GovDev for TFS 2010 v1.0

GovDev is an open source, TFS Process template that combines the formality of CMMi/Waterfall with the flexibility of Agile/Iterative. The process template is meant to address two common problems:

  • Software planning and delivery is rigid and based on the Waterfall process.
    • Artifacts like "Requirements Traceability Matirx" are highly requested.
    • Projects highly leverage contractors or out-sourced resources and there needs to be a way to measure their work effort.
  • Software development teams desire an Agile approach but Planning & Delivery does not match.
GovDev

Your team can apply agile practices more easily by using the GovDev for TFS 2010 v1.0 process template with Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management (ALM). The template and this guidance will help you bridge from the formality of the Waterfall process to Agile engineering practices. These processes and practices come from Scrum, eXtreme Programming, and other agile methodologies, as Agile Principles and Values, by Jeff Sutherland describes. 

Planning the Project: The desired outcome of planning a project is a plan that includes a scope, a schedule, a budget, a risk management plan, and a commitment and approval from all stakeholders. With an agreed-upon project plan, you want to progress with analysis, design, development, testing, and eventually delivery.

Planning the Project

Creating a Great Project Backlog

Requirements: Requirements describe what the stakeholders expect from the product. You should express your requirements in terms that allow them to be easily discussed with the business stakeholders, using the vocabulary and concepts of the business domain.

Developing Requirements and Use Cases

Scrum: Scrum is a framework for managing complex product and system development that is consistent with the agile principles and values. These processes help your team organize itself to deliver more value to your customers faster.

Scrum

  • Roles: Scrum defines three roles. Most individuals perform the team role, which is responsible for creating and finishing the software. In addition, your product owner represents your customers, and your scrummaster helps your team and your product owner follow Scrum processes effectively.

Roles

  • Meetings: When your team practices Scrum, it will hold a set of meetings. Each meeting has a specific purpose, occurs at a defined frequency, and is time-boxed. For example, the team defines what use cases it will deliver in the sprint at the sprint planning meeting. This meeting occurs at the start of a sprint and should run for two to four hours, depending on the length of the sprint.

Meetings (GovDev)

Engineering practices: Your team can also use proven techniques to design, develop, test, and deliver code. These practices help increase the velocity at which your team delivers value to your customers.

Engineering Practices

Artifacts: Your team can run its Agile processes with less effort by using the artifacts from GovDev for TFS 2010 v1.0. Each artifact serves a specific function and provides opportunities to refine your processes over time. For example, you can describe what your customers need and value in the product backlog workbook.

Artifacts (GovDev)

Additional Resources