OK, so Team Foundation Server is wonderful (which it truly is). However, I have imported my Microsoft Project file into TFS (or type all the tasks in by hand via the Excel file) and, with extraordinary diligence, I add all my precious time estimates to each task.
Now I am truly pleased with myself, assured that somehow, as the project progresses, I will be able to get statistics automatically emailed to me describing how far through the project we are. But no! At least not with the default Process Template for Agile (and I presume the same is true for CMMI as well). 'Why?', you ask... Well:
It seems that strangely, out of the box, Microsoft have installed reports that allow you to see the progress that is being made down to the task level only. So when you have a task that has been estimated as 20 hours work and your diligent programmer updates the number of hours
worked (on that task) each day, there is not a single report within the standard process templates that will tell you how your project is performing.
worked (on that task) each day, there is not a single report within the standard process templates that will tell you how your project is performing.Worse than this, getting a report saying you have 80 tasks left is all well and good, but it means absolutely nothing to anyone (unless you know precisely how long each of those 80 tasks are going to take). Clearly you can export to MS Project to get the information you need - but for small teams (who might not have the luxury of a full-time project manager) it would be beneficial (bloody useful) to see a graph showing progress.
Thankfully Microsoft has written a collection of reports to smooth over this minor flaw in their shockingly good system (yes, one day I will apply for a job with them) and they have 'published' them here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=A74486B2-F7DB-4A85-97BD-46BF478BDA60&displaylang=en
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