Seems like just a month ago (on Nov. 2) that we announced the availability of MAP Toolkit 7.0. Three days later, on Nov. 5, Microsoft announced the MAP Toolkit 8.0 Beta Program.

With all the new introductions including Windows Server 2012, System Center 2012, Windows 8 and more it really is no surprise to see upgrades to the MAP toolkit coming out so fast and furiously. The introduction to the announcement heralds the new version as having a “rich feature set to plan and prepare your environment to adopt next wave of Microsoft products and cloud services. The MAP Toolkit has readiness assessments that range from desktop to cloud -- Windows 8 to Windows Azure.”

The blogger, who is only identified as kdan, goes on to talk about the completely revamped and modern user interface that provides “easy and clear access” to assessment scenarios, summaries and results. This is consistent with Microsoft’s commitment to moving everything to their new interface standards.

Key assessment scenarios in MAP Toolkit 8.0 include:

Windows Server 2012 Readiness

MAP 8.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT infrastructure for deploying Windows Server 2012. This assessment includes detailed and actionable recommendations indicating which machines meet Windows Server 2012 system requirements and which may need hardware updates. A comprehensive inventory of servers, operating systems, workloads, devices and server roles is included to help in your planning efforts.

Windows 8 Readiness Assessment

MAP 8.0 Beta assesses the readiness of your IT environment for a Windows 8 deployment. This assessment evaluates your existing hardware against the recommended system requirements for Windows 8. It provides recommendations detailing which machines meet the requirements and which may need hardware upgrades.

Office 2013 and Office 365 Readiness Assessments

MAP 8.0 Beta assesses readiness for Office 2013 and provides an in-depth assessment of client desktops for upgrading or migration. It also offers support for Office 365 features such as Web apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online or full Office 365 client support.

Windows Azure Virtual Machines Migration Recommendation

MAP 8.0 Beta performs a comprehensive assessment of Windows Server and Linux machines to determine if a migration to Windows Azure Virtual Machines is possible. The toolkit then offers suggested changes to prepare the machines for migration. Key features help you reduce the operating costs of hosting on-premise servers as well as estimating the required size and monthly network and storage usage required to migrate on-premise Windows and Linux servers to Windows Azure Virtual Machines using the data from the environment.

Software Usage Assessment for Lync

MAP 8.0 Beta’s Lync Enterprise and Usage Tracking feature counts the number of Lync Enterprise/Plus users as well as device activities for determining the number of required client access licenses (CAL). For Lync 2010, MAP provides a server inventory and software usage by device and user for Lync Standard features. MAP’s updated Software Usage Tracking feature provides consistent software usage reports for key Microsoft products including Windows Server, SQL Server, System Center, Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP) and Lync.

Those interested in getting the jump on the latest version of MAP can begin by downloading the MAP Toolkit 8.0 Beta.