Team Foundation Server Implementation Guidance

Microsoft’s Public Sector Developer Platform Team would like to thank you for using our tools platform, and in an effort to provide additional support and a pleasant implementation experience, we have created this list of resources for your reference. We hope that this list of Books, Training Videos, Technical Resources and Application Lifecycle Management Guidance is both a time savings and a benefit to your team. If there is anything we can assist you with, please let us know. Thank you for using Microsoft Team Foundation Server and Visual Studio Team System.

Public Sector Developer Tools Contacts

Federal Government:

  • Jeff Ogorek – Developer Solutions Specialist –
  • Ken Garove – Developer Technical Specialist –

State & Local Government:

  • David Baliles – Developer Solutions Specialist (Major) –
  • Piyush Saggi – Developer Solutions Specialist (Territory) –
  • James Chittenden – Developer Technical Specialist –
  • Jacque Scott – Internal DSS –

Education:

  • Vance Polt – Internal Developer Solutions Specialist –

General Support Resources

After purchasing Visual Studio Team System products, such as Team Foundation Server or Visual Studio Team Suite, there are multiple ways for you to receive post-sales licensing guidance. Below are just a few recommendations on where to begin:

Licensing Support

  • Your Reseller/LAR – for any questions related to the purchase, cost, or assignment of your purchased licenses, your LAR might already be your primary license administrator, or at least the best place to start. If you do not know who your LAR representative is, please contact either your Microsoft Account Manager, or one of the appropriate contacts above.
  • – if you know your Select/EA Contract Administrator, he/she might be able to assign you privileges to administer your own licenses via the Microsoft Volume License web site above. If not, your LAR might be that administrator on your behalf (see above). This site can be used to administer and assign out any MSDN Premium licenses you recently purchased. In addition to assigning out already-purchased licenses, you can add Media Kits, revoke licenses from individuals who no longer need them, or purchase additional licenses via the True-Up process.

Technical Support during Installation & Configuration

  • MSDN Premium Support Incidents - If you purchased any Visual Studio licenses WITH MSDN Premium subscriptions, each subscriber receives 4 technical support incidents for developer-related support. These incidents require the Subscriber ID, so if your team does not assign each license to each user, this might stand in the way of the individual receiving support. The incidents can be pooled and used at the team level, provided you have the Subscriber IDs and Agreement ID information required to receive support. Either way, to use this support, please call MSDN Support at (800) 759-5474.
  • Online MSDN Support Center – the online MSDN Support Center provides an aggregation of useful resources, such as the Microsoft Knowledgebase, Forums, Managed Newsgroups, Partners and other online resources. Feel free to visit to access these sources of information and support.
  • Online Knowledgebase– it is often quicker to simply look up an existing article that refers to your support issue than it is to call Microsoft Developer Support via phone. To first look up a problem or obtain assistance, consult the online Developer Tools Support Center at
  • Team System Partners – usually, the best place to obtain Installation & Configuration support is by working closely with a local Microsoft Partner. They have performed many installations, worked in full lifecycle development, and understand the needs and issues you might encounter during your own installation and configuration of VSTS and Team Foundation Server. To find a local partner in your area, consult the Microsoft Partner Directory online at

Lifecycle & Process Training & Assistance

  • Training, Career & Events – a wealth of information related to online Events, WebCasts, Training, Labs and Certification resources can be found at .
  • Microsoft Developer Platform Partners – usually, the best place to obtain ongoing Microsoft Developer Platform support and process guidance is by working closely with a local Microsoft Partner. They have performed many installations, worked in full lifecycle development, and understand the needs and issues you might encounter during your own installation and configuration of VSTS and Team Foundation Server. To find a local partner in your area, consult the Microsoft Partner Directory online at

