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reviewer933660 - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
a stable and scalable code repository
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is very much stable."
  • "The project management side should be addressed and the project and release planning should be somewhat extended."

What is our primary use case?

While I don't recall the exact version we are using, I do know that we upgraded to the latest one.

We use the solution for project planning, code repository and for releases, everything really. 

Primarily, we have used it as a code repository, something we have been doing for many years. We have not made much use of the other features. 

What needs improvement?

The project management side should be addressed and the project and release planning should be somewhat extended. The solution cannot be used as a project management tool on its own. 

Although clear, the installation is of medium difficulty. It could be better and easier. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using TFS for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very much stable. 

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TFS
March 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have encountered no issues with the solution's scalability. 

How are customer service and support?

I am not aware of ever having contacted technical support. 

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

TFS is the first solution of which we made use. 

How was the initial setup?

While clear, the installation is of medium difficulty. It could be better and easier.

I do not know how long it took. 

What about the implementation team?

Not too many people are needed for the deployment, perhaps four or five. They consist primarily of engineers and there is one manager. 

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

I am not in a position to comment on the licensing terms, as we are talking about an enterprise arrangement. I am not part of that.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Subsequent to TFS, we evaluated and tried making use of Jira and Azure DevOps. 

What other advice do I have?

There are around 250 people making use of the solution in our organization.

At this point, I would not recommend the solution to others. 

I rate the solution as at least an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
AmrEL Tahan - PeerSpot reviewer
Software QA Lead at Ajman Municipality
Real User
Top 5
High performance, useful bug reporting, and simple implementation process
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of TFS are bug reporting and its high performance."
  • "The overall reports in TFS could improve. Additionally, there should be an easier way to migrate from an older version to a newer one."

What is our primary use case?

We are using TFS for STLC

How has it helped my organization?

It improved SDLC & STLC 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of TFS are bug reporting and its high performance.

What needs improvement?

The overall reports in TFS could improve. Additionally, there should be an easier way to migrate from an older version to a newer one.

In a future release of TFS, they should be more integration and DevOps features added.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using TFS for approximately 15 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the stability of TFS a six out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of TFS is good.

We have approximately 50 people from our IT teams that are using the solution in my company.

I rate the scalability of TFS a six out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used the support from TFS.

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

I previously used Jira. I did not switch solutions, the new company I work for selected TFS.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of TFS took a couple of days to implement. The full process was simple.

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

There are different prices depending on the configurations. There is a free version available. There is no extra cost for the solution. However, the hardware could be something that needs to be considered.

What other advice do I have?

The maintenance of the solution can be done by one or two people.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate TFS an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
TFS
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about TFS. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
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Cristiano Cunha - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect & Test Advocate at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Integrates well and good support, but interface could improve
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of TFS is its compatibility with Microsoft Windows systems. We have predominantly Microsoft solutions and TFS work well."
  • "The user interface could improve and test management was not useful in TFS."

What is our primary use case?

We are using TFS for source control.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of TFS is its compatibility with Microsoft Windows systems. We have predominantly Microsoft solutions and TFS work well.

What needs improvement?

The user interface could improve and test management was not useful in TFS.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using TFS for approximately three years.

How are customer service and support?

The support from the vendor was good.

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

We switched from TFS and now we use Jira.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of TFS was complex.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation of the solution in-house using our own knowledge and we did some training courses in TFS.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated GitLab and Github for source control and Jira for ticketing handling. The newer versions of TFS are better but at the time we found Jira to be more user-friendly and TFS was more technical which is why we switched to Jira.

What other advice do I have?

The effectiveness of TFS depends on the specific use case. It's a suitable solution if the user primarily operates with Microsoft tools, such as Azure DevOps and others.

I rate TFS seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
MohammadHussain - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at a energy/utilities company with 51-200 employees
Real User
User-friendly test management and bug reporting
Pros and Cons
  • "TFS's best features include user-friendly test management, bug reporting, and ID assignment."
  • "TFS's CI/CD, project pipelines, and management development could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I use TFS to assign and manage projects.

What is most valuable?

TFS's best features include user-friendly test management, bug reporting, and ID assignment.

What needs improvement?

TFS's CI/CD, project pipelines, and management development could be improved. TFS is also an older product, so it's not making the advances that other products in the market are.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using TFS for seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

TFS is very stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

TFS is a very scalable product.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate TFS eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Head of IT Business Analysis at Kemin Industries, Inc.
Real User
Allows me to manage backlog items and collaborate with developers
Pros and Cons
  • "It's user friendly. We haven't had any issues so far. It's flexible. If we need something, we can always contact the owner in our headquarters to make a configuration."
  • "I only use 1% of the functionality, so I am not familiar enough to know what needs to be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I use this solution in my organization as a product owner who manages backlogs in DevOps. I manage the backlogs items and use it to collaborate with my developers.

There are less than 100 people using this solution in my company.

The solution is deployed on-cloud.

What is most valuable?

It's user friendly. We haven't had any issues so far. It's flexible. If we need something, we can always contact the owner in our headquarters to make a configuration.

