VSTS, MSF, Team Foundation, Jacobson, Unified Process and Process Governance

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I love it when a plan comes together.

I hadn't hit my blog in quite a while, and of course, I post on IT Governance in Team System, and lo and behold,

Microsoft Taps Former Rational Heavyweight to Lend Credence to Enterprise Tools Play

( https://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1886533,00.asp )

Highlights include:

  "We need more lightweight processes," Jacobson said, noting that RUP has become too heavyweight and cumbersome. "We have competition from India, China and the former Soviet Union," he said. "It is not enough to be agile. Indeed, Microsoft has done a good job with its Microsoft Solutions Framework, and "their process agility is a clear differentiator for them," Jacobson said.

“RUP is one of my babies, and babies grow up, and some of them need correction," Jacobson said

“However, among the primary problems Jacobson said he has with RUP is that it is "heavyweight."

Also, "the process architecture needs to be refactored," Jacobson said. "It is very difficult to add new practices because it will force a big change in the base. For instance, adding in a streamlined way practices such as EA [Enterprise Architect], SOA [service-oriented architecture], ABD [asset-based development], re-engineering legacy systems and commercial off-the-shelf software would be very difficult, if at all possible. So I believe in starting all over fresh but not throwing away anything that is good."

“What we're doing today is taking one step to the next era, which is invisible process," Jacobson said. "Process should be like the engine under the hood of a car—ever present, but invisible."

Some very interesting comments, and it's good to see that the ecosystem of strong partners extending Visual Studio include industry luminaries like Jacobson. The ability for VSTS to work the way you want it to and adapt to the process/methodology that you want to use is one of the biggest, most key benefits of Team System.

I look forward to seeing Essential Unified Process and other great process templates appearing soon (like Fujitsu's MacroScope).