TFS OverviewUNIXBusinessApplication

TFS is the #1 ranked solution in top Quality Management Tools and #3 ranked solution in top Application Lifecycle Management Suites. PeerSpot users give TFS an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. TFS is most commonly compared to Microsoft Azure DevOps: TFS vs Microsoft Azure DevOps. TFS is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 51% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a educational organization, accounting for 25% of all views.
TFS Buyer's Guide

Download the TFS Buyer's Guide including reviews and more. Updated: May 2023

What is TFS?

Visual Studio’s Team Foundation Server (TFS) is a powerful application development lifecycle management solution. It aids developers in managing every aspect of their DevOps and application creation. TFS combines many different types of solutions into a single powerful platform.

Visual Studio TFS Benefits

Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy TFS include:

  • Build automation. TFS enables users to create definitions that can easily automate any and all tasks that are critical to the development of their applications. Businesses can utilize features that are built into TFS to accomplish preset tasks that can help them create the application of their choice. This can include enabling them to run automated tests when the need arises. Additionally, users can create custom tasks that will run automatically and allow users to focus their attention on the areas that most demand their focus.
  • Security. TFS is designed with the security of a user’s DevOps in mind. It enables an organization to restrict user permissions so that only developers that are meant to have access to particular parts of the development process can perform tasks related to those sections. It segments the development process to reduce the possibility of sensitive data being stolen.
  • Enables product rollbacks. TFS keeps copies of past versions of the organization’s application. Users can sift through the different versions that are available and can redeploy the version that best fits their needs should it ever become necessary to do so.

Visual Studio TFS Features

  • Source code management. TFS comes with all of the tools that developers need to completely manage their source code. They can share their code so that multiple developers can work on the same project. Additionally, TFS enables them to do things like review the history of a particular piece of source code.

  • Project management. Organizations can leverage the wealth of project management features that TFS offers and ensure that their projects run as smoothly as possible. Project managers are able to use TFS to control every aspect of their project, from the planning stage until the application’s development has reached its conclusion.
  • Reporting. TFS enables users to generate reports that leverage critical metrics and provide them with important insights into the applications that they are creating. These comprehensive reports can be secured so that only users with the proper level of clearance can access them.

Reviews from Real Users

TFS is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its source code management capabilities and its powerful integration suite.

Carl B., the vice president of engineering at Vertex Downhole Ltd, writes, “The most valuable features are related to source code management. Using TFS for source code management and being able to branch and have multiple developers work on the same projects is valuable. We can also branch and merge code back together.”

Ashish K., the principal consultant at Wipro, says, “I have found almost all of the features valuable because it integrates well with your Microsoft products. If a client is using the entire Microsoft platform, then TFS would be definitely preferable. It integrates with the digital studio development environment as well.”

TFS was previously known as Team Foundation Server.

TFS Customers

Vendex KBB IT Services, Info Support, Fujitsu Consulting, TCSC, Airways New Zealand, HP

TFS Video

TFS Pricing Advice

What users are saying about TFS pricing:
  • "I believe we pay on a yearly basis. I don't know the current costs of them. We outsource all that to a third party. Each of the developers gets a Microsoft Visual Studio Azure DevOps license, which gives them access to the TFS server as well. We probably pay on average about 1,800 Canadian Dollars a year for every developer, but that covers a lot more than just TFS."
  • "Microsoft products are always expensive. Obviously, they are quality products, but it would be helpful if there was a reduction in price. But compared to other vendors, I think the cost is high."
  • "I was working with the engineering team, and that was not under my umbrella. From what I can remember, its license was yearly. They had the licenses on a per-user basis, and they included MTM."
  • "On a scale where ten is the highest and one is the cheapest, I rate the solution's licensing cost at one on a scale of one to ten."
  • "I would like to see TFS improve its web interface as there are some limitations with IDs and the integration behind it and with open source tools like VS Code."
  • "TFS is not cheap."
  • "We pay for the license yearly."
  • TFS Reviews

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    CarlBrown - PeerSpot reviewer
    Vice President Engineering at Vertex Downhole Ltd
    Real User
    Top 10
    It is helpful for scheduled releases and enforcing rules, but it should be better at merging changes for multiple developers and retaining the historical information
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable features are related to source code management. Using TFS for source code management and being able to branch and have multiple developers work on the same projects is valuable. We can also branch and merge code back together."
    • "They have room for improvement in merging the source code changes for multiple developers across files. It is very good at highlighting the changes that the source code automatically does not know how to handle, but it's not very good at reporting the ones that it did automatically. There are times when we have source code that gets merged, and we lose the changes that we expected to happen. It can get a little confusing at times. They can just do a little bit better on the merging of changes for multiple developers."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use TFS for all of our source code. We develop a software suite with about eight different applications that work together, and then we also do firmware development. We use it for our firmware development source code repository.

