Team Foundation Server Enhanced

Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) 2010, available in public beta now and expected to ship in the first half of 2010, includes a new version of the Team Foundation Server (TFS) software development collaboration server. TFS now supports new scale-out deployment configurations, enhances source code control and build capabilities, improves project management and reporting, and simplifies installation and administration. The improvements could give organizations more flexibility, control, and insight into software development projects, although the product will be most appealing for large teams, and it will require SQL Server 2008.

VSTS enables application life-cycle management: collaboration among architects, developers, testers, and project managers who are designing, coding, testing, deploying, and maintaining applications. VSTS consists of TFS and specialized editions of the Visual Studio (VS) development environment for the specific roles of architects, developers, and testers. (For an illustration, see “VSTS/TFS Layout“.) TFS provides source-code control, project and build management, and centralized storage for other group development tasks, using a set of SQL Server databases that contain source code, work items, build data, user identities, and other project data. It also supports Office- and Web-based reporting and review of software projects for managers and other stakeholders.