“Agile methods are not meant to be followed blindly; rather, teams should remain flexible and pragmatic, adapting their approach to meet the specific needs of each project.” — Jim Highsmith
I’ve been lucky to be involved throughout the journey of developing MSF Agile with the product teams.
I was asked to be a reviewer and collaborator because of my background and experience in Agile methodologies.
MSF Agile is a software methodology developed by Microsoft to help teams manage software development projects using an agile approach.
It provides a framework of workstreams, roles, and key activities to help teams navigate through the various stages of the software development lifecycle.
In this article, I’ll provide a simple summary overview of the MSF Agile methodology, including its workstreams, roles, and key activities, to help teams get started with this approach.
What is MSF Agile?
MSF Agile (Microsoft Solutions Framework Agile) is an iterative and incremental agile software development methodology developed by Microsoft.
It provides a customizable framework that can be adapted to meet the specific needs of a project, team, or organization.
MSF Agile is based on the principles of the Agile Manifesto and emphasizes collaboration, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement.
MSF Agile at a Glance
When I review an approach, I find it helpful to distill it to a simple frame so I can get a bird’s-eye view.
For MSF Agile, I found the most useful frame to be the workstreams and key activities.
According to MSF, workstreams are simply groups of activities that flow logically together and are usually associated with a particular role. I couldn’t find this view in MSF Agile, so I created one:
Workstream | Role | Key Activities |
Capture Project Vision | Business Analyst |
|
Create a Quality of Service Requirement | Business Analyst |
|
Create a Scenario | Business Analyst |
|
Guide Project | Project Manager |
|
Plan an Iteration | Project Manager |
|
Guide an Iteration | Project Manager |
|
Create a Solution Architecture | Architect |
|
Build a Product | Developer |
|
Fix a Bug | Developer |
|
Implement a Developer Task | Developer |
|
Close a Bug | Tester |
|
Test a Quality of Service Requirement | Tester |
|
Test a Scenario | Tester |
|
Release a Product | Release Manager |
|
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