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Guidance

  • VSTS - Microsoft Solutions Framework
  • VSTS – Software Project Management
  • Adoption Visual Studio Team System
  • Introduction to VSTS and Microsoft Solutions Framework
  • Application Lifecycle Management with VSTS
  • Designing & Implementing your Software Process in TFS
  • Enterprise Project Management & Reporting
  • Enterprise-Class Source Control with TFS
  • Extending VSTS
  • How & Why Process Guidance Matters in VSTS
  • How Requirements Management Can Help Development Team Perform Better
  • Implementing & Customizing MSF 4.0 in TFS
  • Accelerating Problem Resolution in VSTS
  • Managing Requirements with TFS
  • Managing Work with VSTS
  • Predictable Software Development is not an Oxymoron
  • SDLC Process Support in TFS
  • Shipping on Time & Under Budget with VSTS
  • Tracking the Life of a Business Requirement
  • Finding & Using Process Guidance
  • Working Across Team Projects as a Project Member
  • Working with Older Visual Studio Projects or Other Code Projects
  • Team Foundation for Project Leads
  • Creating & Managing Team Projects
  • Using Reports & Metrics
  • Working with Check-In Policies & Notes

Understanding Team System

  • Product Overview
  • End-to-End Product Demonstration
  • How Team System Will Benefit Your Organization
  • Team Foundation Server Overview Tutorial Video
  • Team Foundation Server: At Work
  • Enterprise-Class Source Control & Work Item Tracking
  • Work Item Tracking in VSTS
  • Team Foundation Concepts
  • Team Foundation Walkthroughs
  • “How do I” in Team Foundation
  • MSF Team Model and Team System

Understanding Team Projects & Process

  • Automating Nightly Builds with Team Build
  • Project Metrics Data Warehouse
  • Understanding VSTS Reports
  • Customizing Process Templates
  • Customizing the Build Process
  • Customizing Work Items
  • MSF Agile Process Template
  • Enforcing & Customizing Check-In Policies

Preparing for Implementation

  • Inside Look at the TFS File Proxy Cache Server
  • Planning for TFS
  • Installation & Implementation of TFS Quickstart
  • Introduction to TFS for VSS Users
  • TFS Planning Overview
  • TFS Installation Overview
  • TFS Planning & Preparing
  • VSTS Requirements
  • TFS Server Planning
  • TFS Server Requirements
  • Client Requirements for Team Foundation
  • Server Requirements for Team Foundation
  • Team Foundation Server Components
  • Team Foundation Client Components
  • Working with TFS Source Control
  • Team Foundation Build Planning
  • Team Edition for Testers Planning
  • Server Planning
  • Client Planning
  • Planning a Team Project
  • Planning for Remote Offices
  • Reviewing Security Considerations
  • Capacity Planning for Team Foundation Deployment
  • Migrating to Team Foundation
  • Team Edition for Testers Planning
  • Considerations for Large Load Tests

Installation

  • TFS Installation Guide
  • TFS Third Party Integration
  • Migrating from VSS to TFS
  • Migrating to VSTS
  • Upgrading from a TFS Pre-Release to TFS Release
  • TFS Source Control Walkthroughs

Configuration

  • Configuration & Management of TFS
  • Configuring TFS Notifications
  • Work Item Type Customization Overview
  • Customizing Process Templates
  • Creating Custom Check-In Policies
  • Customizing Work Item Types
  • Team Foundation Internationalization
  • Designing a Custom Process Template in TFS
  • Designing a New Custom Work Item Type Definition and Form
  • Configuring TFS to use a Remote Sharepoint Server
  • Using Source Control in Team Foundation
  • Configuring Source Control Settings
  • Control Access to TFS Source Control
  • Customizing Microsoft Project Field Mappings

Administration

  • Administering TFS
  • Team Foundation Administration Walkthroughs
  • Using TFS Command Line Tools
  • Enforcing & Customizing Check-In Policies
  • Using Team Build and Web Deployment Projects
  • Interacting with TFS through Outlook & TeamLook
  • Allow other IDEs to Interact with TFS
  • Remove Access to Source Control Files
  • Setting Up a Build Computer
  • Working with Build Types in Team Build
  • Using TFS Build Command-Line Tool

Understanding Version Control

  • Branching
  • Changesets
  • Checkin/Checkout
  • Diffing
  • Shelving
  • Workspaces

Monitoring

  • Monitoring Event Logs
  • Enabling Trace for TFS Components
  • View TFS Performance Monitor Counters

Moving TFS Servers

  • Server Move Types
  • Moving from One Hardware Configuration to Another
  • Moving from One Environment to Another
  • Moving from Single-Server to Dual-Server Environment

Upgrading TFS Servers

  • Server Upgrade Types
  • Upgrading from TFS Trial Edition
  • Upgrading from TFS Workgroup Edition

