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Way back in March, I blogged about the 1st beta release of the MAP Toolkit 5.0.  Well, we’ve been through a second beta since then, and finally, a couple of days back, shipped the product, which I’m pleased to say, is available to download here . For those of you not in the know, what does MAP actually...

A couple of weeks back, I blogged about a number of dashboards that have been released, or were due for release soon.  These dashboards focused on providing a more visual reporting experience for products such as System Center Operations Manager, App-V, and System Center Configuration Manager. ...

Way back in December, I blogged about the MAPs 5.0 Community Preview , and what was new to assist you on your infrastructure optimisation journeys.  Fast forward to March 2010, and Beta 1 is now available.  So, for those of you who need a recap… MAP Toolkit 5.0 is an agentless tool designed...

Admittedly, a little late notice, but it’s only just landed in my inbox! The Client Management Bootcamp is a 4-day technical Instructor Led Training designed to enable System Center, Windows Client, MDOP, and Desktop Deployment SI partners to deliver successful POCs based on top customer scenarios...

It’s hard to believe I’ve used the word ‘plethora’ in the title of a post 3 times in the last 3 months!  I need to start broadening my vocabulary! Anyway, I blogged about the RC release of App-V 4.6 way back in November, and have been using it in my demos since then, however as of yesterday, the...

I mentioned in my previous post , there are a number of choices available to customers around their desktop strategy going forward, but where do you start?  Well, here’s a few resources to get you going on the journey.  Now, admittedly, these are cut and pasted from various Microsoft websites...

Some of you may already be aware of this, but for those of you interested in keeping technologies like AD, System Center Operations Manager, and Hyper-V running smoothly, the first in a series of MOF Reliability Workbooks may be of use. If you’re not au-fait with MOF (a bit like me!)… Microsoft...

First thing you’re thinking is, ‘What’s a Community Technical Preview?’  Well, I’m not actually 100% sure to be honest, but I think it’s pre-beta, but not too far off beta, if you know what I mean :-)  As always, I could be wrong! :) Anyway, if you’re not familiar with MAP, in a nutshell, MAP...

For those of you who have been baffled by my title acronyms, WDS is Windows Deployment Services, which is a role of Windows Server, that enables network based deployment scenrios, and acts as a platform for the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and System Center Configuration Manager.  SCOM on the other...

For those of you ‘not in the know’, the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit is a free tool that makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment. This agentless and scalable toolkit has the ability...

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released two updated virtualisation guides: Windows Server Virtualisation (Hyper-V) and System Center Virtual Machine Manager. These guides, updated to reflect the features and functionalities of Windows Server 2008 R2 and System Center Virtual Machine...

For those of you who aren’t aware of DirectAccess, it’s a pretty darn cool technology in my opinion.  What better way to explain it, than to show you how it makes my working life that little bit easier. I’m currently writing this post from home, on my home network, with no VPN connected: As you...

If you’re thinking about how best to upgrade machines within your environment from Windows XP to Windows 7, you’d be hard pressed to find a better solution than the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010.  MDT 2010 allows you to deploy Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and is the recommended process...

If you can make time to view these sessions (or at least register, then watch them another time), I would thoroughly recommend them, especially the System Center licensing overview.  You may not like licensing, but when it comes to System Center, understanding the benefits of licensing the Suite...

In support of the upcoming Windows Server 2008 R2 campaign, the Solution Accelerators Team has updated the following guides in the Infrastructure Planning and Design series to reflect new features and capabilities available in Windows Server 2008 R2: Active Directory Domain Services Internet Information...

Just under a month ago, I blogged about the beta release of the MAP tool , which, for those not familiar, is is an integrated planning toolkit that makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify what servers, workstations, and network devices are in their IT environment. This...

This landed in my inbox this morning courtesy of the TechNet Flash Newsletter so I thought I’d share it, as there’s a bit of virtualisation in there! As we move closer to the launch of Windows 7, a number of organisations are starting to think about their next desktop.  What hardware will I use...

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be available in the near future. Are you thinking about deploying these new operating systems? Get a head start with Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Beta . Over 680,000 Microsoft customers and partners including Costco Wholesale Corporation, Continental...

If you are, read on :-) As you know, one of my passions right now is providing video content that showcases Microsoft technologies in an accurate and fair way (no mythbusting :-)) through my Virtualboy TV site.  So far, this has gone down really well with Partners and Customers alike, and is being...

Whenever I talk to Partners and Customers about our MAPs tool (The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator), one of the things I’m frequently asked is ‘Will it tell me how big / what spec my servers need to be to run X-number of VMs’, and I say, No, closely followed by ‘There’s typically...

Are you in IT?  Thinking about getting into IT?  Where do you start?  How do you develop in the future?  If you’re already in IT, how do you build on your investments so far? These are just some of the questions that are answered at ‘ Thrive ’; a new website from Microsoft, designed...

Hot off the press, and hot on the heels of the last IPD Update I wrote , the IPD team have done it again, this time, for Data Protection Manager 2007 SP1.  Firstly, in time honoured tradition, what is an IPD? The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides are the next version of Windows Server...

Yet again, I find myself blogging about these IPD guides!! My last update on the IPD guides was towards the start of October, but a couple of new ones have just been added.  I always include a refresher of what they actually are, so here you go: The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides...

Baldwin and his team have done it again.  Release after release they are adding great features into the free MAPs tool, making it even more of a must-use tool in planning and analysing for an infrastructure change.  So, as a recap for those who are new to my blog, or who haven’t heard of the...

A couple of months back, Mike and I sat down and recorded a series of 6 short videos showcasing the Microsoft Virtualisation Sales Opportunity.  Introduction (2:25) Virtualisation Overview (37:35) Analysis Tools (11:39) Microsoft Virtualisation Solutions Overview (37:40) Licensing (16:25) Resources...