The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) is a broad-reaching planning tool for many Microsoft technologies. The MAP Toolkit can be used to identify server upgrade candidates to Windows Server 2008, plan virtualization consolidation plans with Hyper-V, identify database instances to upgrade to SQL Server 2008, and other Microsoft technology upgrade options. The MAP team provides a lot of resources via its TechNet blog, including Webcasts and information on the larger Microsoft landscape about technologies that are frequently being updated across all of the product lines.

Microsoft recently launched a couple of new ways to collaborate with the MAP team via social networking. The MAP Facebook group is just getting started with content and membership. The content on the group with discussion and wall post traffic is light but should pick up over time. The MAP team posts on Twitter as well. Like the Facebook group, the team’s presence on Twitter is relatively new, so the post and follower inventory is rather light.

Microsoft’s decision to use a Facebook group is somewhat surprising to me. I don’t think of Facebook as among the first places I would go to get good information about what people are doing to architect solutions. I do, however, frequently use Twitter to exchange IT information.

Do you think this Facebook group will be useful to IT pros? Do you ever share IT ideas, tips, and strategies on social media sites? Share your comments.

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