The Adventure Works Team

The Adventure Works Team

The Adventure Works team is a small one, with a total of 12 employees involved at least peripherally. All 12 employees will touch Team System, but only 8 of them will be using Visual Studio 2005 to do so. In addition to each of their roles and responsibilities, you will know what software they will be using in relation to this scenario.

The team consists of the following roles and individuals:

Stakeholder—Tamara

Tamara is the owner of Adventure Works and wants to improve its public image. She has complete trust in Jay (see the next entry) to ensure that any new marketing product will be a success. Tamara herself is not very technical, but she still wants to be apprised of the progress of any project that Jay launches.

Software used: Microsoft Internet Explorer

Business Sponsor—Jay

Jay runs the marketing department at Adventure Works and will be paying for the development of the company's blog software. Because he is paying for it, he is considered “the customer.” Jay believes that having a blog, in which the public can read and subscribe to the daily happenings at Adventure Works, will improve the company's perception and image. Jay feels that this will help drive new business, as long as it is secure, performs well, and has a pleasant user interface. Jay has managed several IS projects of various sizes and therefore knows a thing or two about project management, so he plans to follow the progress of the project.

Software used: Internet Explorer

Business Analyst—Robert

Robert is the subject matter expert (SME) of the blog application. After much research, his main goal is to define the opportunities and determine how to capitalize on them. Robert will work with the potential users, such as employees of the company, a focus group of external customers, and other stakeholders to understand their needs and goals. Robert will then translate all this information into persona definitions, scenarios, and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements that the development team will use to build the application.

Software used: Microsoft Office Excel®, Microsoft Internet Explorer

Project Manager—Glenn

Glenn must deliver the blog application, and all its promised business value, within the agreed-upon schedule and budget. The length of the project has been initially set to three months. Glenn is charged with planning and scheduling duties, which include developing project and iteration plans, monitoring and reporting status, and identifying and mitigating risk. Glenn must consult with Robert to plan the scenarios and quality of service requirements for each iteration, consult with Martin and Amy to estimate work, and consult with Hugh to plan testing. Glenn is eager to use Visual Studio 2005 Team System to facilitate communication with his team.

Software used: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office Project, Team Explorer (standalone), Internet Explorer

Architect—Martin

Martin's responsibility is to ensure success of the blog project by designing a solid application foundation. This foundation includes both the organizational structure of the application and the physical structure of its deployment. Being the champion of the solution, Martin must ensure that the blog application's architecture is sound and that it will successfully deploy to the Adventure Works' datacenter.

Software used: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Architects

Lead Developer—Jeff

Jeff has worked with Martin for many years and is very experienced in leading software development efforts. Jeff will act on Martin's guidance to help design and drive the implementation of the blog application's various services and subsystems. Jeff is an expert in Microsoft .NET and Microsoft ASP.NET development. He will serve as the primary technical resource for the project.

Software used: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite

Developers—Amy, Joe, and Donovan

The developers' responsibility is to implement the blog application, which must be accomplished by following Jeff's guidance and Martin's designs. Each developer has been adequately trained in .NET and ASP.NET, and each has at least two years of experience. Although each developer has worked on various projects at Adventure Works over the years, this will be the first project that they will work on together. Per Jeff's recommendation, this will also be the first project to use a strict Test-Driven Development (TDD) methodology.

Software used: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Developers

Testers—Hubert and Mandy

Hubert and Mandy will be required to discover and communicate existing problems or potential problems with the blog application to the rest of team. Hubert has .NET experience and can directly assist in unit testing the code and correcting minor flaws in the code. Mandy has more experience in testing Web applications and services, both for accuracy and performance. Both Hubert and Mandy will be involved in deep testing of the application and logging any bugs into Team System, including the steps to reproduce their impact and any workarounds. In addition, Mandy has training experience and familiarity working with users, so she will focus on the user experience activities.

Software used: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Software Testers

Operations Manager—Tim

As operations manager, it is Tim's environment into which the blog application will get deployment. Tim is responsible for the security and reliability of the datacenter and, as such, has already worked with Martin to help him create an accurate diagram using Microsoft Visio® Professional. Tim has agreed to manage the rollout of the blog application, but wants to be kept in the loop on the project's status. He wants to have access to any deployment reports as early as possible for planning. Tim will coordinate the release with other operations staff and create an appropriate rollout plan.

Software used: Internet Explorer, Team Explorer (standalone)