Microsoft Solutions Framework

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Microsoft Solutions Framework MSF v4

• Rafal Lukawiecki
• Strategic Consultant
• rafal_at_projectbotticelli.co.uk
• Project Botticelli Ltd

This presentation is based on work by Microsoft
TechNet, MSDN and various Microsoft authors
including, with special thanks Ramprabhu
Rathnam, Tony Northrup, and Austin Wilson
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Objectives

• Convince you that non-technical reasons impact
  project success a lot
• Show you an approach to product management that
  has proven to be very successful
• Explain the recent developments

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Agenda

• Introduction to Frameworks
• Components of MSF v3 and v4
• Future

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IntroductionWhy Projects Fail?What are
Frameworks?
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MSF

• Microsoft Solutions Framework
• Established in 1991, made public in 1993 (v1),
  fully revised in 1998 (v2), January 2003 (v3) and
  now in March 2006 (v4)
• Product development framework for creating
  software and infrastructure deployment
• Related to MOF, Microsoft Operational Framework
• Which concentrates on the management of IT
  infrastructure

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IT Lifecycle
Microsoft Solutions Framework
Plan
Operate
Build
Deploy
Microsoft Operations Framework
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Does it Work?

• Yes, as long as you chose the right bits of MSF
  for your project
• High-profile projects that used MSF
• www.nasdaq.com and www.marriott.com (Aris Corp,
  now Ciber, www.ciber.co.uk)
• UK Government Gateway (eGov)
• Visual Studio, Windows 2003, Windows XP

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Whats a Framework?

• Unlike a methodology, a framework is a set of
  conceptual tools and best practices
• However, in many ways MSF v4 is closer to a
  methodology than v3

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Root Causes of Failure

• Separation of goal and function
• Separation of business and technology
• Lack of common language and process
• Failure to communicate and act as a team
• Processes that are inflexible to change
• Solution?
• A good and tested framework!

When projects fail, its rarely technical. Jim
Johnson, The Standish Group
Average cost overrun 45 Time overrun
63 Functionality delivered on average
67 Standish Group
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Evolution from MSF v3 to v4
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MSF Partner Council Who Advised v4
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Evolution to MSF v4
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Status

• MSF v3 is fully released and available
• Study course MOC 1846
• MSF v4 for Application Development (both Agile
  and CMMI) have just shipped on 29 March 2006
• Download guidance from www.microsoft.com/msf
• MSF v4 for Infrastructure Deployment and other
  flavours (Solutions, Consulting, etc.) are
  under development at present
• This is news! Good news.

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Agility

• Agility of the development process is the key to
  being able to cope with inevitable changes (spec,
  environment, business) or planning errors
• The price of it is a certain unpredictability of
  the process
• Finish date, final cost, feature set
• Generally, agility is great for small and medium
  projects in existing and tested dev environments

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CMMI

• Capability-Maturity Model Integration describes 5
  (or 6) levels of process-based predictability of
  an organisation (or department) in terms of their
  ability to produce quality software
• Level 5 is best. Most companies are 0 or 1. MSF
  v4 can help you work at level 3 or more.
• Moving towards higher levels is done by adopting
  highly predictable (but not so agile) processes
• Great for larger or more formal projects,
  especially in more critical environments
• By the way, MSF and CMMI are not strangers KPMG
  published a paper on how MSF v1 could help you
  with CMM already in 1995!

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Observation

• MSF v3 seems more formal than MSF for Agile
  Software Development
• We lose some of the structure and modelling from
  v3 and replace them with a more integrated agile
  process
• MSF v3 seems less formal than MSF for CMMI
  Process Improvement
• Structures from v3 are becoming more
  process-improvement oriented

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What About Extreme Programming?

• Extreme Programming (XP), which was created after
  MSF, has similarities
• Similarities regarding the Zero Defect Mindset
  and Daily Builds
• XP is less predictable than necessary for more
  formal projects
• But great for very agile projects
• MSF for Agile Software Development seems more
  predictable, controllable and even more agile
  than XP
• MSF CMMI Process Improvement, naturally, is less
  agile than XP, but seems the most predictable

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Key Components of MSF
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A Team of Peers (v4 Agile)
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Scaling the Team Model

• Feature Function Teams Technique
• Example

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Designing Software within MSF

