The strongest articles on engineering excellence and technical leadership — ranked by substance, not recency. How this is ranked
Engineering as a Leadership System: Moving Beyond Frameworks
Delivery outcomes are shaped less by frameworks and practices than by the operating model leaders have designed. How an organisation's …
Why Most Companies Operating Models Fail in Dynamic Markets
A concise comparison of Predictive and Adaptive Operating Models, explaining why traditional structures fail in dynamic markets and how …
Telling People What to Do Is Not Leadership. It’s a Failure of System Design
Explores why real leadership means designing systems that enable team autonomy, flow, and accountability, rather than relying on …
AI Agents Lie About Being Done
My agent reported every task complete when half the tests were missing. Call that a lie if you like. The engineering problem is that the …
Don’t Manage Dependencies, Remove Them
Explains why dependencies are a sign of poor system design and outlines steps to eliminate them by aligning teams, clarifying ownership, and …
The Estimation Trap: How Tracking Accuracy Undermines Trust, Flow, and Value in Software Delivery
Tracking estimation accuracy in software delivery leads to mistrust, fear, and distorted behaviours. Focus on customer value, flow, and …
Is Agile Really Just a Mindset?
Explores Agile as a disciplined system of delivery, emphasizing engineering excellence, CI/CD, observability, and system design over mindset …
Stop Building Silos. Start Building Systems
Explains how fragmented automation and tool silos harm software delivery, and advocates for unified engineering systems and platform …
How to Build for Business Resilience and Continuity
Learn key strategies for building business resilience and continuity, including observability, system decoupling, routine deployments, team …
889 resources, newest first
Creating a backup in Team Foundation Server 2010 using the Power Tools
Step-by-step guide to backing up Team Foundation Server 2010 with Power Tools, including required permissions, common errors, and …
Enabling Google Plus Profiles for Google Apps users in under 2 minutes
Step-by-step guide to quickly enable Google+ profiles for Google Apps users, including accessing admin settings and activating the service …
Scrum with Visual Studio 11 - Creating a new Team Project
Step-by-step guide to creating a new Scrum team project in Visual Studio 11 using a web browser, enabling quick and easy cloud-based project …
Scrum with Visual Studio 11: Creating a Scrum team identity
Learn how to set up Scrum teams in Visual Studio 11, organise work by team, and explore new features in the updated TFS and ALM user …
Process Template Upgrade #3 - Destroy all Work Items and Import new ones
Step-by-step guide to upgrading a process template in TFS by deleting all existing work items, archiving queries and reports, and importing …
Product Owners are not a myth
Explains the Product Owner role in Scrum, common challenges with proxies, and how support teams like Business Analysts can help manage large …
Allow user to change the region for Windows Live ID billing
Explains the challenges users face when unable to change the billing region for Windows Live ID, affecting access to Microsoft services …
Are Scrum Masters agents for change?
Explores the role of Scrum Masters in driving organisational change, effective Scrum adoption, and the importance of experience in leading …
Caffeinating Your Development Lifecycle in Bellevue on October 13th
Join an in-person morning event in Bellevue for live Visual Studio demos, Agile discussions, and practical ALM tips to boost your …
Scrum is hard to adopt and disruptive to your organisation
Explains why adopting Scrum is challenging and disruptive, highlighting the need for training, mentoring, and dedication for successful …
Not just happy, but ecstatic
A consultant reflects on a successful Microsoft Dynamics deployment, improved build automation, and positive client feedback, inspiring …
You are doing Scrum but the Scrum Master tells the team what to do!
Explains why Scrum Masters should not direct teams, emphasising self-organisation, shared responsibility, and the importance of team …
Testing with Test Professional 2010 and Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate
Learn how to use Microsoft Test Manager, Visual Studio 2010, and TFS for software testing, test management, bug tracking, and automated test …
Subversion to TFS 2010: The migration engine is unable to resolve a conflict where two changes have the same target item
Explains how to resolve case sensitivity conflicts when migrating from Subversion to TFS 2010, including tools and steps to handle duplicate …
Subversion to TFS 2010: Dealing with invalid Subversion SSL certificates and migrations
Explains how invalid Subversion SSL certificates can block SVN to TFS 2010 migrations, causing connection errors, and details steps to …
Coffee Talk: Introduction to Scrum - webcast event this Friday!
Learn the basics of Scrum, including its key roles and processes, with practical tips for adoption. Ideal for those new to agile or seeking …
Upgrading your Process Template in Team Foundation Server
Explains methods for upgrading process templates in Team Foundation Server, comparing pros and cons of each approach, and highlighting …
Coffee Talk: Scrum versus Kanban (re-match) ... Thursday at High Noon!