    It is deployed on a private server. We've gone all the way from version 2012 up to 2017, and we will be doing the 2019 upgrade very soon.

    How has it helped my organization?

    An example would be that now we have scheduled releases. We have scheduled builds that happen every Thursday that get rolled out to our development testers. In the past, before TFS, the developers themselves used to initiate that, and it was done randomly. So, being on a schedule is much better. 

    It basically enforces our rules. Because everything is more controlled, source code cannot be checked in unless it builds correctly. It basically forces the developers to adapt to the agile methodology that we use, which is small chunks of work at a time. 

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable features are related to source code management. Using TFS for source code management and being able to branch and have multiple developers work on the same projects is valuable. We can also branch and merge code back together. 

    Another valuable feature is our continuous integration because we do continuous builds. So, continuous building with the build server is also very important.

    What needs improvement?

    They have room for improvement in merging the source code changes for multiple developers across files. It is very good at highlighting the changes that the source code automatically does not know how to handle, but it's not very good at reporting the ones that it did automatically. There are times when we have source code that gets merged, and we lose the changes that we expected to happen. It can get a little confusing at times. They can just do a little bit better on the merging of changes for multiple developers.

    When you restructure your source code, the historical information doesn't directly come across. It doesn't link when you move those source folders around. I would like to see that ability. The whole source code control system should show you the history of all the changes you made to a bunch of files. If we take a folder with a bunch of files and move it from one place to another, the history is gone. It just doesn't bring over the history of everything that was moved. That has prevented us from restructuring some of our source code to suit the larger number of developers that we have. I haven't called Microsoft to see if there is help that they can give me on this because on the web and on their sites, I can clearly see that that is just the way it is, and we're not doing something wrong. So, that is something for which I would really like to have the ability.

    I can't recall the versions, but when I upgraded from one version to another, it didn't retain history as well because they made some fundamental changes. It might have been from 2012 to 2015. I upgraded and moved it to a new server, and it lost the historical information. We needed the old stuff running so that we could access the historical data. So, the upgrade path wasn't that easy. I don't know if that's the case anymore. When we go to 2019, we'll be finding that out.

    Buyer's Guide
    TFS
    May 2023
    Learn what your peers think about TFS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2023.
    708,243 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We've been using TFS for 10 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It has been extremely stable. We don't have any issues with it. It works. Performance is good. All the features that we turned on are working exactly as we expected.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    So far, so good. We've had one external developer consultant that had to come in and access it as well, and that went well. I don't have any gauge about how it would be for a team of 50 developers. The hardware we're running on it right now probably wouldn't be enough, but I don't feel that it wouldn't be able to scale to a larger number of developers. From a security model perspective and from a functionality perspective, it seems to have all the features to be scalable. I just don't know about the performance. That's all.

    Currently, there are five of us who work with this solution. We have one project manager and four developers. We have one firmware developer who does not work in the Visual Studio environment. This firmware developer works in a microchip MPLAB X environment. All other developers work in the Visual Studio development world. So, it's more integrated, but both roles work. The same people also take care of its maintenance.

    From a source code management perspective, it is being used very extensively. From a build server perspective, it is used extensively. We don't do release management with it, and we don't have integrated automated testing turned on in it as well. Those are two fairly large areas of functionality that we don't use currently. We may in the future, but we're not using them right now. We're using about 60% of the functionality.

    How are customer service and support?

    From a technical support perspective, we've used the Microsoft website to get answers to our questions. It has been very good that way. I would rate it a five out of five in that aspect.

    We haven't had to call a person or open up a case. We've been able to do our own self-support through the knowledge base that they supply. There are a lot of users of this product. So, a lot of the typical problems that people experience are out there, and it's easy to find them.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    In different roles that I've had with different companies, I've used CVS, which is a different source code system. It's on the Linux system. It's not on Microsoft Windows. I've also used TortoiseSVN. I find TFS much easier because it's fully integrated into our solution.

