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)

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Whether you are seriously considering moving your desktops to Windows Vista or just simply contemplating about it, I highly encourage you to grab your favorite latte or beverage, sit back and read about this great story – one that illustrates how an IT pro had become an instant hero in this company.

Meet Sumeeth Evans - IT Manager of the Collegiate Housing Services (CHS).  Situated just about 2 hours south of the Great Lake Michigan, CHS manages student housing programs for 27 post-secondary campuses in 13 states across the nation.  Late last year (2006), Sumeeth started planning for migrating his company’s computers to Windows Vista but estimated that it could cost $76,000 to get the job done – he assumed that most of his Windows XP machines might not support Windows Vista due the hardware requirements.  Fortunately, he joined the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment beta program and found out after using this assessment tool that 70% of his 3-year-old Windows XP machines could run Windows Vista with no or only minor upgrades!  Yes, that’s the majority of his PCs!

Needless to say, his manager was pleasantly surprised with the readiness results and the huge savings in the hardware replacement costs that Sumeeth virtually became the IT HERO of the company! 

Wanna be an IT hero too? Read on and find out how he did it:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=93644

To become an IT HERO yourself, download Windows Vista Hardware Assessment for free and get the tool here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83115

Cheers,

Baldwin Ng

Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators

Hi all, Whether you are seriously considering moving your desktops to Windows Vista or just simply contemplating about it, I highly encourage you to grab your favorite latte or beverage, sit back and read about this great story – one that illustrates Read More……(read more)

Hi all,

A few months ago, I had the pleasure to meet David Feng, Director of Technical Services in Systex Corporation in Taiwan.  He has been involved in Microsoft technologies for many years and was part of our Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Beta Program.  His participation has been key to the success of our release and I want to thank him as well as the tens of thousands of other beta users out there!  Thank you!

Below is a great success story about how Systex Corporation was able to use Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool to assist Sporton International Inc. in accelerating Windows Vista deployment.  If you want to know how to kick your Windows Vista project into high gear (or out of second gear), read on… < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The leading mobile communications certification company in Taiwan, Sporton International Inc. wanted to upgrade its operating system from Windows® 2000 Professional Edition and Windows XP to Windows Vista®. The company wanted to know which of its computers were ready for Windows Vista. Based on previous upgrade experiences, the company planned to perform this inventory manually on 300 PCs and expected the process to take at least a month. To avoid compatibility problems, Sporton considered retiring at least half of its PCs and replacing them with new ones—at a cost of nearly U.S.$20,000. Instead, the company turned to Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, SYSTEX, the largest systems integrator and Microsoft Large Account Reseller in Taiwan, for assistance. The company introduced Sporton Lab to the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool, which is part of a family of Solution Accelerators that are available for download at no cost from the Microsoft TechNet Web site.

From a single PC, the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool scanned a network of 300 computers for Windows Vista–readiness within 30 minutes. The tool gathered migration-readiness information from each PC, including device and driver details, without installing any software agents on computers. Rather than replacing half of Sporton Lab PCs, 88 percent of the computers were either immediately ready for the migration or needed only minor memory and hard drive upgrades. Sporton Lab saved nearly U.S.$20,000 and finished the assessment in a half an hour rather than a month…

Download Windows Vista Hardware Assessment FREE at:            

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83115

Read the rest of the story: 

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=93643

View technical drill down:

http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/07/09/microsoft-releasing-new-version-of-the-windows-vista-hardware-assessment-tool.aspx

< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />Hi Folks,

Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office are here!  And, you are probably thinking that it’s time to take advantage of these 2 great technologies.  But, you need to get answers on a few practical questions first:

• Would my existing PCs run Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office? Should I buy new ones or upgrade them instead?
• Would my devices still work? Would most of the device drivers be available from Windows Vista installation DVD and/or Microsoft Windows Update site?

Well, I have good news for you!  Today, our team is happy to announce the availability of the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0 tool at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2007.  This network-wide readiness assessment tool is designed to make it easier for Microsoft partners and customers to determine their existing PCs’ readiness for Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office.  It’s a great tool to accelerate migration and deployment planning for Microsoft customers and partners.

How it Works?

• Step 1 - Network Inventory:

• Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0 connects securely and remotely from a networked PC and reaches out to each PC on the network, whether they are in an Active Directory domain/forest or in a peer-to-peer/workgroup environment.
• Hardware and device data were collected through the WMI protocol (Windows Management Instrumentation) and other Windows networking protocols all without deploying any software agents on the individual PCs.

• By analyzing the hardware and device data from each computer, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0 can assess your existing computers’ hardware compatibility and device compatibility for Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office. It also offers hardware upgrade recommendations if required for each PC.

• Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 2.0 offers the auto-generation of 2 readiness assessment reports: a summary report in Microsoft Word and a detailed spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.
• The Summary Report provides business decision makers with a high-level view of percentage of existing computers that can run Windows Vista and how many more computers can take advantage of Windows Vista with minor level of memory, hard drive and other upgrades.
• The Detailed Spreadsheet Report provides technical decision makers with a detailed view of the information they need to plan for a desktop deployment/migration.

What’s New with Version 2.0?

Backed by popular demand, we have added many features in this release:

• Enterprise-Scale Scanning - Scan up to 25,000 computers per domain/workgroup in every scan (Note: multiple scans are possible for larger networks)
• Office 2007 Hardware Assessment - Assess PCs for hardware compatibility with 2007 Microsoft Office
• Customized Inventory using Active Directory - Choose computers of specific organizational units (or OU’s) within an Active Directory domain/forest where the inventory would be conducted
• Customized Inventory using Flat-File Import - Target a specific set of computers for the inventory and assessment by importing a specific flat file of computers (such as computer host names, NetBIOS names, or Fully Qualified Domain Names - FQDN)

What is the IT community saying about Windows Vista Hardware Assessment?  Visit these blogs to find out more.

• Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing
• John Obeto on Microsoft (Network World)
• Josh’s Windows Connected Blog

Where Should I Start?

• Download the tool today and see how it can benefit your Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office migration planning
• Sign up for one of my July webcasts on TechNet and Partner Readiness web sites
• Look for the 6-language localized version that will go live in the coming weeks that will enable you to create readiness assessment reports in your own language including French, German, Japanese, Korean, Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese
• Tell your success story using the tool and email us at: wvha-tap@microsoft.com
• Subscribe to our RSS feed and stay tuned for my future blog posts where I will share with you our customers’ success stories and what’s new at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2007
• Check out the Windows Vista Business Value Assessment Tool if you are a Microsoft Partner - you’ll be amazed how powerful this ROI tool is!  (IT Blogger, James Senior, gives you the inside scoop HERE!)
• Visit the Solution Accelerators home page to download other great Windows Vista tools including Windows Vista Security Guide, Data Encryption Toolkit and Business Desktop Deployment 2007

See you next time…

Baldwin Ng (Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Solution Accelerators)

wvhafdbk@microsoft.com