Installing Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1

As has become customary when the product team releases a new patch, SP or version I like to document the install. This post seams almost redundant as I had no problems, but I think that is as valuable to other thinking of installing the Service Pack as all the problems that we sometimes get. As […]

Visual Studio ALM MVP of the Year 2011

For some reason this year some of my peers decided to vote for me as a contender for Visual Studio ALM MVP of the year. I am not sure what I did to deserve this, but a number of people have commented that I have a rather useful blog. I feel wholly unworthy to join […]

Do you know about the Visual Studio 2010 Database Projects Guidance?

Early on in the Team System (now Visual Studio ALM) cycle a new product surfaced within Team System that was affectionately called “Data Dude”, but had the more formal name of “Visual Studio 2005 Team Edition for Database Professionals”. The purpose of this product was to try and make the database a “first class citizen” […]

How Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server enable Compliance

One of the things that makes Team Foundation Server (TFS) the most powerful Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) platform is the traceability it provides to those that use it. This traceability is crucial to enable many companies to adhere to many of the Compliance regulations to which they are bound (e.g. CFR 21 Part 11 or […]

Do you know about the Visual Studio ALM Rangers Guidance?

I have been tasked with investigating the Guidance available around Visual Studio 2010 for one of our customers and it makes sense to make this available to everyone. The official guidance around Visual Studio 2010 has been created by the Visual Studio ALM Rangers and is a brew of a bunch of really clever guys […]

Do you know about the Visual Studio 2010 Architecture Guidance?

If you have not seen the Visual Studio 2010 Architectural Guidance from the Visual Studio ALM Rangers then you are missing out. I have been spelunking the TFS Guidance recently and I discovered the Visual Studio 2010 Architectural Guidance. This is not an in-depth look at the capabilities of the architectural tools that shipped with […]

Do you want to be an ALM Consultant?

Northwest Cadence is looking for our next great consultant! At Northwest Cadence, we have created a work environment that emphasizes excellence, integrity, and out-of-the-box thinking.  Our customers have high expectations (rightfully so) and we wouldn’t have it any other way!   Northwest Cadence has some of the most exciting customers I have ever worked with […]

Project of Projects with team Foundation Server 2010

It is pretty much accepted that you should use Areas instead of having many small Team Projects when you are using Team Foundation Server 2010. I have implemented this scenario many times and this is the current iteration of layout and considerations. Updated 2012-08-06 I have updated this as One Team Project for Visual Studio […]

Rangers shipped Visual Studio 2010 Database Guide

Have you ever struggled with the Database Developer (was DataDude) components of Visual Studio? Well I have…and now the ALM Rangers have released a new guide to help us all get the benefits. There is Guidance as well as Hands-On-Labs and even how to do WIX integration for deployment. The Visual Studio 2010 Database Guide […]

Commit to Visual Studio ALM on Area51

A few weeks ago I proposed a new community for StackExchange and it has been growing at an exponential rate. We are about half way there, but we need your help to make this community a success.   Update 16th August 2010 – The Proposal has now moved from Proposed to the Committed stage and […]