TFS Structure - Multiple Projects or Single Project?

Question

Our small development shop is looking to migrate our projects from VSS to TFS, and we\'re evaluating TFS vs. others (haven\'t pulled the trigger quite yet). The nature of our s

Answer 1

The answer to this question requires some planning on your part: how you intend to use TFS, and which of those capabilities has inherent limitations in the product. I would summarize my advice as:

1. You will need [at least] 1 team project per process template. That is, if two teams want to adopt / customize different processes, they will need to be separated.

2. Once condition #1 is satisfied, you probably don't need as many separate Team Projects as you think. 90% of TFS features & settings are hierarchical in nature, allowing you to scope them as broadly or narrowly as each of your projects requires.

For complete details, see:

• http://www.codeplex.com/BranchingGuidance/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Guidance%20for%20Structuring%20Team%20Projects
• http://blogs.msdn.com/richardb/archive/2007/05/01/tfs-team-project-whitepaper.aspx
• http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa974183(vs.80).aspx