What needs improvement?

I only use 1% of the functionality, so I am not familiar enough to know what needs to be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for a couple of years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Process Manager at a marketing services firm with 201-500 employees
Real User
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Product Owner at PerkinElmer, Inc.
Real User
Reliable, good performance, good reporting tools, and useful for managing all of your development tasks
Pros and Cons
  • "The work item feature is most valuable. It allows us to store all product requirements. We can also link the test cases to those requirements so that we know which feature has already been tested, and which one is waiting for testing. We can also couple the code reviews, unit tests, and automated tests into these requirements. It is reliable. It has all the features and good performance. It also has reporting tools or analysis tools."
  • "Currently, we are looking for a solution with which we can incorporate third-party development sites or third-party project teams into the system. Because it is on-premise, it is a bit problematic because we need to have a VPN or something else in the system. A cloud-based solution would be better for us, and that's what we are looking for. Our biggest problem is the external connection, which, of course, is limited by our own IT. It would be good to have some kind of publishing service for this external connection. It might be there, and it might be that our IT is making it impossible for us. Its template editor could be easier to use. Currently, customizing the project templates according to your needs requires some work."

What is our primary use case?

It is mainly for the work item handling, which is the documentation for the development projects. We also use it for requirement handling and then following a project's progress with tasks or issues.

How has it helped my organization?

It doesn't improve the way our organization functions, but it supports the way we work. Instead of having separate Excel or other work item lists, we can just utilize the work items provided by TFS for record-keeping and monitoring the progress.

What is most valuable?

The work item feature is most valuable. It allows us to store all product requirements. We can also link the test cases to those requirements so that we know which feature has already been tested, and which one is waiting for testing. We can also couple the code reviews, unit tests, and automated tests into these requirements.

It is reliable. It has all the features and good performance. It also has reporting tools or analysis tools. 

What needs improvement?

Currently, we are looking for a solution with which we can incorporate third-party development sites or third-party project teams into the system. Because it is on-premise, it is a bit problematic because we need to have a VPN or something else in the system. A cloud-based solution would be better for us, and that's what we are looking for. Our biggest problem is the external connection, which, of course, is limited by our own IT. It would be good to have some kind of publishing service for this external connection. It might be there, and it might be that our IT is making it impossible for us.

Its template editor could be easier to use. Currently, customizing the project templates according to your needs requires some work.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for 15 years. I have been using its latest version for a couple of years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is reliable.

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't actually used their support very much. I'm not really the one who is maintaining the system. 

You can find a lot of information by searching the web. There is also a community around it, and a lot of answers are available. Microsoft has its own support if needed.

How was the initial setup?

I haven't been so much involved in building up the TFS server, but I think it is rather simple. The installation is simple. There are so-called project templates that you might need to adjust according to your needs. These require some work. If you can use the default templates, then no work is needed. We have managed to adjust everything for what we needed. There were no problems that we couldn't overcome. Its template editor could be easier to use.

What about the implementation team?

It was done in-house. It is pretty easy to come up with an installer. There is nothing difficult there.

What other advice do I have?

The Team Foundation Server is now called Azure DevOps. We are using an old product. I would advise others to consider whether they need an on-premises or a cloud solution. The on-premises solution requires external developers. They can also look at the cloud option and see which product offering is better for their needs.

It is a nice system to have. You get a managed system where you can manage your development tasks easily, and you don't need to keep your own bookkeeping for tasks and backup items. They are already there in TFS. You can just use the system monthly and produce reports out of the system. For me, it was nice to see that such a tool exists.

I would rate TFS a nine out of ten. I'm pretty happy with it.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Reza Sadeghi - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Development Team Lead at asa com
Real User
Merging needs to be simplified, although it is open-source and has many good features
Pros and Cons
  • "What I like the most is that you can set permissions on just one folder."
  • "There are many things that I cannot do, and I have a lot of bugs."

What is our primary use case?

We are developers using the TFS for controlling, and for continuously developing our code.

What is most valuable?

I am not familiar with all of the features, as I only use it a bit for some of my projects. 

I am using the new kit because it is open source and has many good features.

What I like the most is that you can set permissions on just one folder.

For me, it was easy to use.

What needs improvement?

There are many things that I cannot do, and I have a lot of bugs. For example, if I want to merge two branches together, sometimes TFS will merge them automatically and I couldn't find the changes and had to check them myself.

That wasn't very good for me and I couldn't understand all of them and wasn't able to interact with them.

The merging could be simplified and improved.

I would like to see more features included for branching so that it copies your source code to the other branch, and have it in a separate folder.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have not had any issues with stability. It's a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable solution. We have 100 users in our organization.

How was the initial setup?

I found the initial setup straightforward and easy.

We have a team of four or five to maintain this solution.

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

We are using the open-source version.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. It's definitely a good product. If you are looking to set up custom privileges then it's a good option for you. It has several features. If you want to secure your code, TFS is a good choice, as it can do it easily.

I would rate TFS a five out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free TFS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free TFS Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.