Choose a Process Template
By choosing the best process template when you create a team project, you provide your team with tools that support the way it works, and you help your team focus on quality by reducing overhead. The process template defines the set of work items, reports, and dashboards that you will use to plan and track your project.
A process template defines the types of work items that are available for tracking, in addition to the default rules, policies, security groups, and queries that team members use. As a rule, you can make your selection based on the following considerations:
Choose Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) for Agile Software Development v5.0 if your team uses Agile methods and you resolve work items before closing them.
Choose MSF for Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Process Improvement v5.0 if your team requires a rigorous audit trail and has a formal process for change management.
Choose the Scrum process template if your team uses Scrum, manages bugs along with product backlog items during sprint planning, and wants work items and processes designed to support Scrum. You can download this process template here: Microsoft Visual Studio Scrum 1.0. You'll need to upload the process template to your team project collection.
Otherwise, you can customize a process template to meet your needs.
For more information about these process templates, see the following topics:
In this topic
Main Distinctions between MSF for Agile and MSF for CMMI
Key Differences between the Agile and CMMI Workflow States
Customizing Process Templates
Main Distinctions between MSF for Agile and MSF for CMMI
The following table summarizes the main distinctions that exist between the two MSF process templates:
Process area |
MSF for Agile |
MSF for CMMI |
Distinctions |
---|---|---|---|
Workflow states |
|
|
|
Product planning |
|
||
Iteration backlog management |
|
||
Bug backlog management |
|
||
Project management |
|
||
Test management |
|
||
Audit trail |
Supported |
Supported |
|
Key Differences between the Agile and the CMMI Workflow States
The following illustrations show the workflow states of four types of work items that are provided with the MSF for Agile and MSF for CMMI process templates. The main difference between these workflow states is that the work items from MSF for CMMI always start in a Proposed state instead of an Active state.
Also, the MSF for Agile workflow provides a simpler, two-state processfor tasks, but the MSF for CMMI workflow provides a four-state process.
MSF for Agile |
MSF for CMMI |
---|---|
User Story State Diagram |
Requirement State Diagram |
Task State Diagram |
Task State Diagram |
Bug State Diagram |
Bug State Diagram |
Issue State Diagram |
Issue State Diagram |
Customizing Process Templates
You can customize any process template to fit your particular needs. You can also customize your team project's process after you have created it using a particular process template. You can add artifacts from one process template to use with another process template. For more information, see the following topics: