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“I want to customize my process in TFS..”

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Another question I am frequently asked is: "how can I customize the software development process(es) that come with TFS?" In fact, was just asked this morning. I would say that last year, it was really difficult to find all this information. We didn't like that at all. So, we have created a new site where you can easily find all this information and more. Here is a link to the site where you can find all information on different processes on TFS, including all our partners' information, how to customize your process... everything: Process Site on MSDN. If you have a new template you want us to feature, you can have us do that as well! Just email ajoyk@microsoft.com. Also, I'd love to hear any suggestions for the site as well as your "top 10 list" for any new templates we could ship in the box.

We think of our goals like this:

  1. Get customers up and running quickly. We ship with 2 processes out of the box. The idea is that one is for more agile projects, one is for more formal projects. (We call the formal one "CMMI". I've never been sure about that because it took me a long time to figure out that was the formal one! I always wonder if customers have the same problem. =) ) Interesting stat, 50% of our customers use the agile one or use it as the base for modifications... that's pretty high! We are definitely thinking about extending this list of templates in the future. I just need to know what you need most.
  2. Help customers customize their process to fit their needs. We know that no process fits all needs - every software development team has special processes that you've adapted to work efficiently. We ship a Process Editor to tailor your process.
  3. Help them find additional process as they grow more advanced / have special needs. We have a wide variety of partners who ship additional processes on top of TFS. There is a Scrum template, an FDD one, a RUP one... quite a few great ones. The community has also posted some really nice templates for use

You can find information on all three areas up on the process site. I hope that helps!

Steph

Comments

  • Anonymous
    April 09, 2008
    Admin Cliff's Notes for a Team System Install on Jeff Atwood's blog Media Radio TFS 04: Visual