The goal of the Microsoft Solution Accelerator team is to ease the design and deployment of infrastructures based on Microsoft products.  Earlier this year, I authored guides in their Infrastructure Planning and Design Series (see Microsoft Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) Guides Available for details).

In keeping with the same goal, a new beta version of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator is available for download from Microsoft Connect.  The description from the download site:

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator is an integrated platform with tools and guidance that make it easier for you to assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right Microsoft technologies for your IT needs. It offers easy inventory, powerful assessment and actionable recommendations for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, Terminal Services, SoftGrid, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Windows Vista, and 2007 Microsoft Office. The popular Windows Vista Hardware Assessment readiness tool will be integrated into this platform.
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Target Audience

  • Customers: IT Architects, Infrastructure Specialists and Desktop/Application Administrators.
  • Partners: System Integrators, Value-Added Partners and IT Consultants in the Enterprise and Midmarket

Key Benefits

  • Quick Assessment of Your Existing infrastructure and assets
  • Adaptive Guidance and Actionable Proposals that provide specific recommendations that will help simplify your planning and deployment of Microsoft technologies
  • One-Stop Shop for All Your Planning (or Pre-Sales) Needs

The good news is that this is a completely agent-less method of automatically analyzing your entire environment.  The product generates detailed reports that would be tedious and error-prone to create manually.

Overall, the idea is to help organizations determine how best to deploy Microsoft’s virtualization technologies.  If you’re currently considering an expanded virtualization deployment, this tool can help you make better decisions about your infrastructure needs.  Give it a shot, and send feedback to the development team to improve the final version!