    In the previous world, I wasn't the decision-maker about which one to use. I came into projects that already had those in place, and they were not developing on the Microsoft platform. I understand why they didn't use the Microsoft platform in that case. In our world, we're developing software that runs mostly on the Microsoft platform, so it made sense to do that. Originally, when I used other packages, I was working as a consultant. I was working at different places, and I was using whatever the decision-makers used at those places as their source code control systems. When we started this company and I was the decision-maker, I used the Microsoft TFS platform.

    How was the initial setup?

    It's relatively straightforward for a developer. On the initial setup, I'd probably rate it a four out of five. 

    It took us about three days to get everything set up correctly, but we complicated our environment as time went on. We started off with one developer, then up to two, then to three, and then to four. So, as we increased our number of developers on the team, we changed the complexity of how it was deployed. It wasn't all done in one shot. It was done over a period of time. If we had to set it up from scratch today, it would probably take us about three or four days to map it out and do it correctly.

    The more developers you have, the more complicated the setup has to be because you need to set up permissions and you need to set up roles and responsibilities. If it was just one team doing the same thing, it would be no different for one developer or five developers, but because we have different areas of expertise that we work in, we were trying to protect certain code bases from one developer from another. So, it just becomes more complicated. It's really just a security permissions thing that makes it complicated.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did it all ourselves. We haven't outsourced. We have a company that we deal with that maintains our servers for us, but they don't have any TFS experience. We coordinated these changes through them, but we dictated the changes. So, they didn't provide us with any expertise.

    What was our ROI?

    We develop software for the oil and gas world. Our software runs right on drilling rigs and downhole and also on tools that we put downhole. When there are problems, we need to fix things quickly. It is critical. We're tens of thousands of dollars an hour at a rig, so we do need to make a quick fix. We now have release management and the ability to do small, hotfixes, and things like that to help customers. Definitely, time is money. It allows us to go back in time very easily to a known configuration in our worlds. We can go back with our source and pull out the code and compare and diagnose any problems that are occurring. It helps to rule out and diagnose problems quickly and way more efficiently in real-time. We remove the uncertainties of what software is and where and what has changed. It really helps us there. It helps us respond to our customers' needs in a much faster fashion and saves our customers' money in a way.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I believe we pay on a yearly basis. I don't know the current costs of them. We outsource all that to a third party. Each of the developers gets a Microsoft Visual Studio Azure DevOps license, which gives them access to the TFS server as well. We probably pay on average about 1,800 Canadian Dollars a year for every developer, but that covers a lot more than just TFS.

    The cost isn't prohibitive. We use a lot of different software in our company. We use a lot of engineering software. If I compare the cost of our developer team software to some of our other solutions, such as our CAD package SolidWorks or our PCB design software Altium, we pay orders of magnitude less for TFS than we do for those other packages. Microsoft's licensing terms are also much better. They're good. I would rate them a four out of five in terms of pricing.

    The only additional cost that you have is that you need to run it on a server, and you need a Windows Server software license. If you didn't have that to start with, you'd have to purchase it, but we already had that for other services within the company, such as file services, print services, etc. Other than that, there are not really any costs.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I'm always evaluating different things. The original Microsoft product, which was Visual SourceSafe, was something with which we had done some work in the past. TFS was the next release of that. I thought Visual SourceSafe had some shortcomings. I evaluated the difference between TFS and Visual SourceSafe and decided it was the right way to go. 

    I've used Git as well, which is now becoming fully integrated with TFS. So, I evaluated that. I like a lot of the features of Git because of the user community that uses it. The open-source community highly integrates with it. TFS is now integrated with that as well, so I've had no reason to switch entirely off the TFS system.

    Git is really a source code control system. The pro is that there is a very large component of open-source software that is supplied through the Git interface. A lot of developers of open-source applications expose access to their source code through Git, whereas Microsoft TFS is not like that. They don't do that. Microsoft TFS is more for internal. Microsoft TFS now supports Git, and it will use Git even as its underlying source code control system. So, TFS does integrate with Git directly now, and all the benefits of Git are now in TFS.

    What other advice do I have?

    The only advice I would give is to design the security model and the developer model assuming that you have a larger team of developers than what you have when you start. You should set it up originally for multiple users to be working on the projects rather than having to change your methodology partway through.

