TFS Reviews

The primary use case of this solution is version control.

We use it for ticketing protecting particular items, we use the dashboard, and we use the Kanban board where you can put work items.

The deployment model that we are using is on-premises.

I really like the dashboards in this solution. They are good for the team, where you can provide announcements and you can organize it the way you want.

I like the Kanban board. It is very useful in terms of seeing who is working on what and what the current status of work is.

I know that they want to discontinue the version control feature, but I like it because for simple applications, it works.

In the next release, I would like them to include integration for various projects, similar to what JIRA has, and they could create this feature on the dashboard. 

If they could create a feature to allow us to see the dashboards with all of the products, it would be useful.

This solution is pretty stable. I have not experienced any issues.

This solution is scalable and it is simple. 

From my experience, we have loaded a lot of work and we have several branches.

We have perhaps one hundred users, but in my team specifically, we have eight users who are engineers, testers, and a few managers.

We have not contacted technical support because issues are handled by the team internally.

We have not used any other solutions previously. This has been the first one with version control.

We have an internal team that handled the implementation of this solution.

I am currently evaluating JIRA. The management is considering moving everything to JIRA.

This solution is simple to learn. It's straightforward and you don't need a lot of time to learn the functionalities.

I would recommend this solution.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We have used TFS as part of our SAFe Agile Implementation.  Major uses of it were:

• Project management
• Backlog management
• Issue tracking
• Source code management.

TFS was the first system of its type to be implemented in the organization, which helped in managing requirements and multiple teams effectively under a SAFe Agile environment.

• Requirements
• Backlog management
• Project management

Each tool has the option to prioritize requirements in a backlog pool, assigning them to particular teams and particular iterations. The system has also helped in managing requirements with options to attach supporting documents. 

From the project management perspective, the tool is efficiently managing teams by giving management information, such as reports, graphs, velocity, capacity, etc.

More options could be provided from the perspective of requirements management, which would help product owners to use the tool effectively.

TFS itself is a platform for collaborative development. All the features in it are essential for successful development projects, especially version control, defects tracking, SCRUM tools etc.

TFS SCRUM adoption in our organization was very smooth.

Scrum Board implementation and Backlog viewer require some improvements in order to make its usage simpler and interactive.

I've used TFS since 2007, and the 2013 version since it was released.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

Back in 2007 we used Source Safe Control. When we realized that we needed a generic platform which would combine task and defects tracking with version controlling, we moved to TFS.

I was not involved in the original setup, but the version change was quick and very smooth.

Our in-house IT department deployed it who are very experienced.

As the solution is cloud-based, we always use the latest version. 

We use it comprehensively for client career management. We can use it to read test cases and link cases. Everything is done in TFS.

I feel that the test plan and test tools are more manageable in TFS.

In the TFS tool, we, essentially, made the test cases and test tools. The execution of test cases could stand improvement. They have provided many ways to manage the execution, but they can streamline it to one or two ways. People do not wish to try all the alternative methods.

We have been using TFS for three years.

When it comes to stability, the entire process is good.

I have no issues with the scalability. It is fine. 

I have do not recall occasion to contact TFS technical support. 

I cannot state for certain if we were previously using a different solution, as I would have to know to which year you refer. Again, we have been using TFS for three years. 

Installation is totally fine. I have no issues with it. I do not recall how long it took. 

Installation can be done with the help of the technical team. We are talking about the same team, consisting of around four people and a single manager. 

We pay for the license yearly.

They're slowly migrating the solution to DevOps at the moment.

I would recommend the solution to others. 

I suggest that those looking for enterprise wide solutions can go with TFS whereas, if they are short on team members, they can try the alternative. Smaller teams can try Jira, as well. 

I rate TFS as a seven to eight out of ten.

At my previous company, I was using TFS for managing projects and code.

The most valuable feature is the backlog.

The reporting has improved over time, with the addition of Power BI reports.

There are a lot of places that Microsoft can improve this product, as well as their support.

The program and portfolio planning facility can be improved. As it is now, you can't do portfolio program planning functionality across multiple project Areas (vs. Team areas within a project area) because you cannot link items across projects. Reporting can be done using Power BI, but real time connections are difficult.  You can use connectors and external integrations but you cannot do it with the tool. It needs to be better. 

It is difficult to customize.

I had been using Team Foundation Server for between four and five years.

This is absolutely a stable platform. It is highly available and follows on the environment.

It is possible to scale, albeit tricky. There are between 2,000 and 3,000 users.

Technical support is a challenge. It is a pain to get anything from Microsoft done. For example, working on patches and queries is slow. There was a lot of functionality that we wanted to embed that we had trouble with.

They changed the entire application lifecycle management suite, so it was a challenge to understand and navigate through how things would be done.

It is not a buggy product, but for new functionality, it is really a challenge. Especially in cloud-based deployments, it is even more challenging.

I was using TFS at my previous company and my current organization uses JIRA. I would say that TFS is the more scalable of the two. With JIRA, you really need connectors and things like that. You have to have external addons to make it more scalable.

In terms of usability, JIRA might provide a better user experience but from an organizational and stability point of view, TFS wins hands-down.

