When trying to decide which of the two MSF Process Templates – Agile vs. CMMI Process Improvement – for TFS is the right starting point for your company, it helps to compare the work item types and its workflows.
You can download the full guidance from:
- MSF for Agile Software Development Process Guidance
- MSF for CMMI Process Improvement Guidance
- Also a good source: Microsoft’s Process Templates and Tools website
MSF for Agile Software Development
featuring 5 work item types: Bug, Requirement, Quality of Service Requirement (QoS), Risk and Task.
Work Item Type: Bug
Work Item Type: Scenario
Work Item Type: Quality of Service Requirement (also known as “technical requirement”)
Work Item Type: Risk
Work Item Type: Task
MSF for CMMI Process Improvement
featuring 7 work item types: Bug, Requirement, Change Request, Issue, Review, Risk, Task
Work Item Type: Bug
Work Item Type: Requirement
Work Item Type: Change Request
Work Item Type: Issue
Work Item Type: Review
Work Item Type: Risk
Work Item Type: Task
As a personal note:
Both templates are a great starting point. The agile template might be a bit more lightweight whereas the CMMI template might fit more the vocabulary and processes that you are used to.
However, both are really just a starting point. In customizing the process you get way more out of TFS than with just using the built-in process templates.
Can anyone point to a further comparison of these two process templates, covering more than the differences in work item workflow?
Looking at the workflow for Bug. (I do not think that you can go from “Active” to “Closed”. In Active state, Developers have control and are reviewing Bug. Developers should NOT be allowed to close a bug. I think this is just an error in the diagram.
@Paul: it’s not an error in the diagram, that’s the way the template works. You can easily customize it, and add permissions to the transition from Active to Closed for example.