    We made some decisions on how we structured our source code and how we structured our team projects, and I would not have done that if I had known that the developers would be working on it in the fashion that we do now. Your configuration for ten developers would work with one developer too, but the configuration for one developer doesn't always work for ten developers. So, set it up for ten assuming that you're going to be doing that.

    I would rate it a seven out of ten because of the issues with the upgrade path, restructuring folders, and things like that. If you don't configure it right to start with, it's a little bit difficult to change. That's the only reason that I'm not giving it a nine. If I have to make the same decision again, I absolutely would buy it again. It does what it was advertised to do, and it's not causing us any harm. It's doing its job, and it does it well. There are just a few things around the upgrade and around the restructuring of source code that could be improved. That's all.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Ashish-Kamat - PeerSpot reviewer
    Principal Consultant at Wipro
    Real User
    Top 10
    Lifecycle management tool that allows you to track the health of your project for the entire lifecycle of software development
    Pros and Cons
    • "I have found almost all of the features valuable because it integrates well with your Microsoft products. If a client is using the entire Microsoft platform, then TFS would be definitely preferable. It integrates with the digital studio development environment as well."
    • "Overall, I think it would be useful to have something similar where Microsoft comes up with supporting concepts of scaling Agile in TFS so that clients don't have to look for a separate tool."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use this solution mostly for our clients. It's a lifecycle management tool. We use it for the entire lifecycle of software development. Then we deliver it, and use it for production support. Basically, you can always use it for your requirements, as well as to track the health of your project.

    What is most valuable?

    I have found almost all of the features valuable because it integrates well with your Microsoft products. If a client is using the entire Microsoft platform, then TFS would be definitely preferable. It integrates with the digital studio development environment as well. So, almost all the features for TFS are useful.

    The good thing is, unlike other products, you get a complete suite of features. Many of the other vendors don't have an entire suite of features available. If you take Jira for example, the requirements might be captured in a different tool. Or maybe there are other features in the lifecycle development environment and different tools might be used, but TFS offers a consolidated package. You don't have to go to other tools to capture your requirements, or maybe even if you're doing build and release planning.

    What needs improvement?

    Nowadays, the shift is from Waterfall to Agile, so many vendors have come up with their own products. For example, Jira has many built-in features which support the PI planning. Overall, I think it would be useful to have something similar where Microsoft comes up with supporting concepts of scaling Agile in TFS so that clients don't have to look for a separate tool. That would be helpful.

    With the latest version, I'm not too aware of whether Microsoft has implemented the PI planning features, the collaboration features, in TFS or not. But I think that would be one of the features that might be helpful to the development teams and for the overall planning.

    There have also been some security glitches with this solution.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've used this solution for more than 10 years. I've been working on Microsoft technologies only, and my team members have also been working on TFS for a long time.

    The last time I used TFS was in 2020. After that, I moved out of delivery into consulting. I was using the last version before they moved to the cloud version, Azure DevOps.

    Earlier, we were using it majorly on-premises. Later on when Microsoft introduced Azure DevOps, then we moved onto the cloud.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It is stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It's absolutely scalable. If you are planning for a high availability environment, then you can definitely have a backup environment as well. Then if something goes wrong with your primary server, there is always a backup available, which you can always use.

    How are customer service and support?

    The support and documentation available on their website are very good.

    I would rate them between 4 and 5 on a scale of 1 to 5.

    How was the initial setup?

    I would give the initial setup a four out of five. It's not very complex. Microsoft provides all the documentation and guidance to do the setup, and even has videos available. The guidance is very good.

    The length of deployment is on a case-by-case basis. Some of the clients may have a complex environment, some may not. So it depends on what kind of supporting tools are available on the client's premises. TFS is not that complex to set up, unless the environment design is very complex.

    Most of the clients have their own support teams for incident management. So, it depends on each of the individual clients. They have the budget, and they will have an entire team to support your TFS and management.

    What was our ROI?

    It's worth the money. I've been using Microsoft products right from the start of my career, and I'm a big fan of Microsoft products. Many people don't like them because they work on different platforms. But the good thing about Microsoft products is that they're interlinked. For example, even if I'm a developer, the underlying development language is always going to be the same, irrespective of whether I use Dynamics 365 or ASP. The underlying programming language is always common. So, the rates are comparatively less than shifting from one Microsoft product to another, or implementing the suite of Microsoft products. The learning curve is always comparatively less.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Microsoft products are always expensive. Obviously, they are quality products, but it would be helpful if there was a reduction in price. But compared to other vendors, I think the cost is high.

