Scrum 1.0 vs MSF Agile 5.0 Process templates in TFS 2010

Question

Hi - we're about to move from TFS server 2008 to TFS 2010 and I'm working on the details of the setup we want in 2010.  We are using Scrum for our projects and we need to decide what Process template to use in our new setup.  The choices seem to be between the Visual Studio Scrum 1.0 and MSF for Agile Software Development v5.0 process templates. 

Does anyone know to what extent Microsoft is supporting these templates in future releases of TFS?  Can anyone recommend what they think is the best options for a Scrum project?

One complication is that we want to add original, remaining and complete hours fields for estimates and time tracking which the MSF Agile 5 template already has.  Also, that template seems to have some good reporting built in. 

The guidance I've seen is that the MSF Agile 5 template is a general agile template for different methodologies whereas the Scrum one is specifically for Scrum.  However, if Microsoft is moving away from one of these templates in future releases I'd like to take that into account in our template choice.

I've seen http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3751148/difference-between-vs2010-scrum-v1-0-vs-msf-for-agile-software-development-v5-0-o which says that the agile template doesn't have a release burndown report however from playing with it in our sandbox I see it has a burndown and burn rate report which can cover multiple iterations.

In the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview MSDN article (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-nz/library/hh301775(v=VS.110).aspx) on creating the backlog Product Backlog item is used in the screen shots (although the MSF Agile template is also mentioned) which makes me wonder if that's the direction Microsoft is going in?

I'm interested in what other people think and in feedback from others that have made the choice one way or the other.

Thanks,
Pete

 

Answer 1

Hi Pete,

 

Thanks for your post.

 

As you said, the MSF Agile 5 template is a general template, you look like a favor to choice Agile 5 template. Yes, there has the Burn down and Burn Rate report in Agile 5 template. But the Product Backlog item in Scrum template, please refer to the below note in that MSDN article:

If you're using the Visual Studio Scrum process template, you create a product backlog item to describe a user requirement or some deliverable part of the project. If you're using MSF for Agile Software Development, you create a user story. If you're using MSF for CMMI Process Improvement, you create a requirement.

 

For the comparison between MSF Agile 5.0 and Scrum 1.0, please refer to this article: http://blogs.technet.com/b/chrad/archive/2011/02/06/tfs-2010-msf-agile-vs-visual-studio-scrum-1-0-smackdown.aspx.  

---

John Qiao [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us
Get or Request Code Sample from Microsoft
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.

Answer 2

Hi Pete,

 

Have you decided to use MSF Agile 5 template?   

---

John Qiao [MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us
Get or Request Code Sample from Microsoft
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.