The new version of Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, version 3.2 beta, can help you quickly inventory servers, workstations, and network devices and also present you with IT proposals and reports to help you utilize Microsoft technologies in your environment better.
You can use the Assessment tool to help plan big IT projects like server deployments, desktop deployments, virtualization, Green IT, PC security, datacenter consolidation, SQL Server 2008 migrations, and Microsoft Online Services (aka Cloud services).
It can help in significantly simplifying the planning process for migrating to Office 2007, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Virtual Server 2005, and lots more.
MAP has three basic functions: hardware inventory, compatibility analysis, and readiness reporting.
It’s a great tool for any small to medium sized IT network because it is very comprehensive and it’s totally free! Here are some of the major features of the toolkit:
- Agent-less Inventory ““ Even if you don’t care to use this tool to actually plan an IT Project, it’s a great network inventory tool. From a single computer, it can inventory your entire network including device info and system resources all without requiring an agent installed on every network object.
Basically, it uses a combination of existing services to inventory the network, including Windows Management Instrumentation, Remote Registry, SNMP, Computer Browser service, and Active Directory Domain Services.
- Detailed Data Analysis ““ For any type of migration, MAP will give a detailed analysis of all hardware and device compatibility issues and will either recommend migrating or not recommending. It will also tell you the reasons why for both scenarios.For devices, it will analyze all devices installed on a computer or server and report if there are any updated drivers available if migrating to Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
- Readiness Reporting ““ After the analysis is completed, a readiness report is generated that contains a summary and detailed results for each migration scenario. Here are the scenarios for which a assessment report is created:
- Identify all Windows clients, determine OS, hardware and generate recommendations for migrating to Windows Vista.
- Identify all Windows Servers, determine OS, hardware and generate recommendations for migrating to Windows Server 2008.
- Identify all Microsoft Office installs and offer recommendations for migrating to Office 2007.
- Recommendations for implementing Microsoft Application Virtualization.
To get started using MAP, you will first need to create a new Inventory database.
After that, click on Prepare new reports and proposals under the Reports and Proposals headline.
Now select the type of Assessment you would like to perform. In our case, we’ll choose Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, which will scan the network for computer that are currently not running Windows Vista, but which can support Vista and be upgraded or updated.
You can also come back later and run reports for Office 2007, Windows Server 2008, etc. Now choose the Discovery Methods to use in order to identify computers on the network.
The more discovery methods you choose, the more computers and network devices the Toolkit will find, but the longer it will take. If you are running a mix of computers with new and older hardware and software, it’s best to check all of the different methods.
Finally, you can enter in the Active Directory Domain Administrator credentials so that MAP can connect to AD and find computers joined to the domain.
You then specify which domains and containers you want to search within in AD. After that, you have to enter WMI credentials, which is basically any local or domain account that is a member of the local Administrators group on the target computers. Click New Account and type in the credentials.
After that click Finish and the assessment will begin! After it is completed, Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit will generate Microsoft Excel and Word files with all the summaries and detailed reports. Enjoy!
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