Summary

Visual Studio Team System focuses on enabling all tracks of the SDLC, not just the development track. A holistic approach toward managing progress through the SDLC is key. VSTS extends the reach of Visual Studio from the developer to include other pivotal roles in the SDLC such as architects, business analysts, QA, and project management, and by doing so aims to

• Avoid unplanned scope increases

• Improve communication

• Minimize duplication of effort

• Optimize resources

• Streamline the development process

• Manage and mitigate risks

• Facilitate postmortem analysis and capture of best practices

In this chapter, you learned that VSTS is a set of different Visual Studio versions, each targeted at a different role within the SDL landscape. These VS versions are available separately or in a package known as the Visual Studio Team Suite. There is also a server-side component known as the Team Foundation Server that sits in the middle of a VSTS deployment. Because these tools all work together in an integrated fashion, Visual Studio Team System enables consistent support of work activities ranging from architecture to development to test, and management of the work items associated with each.

In the following chapters, we will look at the individual tools associated with Visual Studio Team System and see how they can be utilized within the fabric of a development team.