    I've been doing the budgeting for clients, and I find that the costing part — when we are going for new environments or we are ordering new servers — definitely plays a big part.

    I would rate it between a 2 and 3 out of 5.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.

    I'd give it that rating because there are security glitches, but otherwise, from a usability standpoint and from the operational perspective, I think the products are really good.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud

    If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

    Microsoft Azure
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    TFS
    May 2023
    Learn what your peers think about TFS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2023.
    708,243 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    TitleSpecial Education Teacher at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
    Real User
    Good traceability for managing workflows, but not flexible enough for agile environments
    Pros and Cons
    • "The traceability is valuable. While managing the workflows, it was always nice to have that traceability from requirements and all the way through design. It integrates with Microsoft Test Manager, and you can have everything that is related to a requirement attached to it."
    • "It has been really dated. When you start to work more in an agile environment, it is not really that flexible. They tried to replicate the look and feel of Jira, but it is not quite there. It was nice to use in the past, but it is not as flexible now with the changing development environments and methodologies."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it for software development, but we are moving to Jira.

    How has it helped my organization?

    We work with life science companies, and they need traceability. Because we have the capability of being able to provide the traceability that they require, it helps us with laying out what they need for their validation efforts.

    What is most valuable?

    The traceability is valuable. While managing the workflows, it was always nice to have that traceability from requirements and all the way through design. It integrates with Microsoft Test Manager (MTM), and you can have everything that is related to a requirement attached to it.

    What needs improvement?

    It has been really dated. When you start to work more in an agile environment, it is not really that flexible. They tried to replicate the look and feel of Jira, but it is not quite there. It was nice to use in the past, but it is not as flexible now with the changing development environments and methodologies.

    It should have some of the things that Jira has, such as boards. We're focused on the scrum boards where you can actually drag and drop work from one queue to another. There should be more flexibility where you can just drag and drop as a user and have more visibility about what's active, what's not, and what's assigned to you through dashboards.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for almost 14 years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    It was quite stable. We did not have a lot of issues over all those years. So, it definitely was a reliable solution for a long period of time. It just was not flexible when we started moving to a more agile model.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It was able to scale to meet our needs. It also allowed us to do our customization. I'm not sure if that ended up being a good thing, but it did allow us to do what we wanted it to do.

    We have about 150 users, and they're developers, FQA, software quality engineers, business analysts, user experience team members, and architects. For its deployment and maintenance, in general, there are four or five people. They are from the DevOps team.

    We don't plan to expand its usage. We're transitioning to Jira.

    How are customer service and support?

    Their support was good. We had the support we needed for both TFS and Microsoft Test Manager.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We were not using any different solution. This company has been working with TFS for as long as I can remember. We're now transitioning to Jira.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was fairly complex, but some of it was due to us. We did more configuration and customization, and because we customized the system, it made it more complicated.

    In terms of duration, some of our previous upgrades took several days. Most of that was the actual deployment, but the preparation took several weeks.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did use an integrator once or twice. Our experience with them was good. It was easier because we didn't have to worry about a lot of things. They took the burden of the effort, and we just had to give them information.

    What was our ROI?

    We haven't quantified that. In general, there has been a great time saving because with what we've done around validation artifacts, we've been able to build it right into the system. So, we can automatically generate it at the end of a release. Earlier, it would've taken us six weeks to put together a validation package. With what we've set up in TFS, it would take us a week at the max.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I was working with the engineering team, and that was not under my umbrella. From what I can remember, its license was yearly. They had the licenses on a per-user basis, and they included MTM.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    I'm not really sure what they did. It was already in place when I joined the company.

    What other advice do I have?

    I would advise Microsoft to update the tool. If a lot of users are starting to move to Jira because of the agile environment, Microsoft might want to adapt a little faster and provide similar or better functionality. It has been reliable for a very long time, and I've been really happy with it, but you've got to be able to change with the methodologies and the environments.

    I would rate it a six out of 10 because it hasn't changed enough. I would've given it a much higher rating years ago, but because of the lack of evolution and not being able to adapt to the current business needs, its rating is not higher at this point.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Project Manager at Duck Creek Technologies
    Real User
    Top 10
    One-stop solution that is useful, and makes things easier to manage, but the burndown charts are problematic
    Pros and Cons
    • "Basically, the capacity to construct various products is something I find handy."
    • "I'm looking for specific options that aren't currently available, such as active status, new status, or what's currently in progress."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use TFS for project management.

