What is Azure DevOps?
TFS 2018
Azure DevOps supports a collaborative culture and set of processes that bring together developers, project managers, and contributors to develop software. It allows organizations to create and improve products at a faster pace than they can with traditional software development approaches.
You can work in the cloud with Azure DevOps Services or on-premises with Azure DevOps Server. For more information, see Differences between Azure DevOps Services and Azure DevOps Server.
Azure DevOps provides integrated features that you can access through your web browser or IDE client. You can use all the services included with Azure DevOps or choose just what you need to complement your existing workflows.
| Standalone service | Description |
|---|---|
| Azure Boards | Delivers a suite of Agile tools to support planning and tracking work, code defects, and issues using Kanban and Scrum methods. For more information about Azure Boards, see What is Azure Boards?. |
| Azure Repos | Provides Git repositories or Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC) for source control of your code. For more information about Azure Repos, see What is Azure Repos?. |
| Azure Pipelines | Provides build and release services to support continuous integration and delivery of your applications. For more information about Azure Pipelines, see What is Azure Pipelines?. |
| Azure Test Plans | Provides several tools to test your applications, including manual/exploratory testing and continuous testing. For more information about Azure Test Plans, see Overview of Azure Test Plans. |
| Azure Artifacts | Allows teams to share packages such as Maven, npm, NuGet, and more from public and private sources and integrate package sharing into your pipelines. For more information about Azure Artifacts, see Overview of Azure Artifacts. |
Azure DevOps supports adding extensions and integrating with other popular services, such as: Campfire, Slack, Trello, UserVoice, and more, and developing your own custom extensions.
Choose Azure DevOps Services
Azure DevOps Services supports integration with GitHub.com and GitHub Enterprise Server repositories. Choose Azure DevOps Services when you want the following outcomes:
- Quick set-up
- Maintenance-free operations
- Easy collaboration across domains
- Elastic scale
- Rock-solid security
Azure DevOps Services also gives you access to cloud build and deployment servers, and application insights. Start for free and create an organization. Then, either upload your code to share or source control. Begin tracking your work using Scrum, Kanban, or a combination of methods.
For more information, see the Azure DevOps and GitHub integration overview.
Choose Azure DevOps Server
Azure DevOps Server supports integration with GitHub Enterprise Server repositories. Choose on-premises Azure DevOps Server when you need your data to stay within your network. or your work tracking customization requirements are better met with the on-premises XML process model over the inheritance process model. The on-premises model supports modification of XML definition files.
When you deploy Azure DevOps Server, you can also configure the following servers or integration points:
- Build server supports on-premises and cloud-hosted builds.
- SQL Server and SQL Analysis Server support SQL Server Reports and the ability to create Excel pivot charts based on the cube.
Start for free by downloading Azure DevOps Server Express. Then, either upload your code to share or source control. Or, begin tracking your work using Scrum, Kanban, or a combination of methods.
For more information about managing Azure DevOps Server, see the Administrative tasks quick reference.