Price-wise, TFS is better than JIRA.

Out of the box, the initial setup is easy. However, it is difficult to customize, especially if it is on a cloud. 

TFS is more competitively priced than some other solutions.

My advice to anybody who is implementing this solution is to use as much as possible, out of the box. Customizing it is difficult. It may not necessarily fit everything perfectly and it can be tricky to scale, but not impossible. There are definitely challenges scaling it. That said, the tool from Microsoft does allow you to do things very differently but try to do it in a standard way first.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Integration with Visual Studio (VS): I have used other software management solutions with VS, but TFS is the best at the moment. It offers easy integration with servers and full functionality.

Another very good feature of TFS is the build server. With it, I can quickly and easily generate binaries for testing and production environments.

• Local branching
• Move folders using drag & drop
• Better resolve for merging the conflicts tool.

Around eight years.

No. Nothing which I have noticed.

No, but I have never worked in a big company with many developers or projects.

I can't rate. I have never used technical support.

We were using Microsoft SourceSafe, but is unreliable and slow. These issues are enough for anyone decide to change to another software management tool. As we are a Microsoft partner, we naturally switched to TFS and are happy with this solution so far.

Very simple and straightforward, which makes for a very good, first impression.

This is the negative side of TFS; the price is expensive. Microsoft offers VSTS for free if you have a very small company and don't mind to keep your code in the cloud. But if this isn't the case, you have to pay too much for licenses (in the cloud or out of it), especially if your company just needs to track the changes in your code.

No, because we are a Microsoft Partner.

Use the free version of VSTS first, to just to have an idea of what it is. It's even possible to build binaries online.

• TFS is full software application lifecycle management tool, where you can use it to create DevOps enabled teams.
• It has the capability to track requirements to release, and the ability to enable automation into software delivery and the testing process, which is the main reason TFS is so powerful.
• It is a flexible tool which can be adopted to our own way of work, that allows us to enhance and continuously improve our ability to deliver great and quality software to our clients.
• Being a Microsoft product, it supports lot of other platforms with version control and builds systems, which is another value addition.

Test automation capabilities enhanced the testing processes in the software delivery, which allowed us to create more quality software in a shorter time. The capability to deliver rapidly with ever changing technology demands could be easily supported with the work process enhancements we have done based on TFS's capabilities.

Third party integrations could be improved to make it more flexible and easy to use with other platforms.

I have used TFS for eight years since TFS version 2008.

No.

No.

Superb. Microsoft support and the community support are always great.

No, we didn't use a different solution. TFS has been the solution from the beginning.

It was a well-documented, smooth installation process. Nothing complex.

If you do not want to have the burden of maintenance, go for Visual Studio Team Services (TFS in cloud) which is cheaper, flexible, and is always getting the latest features first.

JIRA.

Just go for it. Whether you develop on Microsoft platforms or otherwise, you will find it useful and enhancing to the way you work.

I like its MTM (Microsoft Test Manager) section which gives us options to create various test plans and add test cases into it. Once the tests are run or tested, testers can give results. For higher managers, it is really helpful to look at its graph and figure out what is its status.

Another option that I like is linking with other works. Bugs can be associated with user story, test case, etc. This helps us to figure out which work item it is related to.

This really helps in planning our Regression and Functional tests as we create plan and test cases in it. It is easy for higher officials to get an overview of the testing part. Once the team is familiar with it, it’s really easy to work with.

It is completely different than other test management tools. I would highly recommend giving training and brainstorming sessions for the employees before anybody starts to use it in an organization. Otherwise, it is hard for them to work with it. In my current company, I face that situation. They introduced this tool without providing them any training or brainstorming sessions and many of them are not able to use it properly. It creates a lot of confusion. TFS and MTM have their own style of working and they are different from other tools like Jira or TestRail, which are simpler and easy to use.

I have used this product from 2015 onward. I have used its other version TFS 2013.

The product is stable. I have never had any stability issues.

I never asked for technical help. So, I don’t know.

I have worked with Jira and TestRail as part of a different project. They are simpler than TFS. It is really easy to follow these other tools, but TFS has more features and its own unique way of functioning. JIRA has no facility to create test cases, but TFS has it. TestRail is good for writing test cases mostly; project management techniques are more in TFS and MTM. In short, MTM and TFS have more functions. Project management and test management can be done together in one tool.

I have never set it up in an organization. I have just used it. It was really tough for me at the start to use. I never had any experience with it before. I learned by myself looking at YouTube videos. Best bet would be to get an introduction, a brainstorming session, and some follow-up session for the beginners.

I am not sure about pricing. I never got a chance to purchase it.

I never purchased it. No comments on this.

Since I have worked with Jira and TestRail as part of test management, I would strongly suggest giving training to your employees before implementing them. TFS is way different from other tools; its working style is also different. Unless, they get introduced to it, you won’t be able to attain its merits. TFS is really worth it if we can use its advanced features. In order to get that kind of understanding, a training session and follow-up sessions once a while are essential. Learning TFS is like getting familiar with a brand new tool. That kind of awareness is needed from both the employees and higher officials.