Info Support Trains CBS in Use of Team Foundation Server

To get and keep a grip on the entire software development process – from requirements to management – the process must be standardized and integrated. “A development street had to make this possible. Having different ‘source vaults’ was not efficient,” states Rouschop. With the choice of TFS, a first step had been taken. Because its implementation is a complex matter, Info Support was asked to provide a project leader and consultant to work with CBS employees to set up TFS. “Through the joint efforts, everything is now housed in one system and we have aligned our working methods, both for new construction and management, accordingly.”

In order to apply TFS fruitfully, a large number of people had to be trained. From the ICT department – with locations in Heerlen and The Hague – about 80 employees were involved. “In addition, project managers and product owners from the business were also included in the training program,” Rouschop says. “TFS also offers them various functionalities and benefits, for example viewing specifications.” In addition to capturing requirements, other central components are: release management, automatic daily builds, version control and test management.

“In other words,” says Rouschop, “TFS makes it possible to work in a standardized and integrated way. If you look at everything together like this, you could say that we might be on our way to continuous delivery. But here we are modest for now.” Although possible next steps have yet to be decided upon, Info Support advised management during a separate session on opportunities for further professionalization of software development at CBS. “Both management and employees are very enthusiastic. With the project now completed, we have laid a good foundation that we certainly want to build on,” Rouschop indicates.

In total, Info Support provided ten five-day training sessions. These were given to multidisciplinary groups consisting of developers, analysts, testers, architects, project leaders and product owners. Both project groups and administrator groups were trained. In the morning, the focus was always on theory; in the afternoon, participants went to work with what they had learned on their own workstations.

The trainer and consultant present answered all possible emerging questions. It was precisely the combination of theory and practice that Rouschop found very valuable: “The trainer and consultant had a good interaction that made the whole thing very strong. It was certainly not just a standard training course.”

CBS had deliberately chosen to train employees in multidisciplinary groups, as in teams, to initiate interaction between the various disciplines, “so that they would gain an understanding of each other’s capabilities and needs,” Rouschop said. “It’s been a tremendous amount of fun, with excellent results.”

Rouschop says that scheduling the five days of each training session into everyone’s schedule was difficult: “But there was definitely a ‘positive vibe.’ This was partly due to the afternoon sessions in the workplace. This allowed you to apply what you had learned in your own practical situation, at your own pace and with support. At the end of the training week, everyone had already gained the necessary experience in their own workplace and that is so much more pleasant than having to start at your workplace after the training.”

Rouschop is also very appreciative of the evaluation that took place after each training. Not so much the evaluation per se as the fact that the relevant outcomes were immediately implemented in the next training. “As a result, the training was constantly being developed, so to speak. But it was not the case that the tenth training no longer resembled the first, the program was too well put together for that.”