When working with multiple TFS projects, do I need a parent Team Project to rule over them?

Question

We are using Team System 2010 and trying to adopt Scrum by using the template "Scrum for Team System". In TFS, we have many team projects that span across the single development team. To simplify, I'll explain it like this: We have 2 Team Projects that are web sites. We have 5 more Team Projects are 5 web control libraries used in those 2 web sites. As 1 Development Team, we have 1 Scrum master and 1 Product Owner over those 7 different Team Projects.

Anyone else in this configuration?

How do I bring all this work together? We need to manage releases over all those projects. Our Sprint planning meeting will deal with all those projects, so at the end of meeting, we'll have post-it notes (Product Backlog Items) that could deal with just a web site project or a control library that needs to be implemented in either of the sites.

Do I need to create another Team Project just to create work item artifacts and generate my reports (Burndown chart, etc)?

Answer 1

You can't have hierarchy between Team Project, this feature doesn't exist and there's a reason for that.

You made a mistake that everybody make the first time using TFS: too many Team Projects. Lot of people do unconsciously one Team Project per Visual Studio Solution. If you have a development team that works on a family of applications/products that share the same release cycle (or close one) then use just one Team Project.

The only advantage you have using many Team Project is a different process template can be used for each and you can upgrade your Work Item Type (WIT) definitions independently (this advantage by the way most of the time a living hell because you have to keep in sync the WIT across all Team Projects). Otherwise you only have inconvenient (more WIT definition, more WIQ, more branches, more reports, more administration).

To implement a notion of hierarchy (whatever the hierarchy you want), you have to rely on the Area Path of the Work Items. Then your queries and reports will be able to be scoped at will.

By the way, any reason for you to not use the Microsoft's Scrum Process Template ?