Managing Projects with Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System

Managing Projects with Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System

by Joel Semeniuk, Martin Danner
Released March 2007
Publisher(s): Microsoft Press
ISBN: 9780735622166

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Book description

Get the practical reference for using Visual Studio Team System in your software development lifecycle—and maximize project success. Designed for software project managers, this book offers straightforward product information and expert insights for collaborating with architects, developers, and testers in one integrated development environment.

Table of contents

  1. Managing Projects with Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System
    1. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
    2. Acknowledgments
    3. Introduction
      1. Whom Is This Book For?
      2. How This Book Is Organized
      3. System Requirements
      4. Support For This Book
      5. Questions and Comments
    4. 1. Managing Software Engineering Projects
      1. The Challenges
        1. The Track Record
        2. Complexity and Change
        3. The Human Factor
        4. Regulatory Requirements
        5. IT Governance
      2. The Opportunities
        1. Better Planning and Estimating
        2. Spend Less Time Tracking Projects
        3. Managing Risk
        4. Repeating Successes
        5. Harvesting Best Practices
          1. Updating Process Guidance
          2. Process Templates
          3. Modifying Running Projects
      3. Coming Up Next
    5. 2. Project Management Features of Visual Studio Team System
      1. Introduction to Visual Studio Team System
        1. Feature Summary
          1. Work Item Tracking
          2. Source Code Control
          3. Automated Build
          4. Metrics and Reporting
          5. Project Portals
          6. Office Excel and Office Project Integration
          7. Tools for Software Architects
          8. Tools for Software Developers
          9. Tools for Software Testers
          10. Tools for Database Professionals
      2. How Visual Studio Team System Supports the Project Management Role
        1. Standards and Governance
        2. Managing Team Communication
        3. Managing Time and Money
          1. Integration with Office Project and Office Excel
          2. Work item fields
          3. Iterations
          4. Reports
        4. Managing Quality
        5. Managing Scope
        6. Managing Risk
        7. Summary of the Visual Studio Team System Impact
      3. Summary
    6. 3. Project Initiation
      1. Initiating a Project
      2. Introduction to the Narratives
      3. Project Initiation and MSF
        1. Iterations in MSF
        2. The MSF Envisioning Track
      4. Before You Create a New Team Project
        1. Team Project Creation Checklist
        2. Selecting a Process Template
          1. MSF for Agile Software Development Process Template
          2. MSF for CMMI Process Improvement Process Template
          3. Other Process Template Options
      5. Creating a New Team Project
      6. Anatomy of a Team Project
        1. Understanding Team Explorer
        2. Accessing Process Guidance
        3. Work Items and Work Item Queries
        4. Classifications
        5. Project Portal
        6. Documents and SharePoint
        7. Reports
        8. Builds
      7. Envisioning Tasks in MSF Agile
        1. Writing the Vision Statement
        2. Identifying Personas
        3. Determining Iteration Length
      8. Chase Initiates His Project
      9. Creating a New Project versus Reusing an Existing Project
      10. Summary
    7. 4. Planning a Project
      1. Project Planning
      2. Planning and Visual Studio Team System
      3. Roles Involved in Planning
      4. Getting Started by Creating a Project Workbook
        1. Creating a Workbook
        2. Entering Data into the Project Workbook
        3. Work Item Pivot Tables and Graphs
      5. Entering Requirements into Visual Studio Team System
      6. Providing a Rough Order of Magnitude Estimate
      7. Prioritizing Requirements
        1. Bucketing Priority
        2. Calculating Priority
        3. Requirement Reprioritization
      8. Creating an Initial Iteration Plan
        1. Determining Iteration Length
        2. Creating Work from Requirements
        3. Refining the Project Plan
        4. Using Office Excel for Project Planning
      9. Estimating Work and Scheduling with Visual Studio Team System
        1. Checking Estimates and Schedules by Using Pivot Tables
      10. Managing Risk with Visual Studio Team System
        1. Creating a Risks Work Item Query
      11. Planning from a Technical Perspective
      12. Chase’s Planning Story
      13. Final Thoughts on Planning
      14. Summary
    8. 5. Monitoring and Controlling Project Execution
      1. Executing the Plan
        1. Directing and Managing Project Execution
        2. Monitoring and Controlling Project Work