A recorded session comparing Scrum and Kanban, discussing their strengths, weaknesses, and how to adapt each method to fit different …
Coffee Talk: Scrum versus Kanban
Learn the key differences and similarities between Scrum and Kanban, and discover which agile framework best suits your software development …
Disqus & Chrome with non-support
Describes issues with Disqus comments not loading on WordPress blogs in Chrome, troubleshooting steps, and challenges with Disqus support …
Upgrading from TFS 2008 and WSS v3.0 with SfTSv2 to TFS 2010 and SF 2010 with SfTSv3
Step-by-step guide to upgrading TFS 2008 and WSS v3.0 with SfTSv2 to TFS 2010 and SharePoint 2010, including process template migration and …
Configuring a PowerShell Adapter for the TFS Integration Platform
Explains how to set up and configure a PowerShell adapter in the TFS Integration Platform to automate source control migrations, with custom …
Constructing a framework for the TFS Automation Platform
Outlines the structure and components of a framework for the TFS Automation Platform, detailing its architecture, plugin management, and …
A working Test Track Pro Adapter for the TFS Integration Platform
Describes building a working Test Track Pro Adapter for the TFS Integration Platform, detailing code changes, conflict handling, and …
Test Track Pro and the case of the missing data
Explains issues with Test Track Pro data queries in TFS Integration, highlighting problems with date filters causing missing records and …
What do you do with a Work Item History Not Found Conflict Type Details
Explains how missing or non-consecutive work item revision history during TFS migrations causes conflicts, and details troubleshooting steps …
Creating a WIT Adapter for the TFS Integration Platform for a source with no history
Explains how to build a TFS Integration Platform Work Item Tracking (WIT) adapter for a source system without history, covering versioning, …
Anatomy of an Automation for the Tfs Automation Platform
Explains how to build, install, configure, and run automations for TFS, covering plugin deployment, activation, settings, UI integration, …
How might we implement the Change Iteration Automation for the Tfs Automation Platform
Explains automating the update of WIQL queries during sprint or iteration changes in the TFS Automation Platform, covering UI, …
What about hosting the Tfs Automation Platform
Explores options for hosting the TFS Automation Platform, comparing server-side and client-only setups, and discusses impacts on …
What is the Tfs Automation Platform
A platform for automating Team Foundation Server tasks, enabling scheduled, event-driven, and on-demand workflows, with extensible package …
My first Scrum team in the wild
A real-world account of guiding a new Scrum team through their first sprint, covering estimation, story points, sprint planning, and …
Installing Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1
Step-by-step guide to downloading and installing Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1, including update requirements, download size, install …
Installing Visual Studio Team Foundation Server Service Pack 1
Step-by-step guide to installing Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 Service Pack 1, including troubleshooting tips for common …
Visual Studio ALM MVP of the Year 2011
Recognition for contributions to the Visual Studio ALM community, including sharing Team Foundation Server solutions, blogging, and …
Do you know how to move the Team Foundation Server cache
Learn how to safely move the Team Foundation Server cache to a new drive, update permissions, and configure web.config for better storage …
Should GeeksWithBlogs move to the Wordpress Platform?
Explores the benefits and challenges of migrating GeeksWithBlogs from SubText to WordPress, focusing on features, user needs, SEO, and …
Do you know about the Visual Studio 2010 Database Projects Guidance?
Guidance on using Visual Studio 2010 Database Projects, covering project management, source control, deployment automation, integration, and …
Can I run two versions of Microsoft Project side-by-side?
Running multiple Microsoft Project versions on one PC is possible but not recommended due to file association issues, compatibility …
How Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server enable Compliance
Explains how Visual Studio 2010 and Team Foundation Server support compliance by enabling traceability, audit trails, and linking code …
Do you know about the Visual Studio ALM Rangers Guidance?
Overview of official Visual Studio 2010 ALM Rangers guidance, including solutions, projects, and resources to help users get the most from …
Do you know about the Visual Studio 2010 Architecture Guidance?
Provides practical samples, checklists, and hands-on labs to help developers and architects use Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate’s architecture …
Do you want to be an ALM Consultant?
Role overview for an ALM Consultant at Northwest Cadence, focusing on software lifecycle management, training, consulting, and technical …
Project of Projects with team Foundation Server 2010
Guidance on structuring projects in Team Foundation Server 2010 using Areas, Iterations, source code organisation, work item queries, and …
Free training at Northwest Cadence
Learn about free online training sessions from Northwest Cadence, including interactive Coffee Talks on ALM, TFS 2010, and quality …
What to do after a servicing fails on TFS 2010
Guidance on troubleshooting failed servicing in TFS 2010, including schema version issues, recovery steps, and risks of database repair …
TFS 2010 Work Item Seed: TFS Work Item system.id at a predefined number
Explains how to use the TFS 2010 API to set the starting Work Item ID by programmatically creating and deleting items, avoiding ID conflicts …
TFS vs. Subversion fact check
Compares TFS and Subversion, addressing common misconceptions, feature differences, platform support, installation, cost, and challenges for …
Syncing many Dynamics AX instances to a single TFS 2010 Team Project
Explains how to configure multiple Dynamics AX instances to sync with a single TFS 2010 Team Project, streamlining source control and work …
Database corruption in TFS 2005 causes TF246017 during upgrade
Explains how database corruption in TFS 2005 can cause TF246017 errors during upgrade, and details using DBCC CHECKDB to diagnose and repair …