    What is most valuable?

    Basically, the capacity to construct various products is something I find handy. For example, I could write a user story and then add some tasks to it, as well as subtasks and test cases.

    Everything can be linked together, making it easy for us to track down and document hours for each and every task, whether it's a task, above, or anything else.

    Everything is interconnected. As a result, tracking and viewing the bulletin board dashboard and burndown charts, among other things, is much easier.

    It's a one-stop solution that is useful and makes it easier to handle.

    What needs improvement?

    The overall ability in the Agile process has some room to improve, even though it is interconnected. When I worked on Jira, it had the capability of better linkage.

    When it comes to project management, we are having trouble with burndown charts, which we can't seem to display. As a result, we have created new tasks and realigning our process. Rather than creating larger tasks, we are creating subtasks such as development tasks, QA tasks, and deployment tasks.

    An area of improvement is when there is a login for a specific user story present, it should display automatically. This is an area that where we are having difficulty and struggling in.

    The scalability can be improved.

    Linkage and task management are two areas that we are having difficulties with. It could be more like Jira, which has a number of different plugins. In addition, I feel that the status should include additional options. For example, they offer fewer options for a specific task user story or bugs.

    I'm looking for specific options that aren't currently available, such as active status, new status, or what's currently in progress. I would like to see an in-progress capability where you can mark it active, but you can also write that it is in progress. When I look at the dashboard, there is nothing there to show me what has been done or why it is active or not.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    My company has been using TFS since it started. It may be more than 10 years. I joined the company a year ago.

    We have been using it through the cloud during COVID and working from home. We can connect to it from any network.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    There have been some lags in the past, and we have also encountered some latency when setting it up on the laptop. You may have some problems at first, but as soon as you connect to the internet and update your product, everything becomes stable.

    Within our organization, for example, we use Microsoft Teams for communication, chats, and for calls. We had some issues with it being unreliable and not fully airing the sound over the laptop speakers and mic. I discovered that as soon as we updated the product, the stability was restored. There was a problem with Teams, which they fixed and updated.

    Initial difficulties are to be expected, but things are constantly improving.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It can be scaled to some extent. The main issue is that, unlike Jira or any other tool, the burndown chart is not displayed.

    How are customer service and support?

    I have never used technical support because I've never been in a situation where it has gone down and I needed to contact them, but I believe that because Microsoft is a reputable organization with adequate technical support right now.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I have also worked with Jira.

    I come from a QA background, and we used to do automation. Jira was far easier to integrate with our QA automation frameworks because it has a large number of exposed APIs and public APIs that we could use, which is a positive development. Also, the burndown charts, as well as the ability to manage different Agile model frameworks, where we could use scrum in one project but also had to use Kanban. As a result, the transition from one framework to another was simple. These are the things I found useful but haven't seen in the case of TFS yet.

    How was the initial setup?

    Initially, TFS was a bit complicated. Now that it's Azure DevOps the initial setup is much easier.

    It's a one-stop shop for building code repository, and a version control system within TFS or Azure DevOps, as TFS has been renamed.

    What other advice do I have?

    I am a project manager.

    I would rate TFS a seven out of ten

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
    PeerSpot user
    Muhammad Qasim - PeerSpot reviewer
    Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
    Real User
    Top 10
    An extremely robust solution that is completely free of any performance-related issues
    Pros and Cons
    • "Since it is a robust solution, I face no performance issues. Also, considering how well the implementation process of the solution was carried out, we never faced any issues while using the solution."
    • "As an end-user, I expect the solution's performance to be faster while staying as stable as possible."

    What is our primary use case?

    TFS is used for version control. So, other software can integrate with TFS. The tool is also used for documentation and STLC.

    What is most valuable?

    Since it is a robust solution, I face no performance issues. Also, considering how well the implementation process of the solution was carried out, we never faced any issues while using the solution.

    What needs improvement?

    As an end-user, I expect the solution's performance to be faster while staying as stable as possible.