• UML (Unified Modelling Language) has a great
  tradition, though we may need to evolve towards a
  service-oriented approach
• UML2? Perhaps, but its possible to be more
  direct in design.
• Domain Specific Languages!
• Great conceptual integration both with MSF and
  with the tools (VSTS)
• Further, possible, integration with SDM and DSI

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Project Management in v4

• One of the most powerful features of Visual
  Studio Team System is its automation of project
  management
• Workstreams, Work Items, and Roles concepts
• Uses Team Foundation Server
• Relies on Microsoft Project-style planning
  documents

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MSF Process Model v3
DeploymentComplete
Release ReadinessApproved
Vision/Scope Approved
MSF
Project Plans Approved
Scope Complete
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Deploy
Envision
Release 1
Stabilize
Plan
Build
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Process Modelling in v4

• MSF v4 introduces a new model of Governance and
  Enactment which replace the traditional process
  model
• This caters for different types of processes,
  which are now defined at the level of
  methodology, rather than the framework
• This makes MSF v4 much more suited to work in
  teams both very small and very big, as opposed to
  what v3 could have ever catered for

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Governance
Enactment
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Iterations

• Achievement of a pre-determined level of quality
• Based on planning of feature-sets
• Mechanism to correct project plan deviations

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Governance

• Process mapped onto specific iterations

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Cycles

• The foundation of every days co-ordinated work
  of the team

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Daily (Nightly) Build

• Building the product in a deployable form on a
  daily basis
• A daily build is
• A strong indicator that a team is functional
• Guarantee against component integration problems
• A way to make the product and its progress
  visible
• The heartbeat of the development process
• A key function of VSTF (see later)

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How Does Daily Build Work?

• A
• A ? A
• B
• C
• B
• A
• B ? B
• C
• C
• A
• B
• C ? C

• A
• A
• B
• C
• B
• A
• B, B
• C
• C
• A
• B
• C

• A
• From A
• B
• From B and B
• C
• From C

?
?
?
?
?
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
BVT
BVT
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Quality CriteriaKnowing When You Can Ship

• MSF v4 defines
• Minimum Acceptance Level (Scenarios)
• Relates to Core Functionality Set
• Test Thresholds
• Code Coverage for Unit Tests
• Other, context-driven (bugs per developer)
• VSTS manages tracking and reporting of these
  quality criteria during all phases of the project

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Work Items

• Activities and Workstreams manage the concept of
  a work item, which describes an assignable,
  individual piece of effort that needs to be done
• Bug
• Quality of Service Requirement
• Scenario
• Risk (not yet in the beta of VSTS, but soon)
• Task

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Process Model
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Team System

• Ingenious tool that implements MSF!
• As soon as you create a new project in VSTS you
  get to chose which version of MSF v4 you want to
  use!
• VS 2005 TS manages the flow of work items between
  team members, as well as overlooks their progress
• Individual versions for
• Developer
• Architect
• Tester
• Reporting and management tools for project
  manager and other team members
• Includes Outlook, Excel and Project Support

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Future
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MSF and Software Development

• Without a doubt, the emphasis of MSF v4 is on
  software development
• The MSF team is now firmly a part of the Visual
  Studio group within Microsoft
• Tying the framework to the tools (VSTS) was the
  masterstroke that gave MSF a very prosperous
  future
• And vice-versa the method adds value to the
  tools, beyond what any Microsoft competitor could
  offer today

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MSF for Infrastructure Deployment

• While initially there was a little confusion, it
  has now been confirmed that MSF v4 will cater for
  Infrastructure Deployment too
• While the detail is being finalised, please
  consider using MSF v3 or MOF for purely
  infrastructure deployment oriented projects
• Consider using the more flexible process
  approaches from v3
• Soft skills, whichever version, like all good
  ideas, age only like wine, anyway

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Summary

• Projects fail for non-technical reasons
• A framework such as MSF fixes those problem
• You dont have to use all of MSF at once
• If you use some bits you increase your chance of
  succeeding
• Visual Studio Team System is a marvellous
  implementation of MSF principles

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Resources

• www.microsoft.com/msf
• MSF for Agile Software Development
• lab.msdn.microsoft.com/teamsystem/workshop/msfagil
  e/default.aspx
• MSF for CMMI Process Improvement
• lab.msdn.microsoft.com/teamsystem/workshop/msfcmmi
  /default.aspx
• MSF v3
• msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/enterprise/msf/
• MSF Forum
• forums.microsoft.com/msdn/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID6
  3
• MOF
• www.microsoft.com/mof