Security

  • TFS Server Security Concepts
  • TFS Security Architecture
  • TFS Security for Users & Groups
  • Synchronizing Administrative Accounts

Management

  • Users & Groups
  • Permissions
  • Services & Service Accounts
  • Data
  • SQL Server Services
  • TFS Components
  • TFS within Active Directory
  • TFS within a Workgroup
  • Remote Connections to a TFS Proxy
  • Windows Sharepoint Services Sites
  • Configuration Settings
  • Managing Builds with TFS Build Server
  • Setting Alerts
  • Managing Work Items in Excel & Project

Reporting & Project Portal

  • Team Foundation Reporting
  • Project Portal
  • Creating Custom Reports in VSTS
  • Microsoft Project Integration
  • Microsoft Excel Integration
  • Navigating the VSTS Project Portal
  • Configuring TFS Notifications
  • Project Metrics Data Warehouse
  • Understanding VSTS Reports

Visual Studio Team Suite

  • Application Design with Visual Studio Team Suite
  • Writing Quality Code
  • Team Build
  • Testing & QA
  • Web & Load Balancing
  • Correcting Defects
  • Team Foundation Version Control
  • Customizing Process with VSTS

Team Explorer CAL/Client

  • Using the Team Explorer Tutorial Video
  • Connecting to TFS with Team Explorer
  • Add/Remove a Team Project
  • Refreshing Team Explorer
  • Access Process Guidance in Team Explorer
  • Managing Reports in Team Explorer
  • Managing Team Builds in Team Explorer
  • Managing Documents in Team Explorer
  • Customizing Team Projects with Team Explorer
  • Managing Team Projects in Team Explorer
  • Managing Source Control in Team Explorer
  • Managing Work Items in Team Explorer
  • Managing Team Explorer Favorites
  • Team Explorer Keyboard Shortcut Commands

Team Test Load Agent

  • Team Test Load Agent Product Site
  • Working with Controllers, Agents & Rigs
  • Use IP Switching with Agents
  • Setting Up Controller & Agent Functionality
  • Load Test Counter Sets
  • Test Rig Requirements for Team System
  • Test Rig Requirements for Team Foundation Server
  • Run a Load Test Using Agents
  • About Load Patterns
  • About Counter Sets

Third Party Solutions

  • Cross Platform Support – Teamprise
  • Web Clients - Teamplain
  • SCRUM - Conchango
  • Source Code Control Migration – Component Software Inc.
  • Requirements Management - Borland
  • Business Process Modeling - Ravenflow
  • Visual Studio Partners Online (VSIP)

Online Labs

  • What’s New in Visual Studio Team System
  • Visual Studio Team System Hosted Trial
  • Architecting Connected Systems: Team Foundation Server

Clarifications & FAQs

  • Team System FAQ
  • Tutorial Videos on Various Topics
  • TFS FAQs
  • TFS Online Forums
  • Team Foundation Server Team Blog
  • Team Foundation Build Reference

Troubleshooting

  • TFS FAQs
  • Using Metrics from TFS to Troubleshoot your Projects
  • TFS Online Forums
  • Troubleshooting Team Explorer
  • Troubleshooting New Team Project Wizard
  • Troubleshooting Source Control Issues
  • Troubleshooting Team Foundation Build
  • Troubleshooting TFS Performance Counters
  • Troubleshooting TFS Permissions & Security
  • Troubleshooting TFS Proxy
  • Troubleshooting Command-Line Tools
  • Troubleshooting TFS Server Fail-Over
  • Troubleshooting TFS Data Warehouse
  • Troubleshooting TFS Reporting
  • Error & Event Messages in TFS
  • Troubleshooting Work Item Migration
  • Source Control Migration
  • Troubleshooting Test Controllers, Agents and Rigs
  • Troubleshooting Load Tests

Books

  • Working with Visual Studio Team System
  • Pro Visual Studio 2005 Team System
  • Professional Visual Studio 2005 Team System
  • Global Outsourcing with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System
  • Software Engineering with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System
  • Managing Projects with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System

Partners

  • Complimentary Partner Solutions for Visual Studio Team System
  • Visual Studio Industry Partners (VSIP)
  • Visual Studio Extensibility Newsgroup
  • VSIP Program Questions

Page 1 of 12