    To be frank, we never considered the need for additional features in the solution. I don't have any specific suggestions for what could be added since the tool is already very streamlined. It is a stable tool without any issues; everybody in my company is happy with the solution. We follow a streamlined process at work with a specific set of steps from point A to point Z in a thorough manner. If there was something tedious, time-consuming, or repetitive in the solution, I could have spoken about what additional features I wanted to see.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using TFS for a year. Also, I don't remember the version of the solution. I am just an end-user of the solution.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Since it is a very stable product, there is no chance of our company planning to replace it with some other product. The most that my company would do is they might consider shifting from TFS Version Control to Git TFS.

    As I work in a bank, TFS ensures the solution is always available, making it a stable tool. I have never faced any stability issues while using the solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is a scalable solution since TFS offers users a very good system, hardware, and efficient people to implement their tool. It is a very scalable software. Also, the scalability of software depends upon its hardware, and they provide very robust hardware.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup and implementation process of the solution was something that was done years ago in my company. Since I joined the company recently, I won't be in a position to comment on the implementation process.

    We have an entire floor of people who provide technical support for deploying and maintaining the solution in our company.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I believe that my company has opted for volume licensing provided by TFS. So, it is not just one or two licenses my company has since my company trusts products from Microsoft. Though I am unsure, I think that if you purchase one of Microsoft's products, they offer you some of their other products for free. As per my knowledge, Microsoft products are cheaper than other products in the market. On a scale where ten is the highest and one is the cheapest, I rate the solution's licensing cost at one on a scale of one to ten.

    What other advice do I have?

    Since in our company, we are already trained to use the solution, and so we never face any issues or problems while using the solution. The pre-existing features in the solution are more than enough to meet our needs.

    The solution has a user-friendly interface. The solution already allows for more integrations with other solutions. Also, there is a separate team that works on the solution. The solution protects the systems in my organization. When it comes to the products offered to customers by TFS, they are constantly evolving since it has been in the market for twenty years. Also, we keep getting updates for the solution every second or third day.

    I have a laptop, and if I start the solution on that laptop after two weeks or three weeks, I won't be able to connect. I need to take it to my technical support team. They will install some updates, and then I will be able to use my laptop. So, from this, one can figure out how much the solution has invested in their system. So, it is very rare that the solution faces any issues, and if any issues crop up in the solution, they have a very robust system of dealing with such problems. They have a good IT team that quickly resolves any issues. So, people are working to improve the system day by day. Every day, there is an evolution in their products. Some teams are working on production issues because of the new features implemented in the tool. Also, they are monitoring it continuously.

    I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    PeerSpot user
    Senior Soft Engineer at SECP
    Real User
    Top 10
    Keeps code secure while working in a team
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature of TFS is that it keeps the code secure while working collaboratively in a team of four or five individuals."
    • "I would like to see TFS improve its web interface as there are some limitations with IDs and the integration behind it and with open-source tools like VS Code."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use TFS for volume control, source checking, and source control.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of TFS is that it keeps the code secure while working collaboratively in a team of four or five individuals.

    We have different teams working on different solutions using different technology sets. At the backend, it has good source control. We work with Microsoft technology stack, open source stack, as well as IBM stack. We have different teams working on the backend with TFS as our source control.

    What needs improvement?

    I would like to see TFS improve its web interface as there are some limitations with IDs and the integration behind it and with open-source tools like VS Code.

    As a version control, we have found some inconsistencies related to updates from previous versions. If you set up the Git repository, and you want to change it back to TFS, it is a bit confusing now in the latest update. We were hung up when two repositories were intermingled together. We were confused about why the Git project was not converting to TFS. I believe Microsoft is supporting the Git repositories. 

    The TFS TFVC is not user-friendly because, for Git repositories that you have already created to use the TFS repositories, you need to go back into the ID to Video Studio when the TFS repository comes up by default.

    Using the web interface, by default you get the Git repository. For a team that is not familiar with this and is not using the ID as a video studio or VS, code management gets difficult. Even with VS Code as an open source ID, TFS at the backend as a repository is difficult and integration is complex.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using TFS on a daily basis for five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    So far, I have found TFS to be stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is scalable, however, we do not need to scale because we do not have many people on each team. The administration part requires three or four people, and for development teams, we have about 15 team members who actively use VS Code.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup of TFS is really just a click. It is basic and not complex.

    What about the implementation team?

    We deployed the solution in-house.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Our organization has an enterprise license with TFS.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We explored other sources before. We also used some open-source tools.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are considering trying another solution as we don't find TFS assistance or community help when compared to Git.