        3. Managing Project Scope
        4. Managing Cost and Schedule
        5. Managing Software Quality
        6. Other Things To Consider
          1. Monitoring and Controlling Risk
            1. Deriving Work from a Risk
          2. Managing a Virtual Team
          3. Managing Vendors
      2. Case Study: Creating an Information Radiator
      3. Summary
    9. 6. Improving Your Process
      1. Improving your Processes and Teams
        1. Harvesting Lessons Learned
        2. Improving Your Software Development Process Over Time
        3. A Lightweight Process Improvement Framework
          1. Focus on the Goal
          2. Get Support from the Business
          3. Embrace Change
          4. Strive to Achieve Success
          5. Work as a Team of Peers
          6. Treat Process Improvement as a Project
          7. Learn from the Experience of Others
          8. Overview of the LPI Framework
          9. Roles Involved with the LPI Framework
          10. Initiating Process Improvement
          11. Planning Process Improvement
          12. Executing and Monitoring Process Improvement
          13. Reviewing and Continuation of Process Improvement
      2. The Story of Process Improvement for Humongous Insurance
      3. Summary
    10. 7. Tailoring Visual Studio Team System
      1. Overview of Visual Studio Team System Customization
      2. What Can You Customize?
        1. Work Item Customization
        2. Work Item Query Customization
        3. Default Work Items
        4. Classification Customization
        5. Report Customization
        6. Source Code Control Customization
        7. Default Security Customization
        8. Project Portal Customization
        9. Tools for Customization
      3. Customizing Existing Projects
        1. Work Item Queries
          1. Creating a New Work Item Query
        2. Use of Columns in the New Query Dialog Box
        3. Changing the Columns of Your Work Item Query
        4. Making a Copy of a Work Item Query
        5. Renaming a Work Item Query
        6. Source Code Control
          1. Modifying Check-In Notes
          2. Modifying Check-In Policies
      4. Customizing Process Templates
      5. The Process Template Editor
        1. Modifying Process Template Information
        2. Editing Default Work Items
        3. Editing Work Item Queries
        4. Editing Work Item Types
          1. Editing Work Item Fields
          2. Editing Work Item Workflow
          3. Customizing Work Item Layouts
        5. Other Work Item Features in the Process Template Editor
        6. Editing Global Lists by Using the Process Template Editor
        7. Editing Classifications
        8. Editing Microsoft Office Project Field Mappings
        9. Editing Default Security Settings
        10. Editing Default Source Control Settings
        11. Editing Default SharePoint Structure and Contents
        12. Editing Report Listings and Parameters
        13. Uploading the Modified Process Template
      6. Tailoring Process Guidance
      7. Summary
    11. A. Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)
      1. A Brief History of CMMI
        1. SW-CMM
        2. Electronic Industries Alliance/Interim Standard (EIA/IS) 731
        3. IPD-CMM for Integrated Product and Process Development
      2. Objectives of CMMI
      3. The Pieces of CMMI
        1. The Big Picture
        2. Staged Representation
        3. Continuous Representation
        4. Choosing Between Representations
        5. CMMI Process Area Reference
      4. Summary
    12. B. Microsoft Solutions Framework
      1. Overview of MSF
        1. A Brief History of MSF
        2. Agile Software Development
          1. Manifesto for Agile Software Development
        3. Innovations in MSF
      2. Components of MSF
        1. Cycles and Iterations
        2. Governance
        3. Principles and Mindsets
          1. Core Ideas
            1. Partner with Customers
            2. Foster Open Communications
            3. Work Toward a Shared Vision
            4. Quality Is Everyone’s Business Every Day
            5. Stay Agile, Adapt to Change
            6. Make Deployment a Habit
            7. Flow of Value
          2. Mindsets
            1. Quality Is Specified by the Customer
            2. Pride of Workmanship
            3. Team of Peers
            4. Frequent Delivery
            5. Willingness to Learn
            6. Get Specific Early
            7. Qualities of Service
        4. MSF Team Model
          1. Roles
        5. Workstreams, Activities, and Work Items
      3. MSF at a Glance
    13. C. About the Authors
      1. Joel Semeniuk
      2. Martin Danner
    14. Index
    15. About the Authors
    16. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly

Product information

  • Title: Managing Projects with Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System
  • Author(s): Joel Semeniuk, Martin Danner
  • Release date: March 2007
  • Publisher(s): Microsoft Press
  • ISBN: 9780735622166