess each PC for their hardware and device compatibility for Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office migration - click here for my detailed blog post.

Tool Expansion - Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator

This expansion will not only retain the original WVHA functionalities and the 7-language localization, but it will also incorporate many elements for the Windows Server 2008 wave and Microsoft Integrated Virtualization initiative. Imagine having the same agent-less inventory capabilities to survey the IT infrastructure of servers, applications and workstations and get back a series of assessment reports in an hour or two!

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator, the new name announced at IT Forum 2007 this week, will be the next-generation WVHA where we will add new assessment scenarios for Windows Server 2008 migration, server virtualization via Hyper-V, application virtualization recommendations using Microsoft Application Virtualization (SoftGrid) and more.

Come join our MAP Beta Program today and give us your feedback on the new product/technology scenarios!

http://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=297

Cheers and stay tuned for more…

Baldwin (mapsbeta@MICROSOFT.COM)

Microsoft Deployment is the next version of Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007. Microsoft Deployment, the fourth generation deployment accelerator, enables deployment of servers and desktops. Its tools and end-to-end guidance reduce deployment time, Read More……(read more)

Deployment insiders probably saw this coming, but the recent Beta release of Deployment 4 is a huge step in unifying the converging tools and procedures to image and automate installation of both desktops and now servers in a single console. For current BDD 2007 users, this means with very little extra effort you are ready to create images and deploy Windows Server 2003 and pre-release versions of Windows Server 2008 using the Deployment Workbench. Deployment 4 also integrates with the new System Center Configuration Manager 2007 features for OS deployment and task sequencing. Speaking of task sequences, the Deployment 4 has shifted focus from builds to task sequences, making deployments more flexible and aligning to the way System Center Configuration Manager 2007 performs OS deployment. And as if that wasn’t enough, Deployment 4 leverages the new multicasting functionality coming in Windows Server 2008 Windows Deployment Services. Multicasting dramatically reduces network bandwidth by instead of passing a 4 GB image individually to each targeted computer, it can pass that same 4 GB image to multiple computers simultaneously.

Deployment 4 Beta 3 combines the guidance and toolset from previous releases of Business Desktop Deployment and Beta releases of Windows Server Deployment. This release continues to support Zero Touch Installation (ZTI) of desktop operating systems using Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 with the Operating System Deployment Feature Pack and adds new deployment and task sequencing capabilities for desktops and servers using System Center Configuration Manager 2007. Deployment 4 also continues to provide Lite Touch Installation (LTI) support without infrastructure requirements and adds capabilities for Windows Server 2003 and pre-release versions of Windows Server 2008.< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

 

New Features in Deployment 4 Beta 3

 

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 support, with the following features:

·         Full support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 deployments with Deployment 4 and Configuration Manager 2007.

·         Complete integration into the Configuration Manager 2007 admin console and task sequencing capabilities.

o    Quick start Configuration Manager 2007 operating system deployments using one wizard to create needed task sequences and packages.

o    Extends the Configuration Manager 2007 task sequencing capabilities with new actions.

·         Feature parity with BDD 2007 and SMS 2003, including dynamic package installation, automatic determination of state store location, computer backup, database settings.

Lite Touch Installation (LTI) support for Windows Server 2008:

·         Support for deploying Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 and potentially RC0 (to be verified after RC0 release), including support for Server Core installation options.  (Windows Server 2008 TAP customers only.)

 

Lite Touch Installation (LTI) enhancements:

·         Enhanced disk and network interface cards (NICs) configuration options, including support for static TCP/IP configuration.

·         Design changes to ease the migration from LTI to Configuration Manager 2007.

·         Support for multiple task sequence templates. New sample templates include:

o    Client template: Windows Vista, Windows XP

o    Server template: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008

o    Replace scenario template

·         Ability to invoke web service calls

o    Support for web service calls from rules

o    Web services can be invoked as part of the rules processing performed by Deployment 4, using new rules that can be defined in CustomSettings.ini.

·         Support for side-by-side installation with Deployment 4 and BDD 2007 installed on the same machine.

Lite Touch Installation (LTI) multicast support:

·         Deployment Workbench supports multicast transmission of operating system images when performing LTI deployments from Windows Server 2008 servers that are running Windows Deployment Services.

 

Enhanced Beta Program on Microsoft Connect

 

This Beta release also offers an enhanced Microsoft Connect portal including technical frequently asked questions, deployment tips and tricks, a recommended 10-step program for new users to quickly get acquainted with deployment accelerators, customer-ready Solution Accelerator informational materials, and deployment-related conference presentations.

 

Where to find Deployment Beta 3 

 

To join the Deployment 4 Beta 3 program, follow these steps:

 

1)     Visit the Microsoft Connect Web site (http://connect.microsoft.com).

2)     Click Invitations on the Connect menu.

3)     Sign in using a valid Windows Live ID to continue to the Invitations page.

4)     Enter your Invitation ID in the box. Your invitation ID is: D4B3-RFC6-99CW

5)     Click Go.

 

If you have not previously registered with Microsoft Connect, you might be required to register before you continue with the invitation process.

 

Give us your feedback! 

 

Our mission is to make typically complex deployment projects as easy as possible. Based on customer feedback we have released things like the 19-page Quickstart Guide for BDD 2007 and provided the current enhanced Microsoft Deployment Connection Beta site to catalog and highlight technical implementation content. We have also provided informational content in the Beta program for those new to deployment accelerators. We are always refining what we deliver and how we deliver content based on your feedback.

 

Jeremy

Solution Accelerators Team