What is Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit?

If you are an IT administrator that is running a network, then you will be facing quite a lot of challenges.

One good example is when trying to migrate to a new OS, and you need to determine if the current infrastructure can handle the change. This can be anything from a particular Windows infrastructure to a software application or user’s device.

While in theory, you could do this using basic tools, having a program or utility that can make things easier and faster can be extremely useful. In this case, the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) is the best resource an IT administrator could have at hand.

What does the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit do?

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit is a completely free software utility that can help facilitate the migration process in the scenario mentioned above.

It does this by providing detailed readiness assessment reports and executive proposals with extensive hardware and software information.

It also comes with actionable recommendations to help organizations accelerate their IT infrastructure planning process. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit also provides server utilization data for Hyper-V server virtualization planning.

In essence, it lets you determine whether or not the hardware can support a lossless migration.

How do I get the MAP?

This utility can be downloaded from the official Microsoft webpage, and using it is extremely simple. One thing you should notice is that the download does not contain a single file, but multiple components.

These include the setup kit for the utility, as well as some useful material that will make using the MAP a lot easier.

These components are the following:

• MAPSetup.exe.
  • This is the installation package containing the tool and SQL LocalDB
• MAP_Sample_Documents.zip.
  • This package contains some sample reports and proposals
• MAP_Training_Kit.zip.
  • This package contains some sample databases and instructions for completing various exercises
• readme_en.htm.
  • Give you information to read before installing the MAP Toolkit, including installation requirements and known issues

Closing thoughts

If you’re an IT administrator and are planning on migrating the entire network that you are running to a new OS, then having the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit can make things a lot easier.

Not only will you know whether or not the operation is possible (or even worth it), but it will also help you with the migration itself. All things considered, it is a great utility to have.

Have you ever used the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit? Lets us know what you think about the product in the comment section below.

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