    TFS is a good solution once you get comfortable using it. If you are coming from TFS 2013 or TFS 2015, you are going to find the 2019 version different. I understand that TFS is moving towards the cloud, so all the features are designed with this in mind. In the 2019 version, you will see more DevOps-related tools and automated app tools.

    The solution is easy and complex at the same time. If you are familiar with pipelines, you will find it interesting. You need a technical team to provide help and assistance to get the whole value from 2000 DevOps TFVC. If you are not actually fully exploring the feature set or using them, it is just another source control like any other open-source control.

    If you gain experience with the iron value sets with TFVC DevOps, the whole project management will be smooth and stable. Releases will come out but all the hiccups between the teams, such as the development teams, QA teams, and deployment teams will smooth out. 

    I would rate this solution an eight out of ten overall.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    VenkateshK4 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Digital Transformation Specialist at Technovert
    Real User
    Top 5
    Very user-friendly and worth its money
    Pros and Cons
    • "TFS is very user-friendly."
    • "TFS should allow more integration with different platforms."

    What is our primary use case?

    With respect to all the Microsoft Stack development, we use TFS as a repository and source version control system.

    What is most valuable?

    TFS is very user-friendly. It is easy to use and has a smaller learning curve.

    What needs improvement?

    TFS should allow more integration with different platforms.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using TFS for the past four to five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    TFS is a stable and robust solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    TFS is a scalable solution.

    How are customer service and support?

    I have never used Microsoft’s technical support.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We used SSMS and Visual Studio before, but then we switched to TFS because it is a native product of Microsoft.

    How was the initial setup?

    The setup was straightforward. It took only five to ten minutes to deploy.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did it in-house. TFS is user-friendly. So we do not require much help to deploy. An administrator can implement it.

    What was our ROI?

    TFS is worth its money.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    TFS is not cheap. We pay for monthly licensing at the enterprise level.

    What other advice do I have?

    I use the 2022 version of TFS. Currently, we are integrating GitHub with Visual Studio. It is a better combination when compared to TFS. So our organization is leveraging it. I haven’t faced any issues with TFS’s performance. GitHub can be used on many different platforms. That is why we shifted from TFS to GitHub for version control.

    For data integration projects, to deploy the integration solution, we need to prepare the files based on the specifications. Then it is deployed into the production or any other environment we want to deploy.

    My organization has been using TFS for a long time now. From the time I joined the organization, I have been using TFS. Now we use GitHub because Microsoft has acquired GitHub. If required, we can also add more developers to TFS. I’m not a part of the purchasing department, so I do not know the exact price of TFS. I would rate TFS a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    PeerSpot user
    Process Manager at a marketing services firm with 501-1,000 employees
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    A stable, scalable and easily installable enterprise wide solution
    Pros and Cons
    • "I feel that the test plan and test tools are more manageable in TFS."
    • "The execution of test cases could stand improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    As the solution is cloud-based, we always use the latest version. 

    We use it comprehensively for client career management. We can use it to read test cases and link cases. Everything is done in TFS.

    What is most valuable?

    I feel that the test plan and test tools are more manageable in TFS.

    What needs improvement?

    In the TFS tool, we, essentially, made the test cases and test tools. The execution of test cases could stand improvement. They have provided many ways to manage the execution, but they can streamline it to one or two ways. People do not wish to try all the alternative methods.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using TFS for three years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    When it comes to stability, the entire process is good.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I have no issues with the scalability. It is fine. 

    How are customer service and technical support?

    I have do not recall occasion to contact TFS technical support. 

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I cannot state for certain if we were previously using a different solution, as I would have to know to which year you refer. Again, we have been using TFS for three years. 

    How was the initial setup?

    Installation is totally fine. I have no issues with it. I do not recall how long it took. 

    What about the implementation team?

    Installation can be done with the help of the technical team. We are talking about the same team, consisting of around four people and a single manager. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We pay for the license yearly.

    What other advice do I have?

    They're slowly migrating the solution to DevOps at the moment.

    I would recommend the solution to others. 

    I suggest that those looking for enterprise wide solutions can go with TFS whereas, if they are short on team members, they can try the alternative. Smaller teams can try Jira, as well. 

    I rate TFS as a seven to eight out of ten.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free TFS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: May 2023
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free TFS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.