The challenges that affect application lifecycle management (ALM) are not new. But with closer integration between business and developers, the challenges are becoming more complex and the costs are higher. Flexibility and constant communication are paramount because during the course of a development project business requirements are bound to shift and the regulatory or compliance landscape may change.

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System is designed to streamline processes and improve collaboration, thereby increasing success rates and aiding both the business and development teams. Team System is available in four editions and a Team Suite. Let's explore the editions and components to see how each one can help streamline the ALM cycle in your organization.

Team Foundation Server
Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server is, at its heart, a collaboration platform created to meet the needs of developers. It features a team portal to improve collaboration among team members. The version control component manages changes to project artifacts. A team build feature can be used to regularly integrate the work of various team members. Customizable process templates are available to help you define your development process.

On the business side, Team Foundation Server features reporting and business intelligence to help monitor project status, performance, and quality metrics. Project management can be done in familiar office productivity applications thanks to integration with Microsoft Excel and Office Project.

Test Edition
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Test Edition is a comprehensive suite of tools to help test Web applications and services built in the Visual Studio environment. Test Edition can create, execute, and manage tests and related work items from within Visual Studio.

Web testing tools are included for Web services, HTTP, XML, and ASP.NET applications. Load testing helps developers simulate production loads so they can diagnose performance issues in a pre-production environment. Test Edition also helps developers track code testing with a code coverage component. Defect and test list management are also integrated in Test Edition.

Architecture Edition
Team System 2008 Architecture Edition focuses on the design and validation of distributed systems. Architects, operations managers, and developers can use Architecture Edition to visually construct service-oriented solutions and validate them against the operational environment before deployment.

The included Application Designer is used to visually define service-oriented applications and generate code. System Designer composes applications into systems or subsystems that can be reused, and it validates the resulting configurations. It's important for developers to find and resolve issues before deploying applications, and two components of Team System Architecture Edition will help. Deployment Designer is used to validate application designs against the target datacenter and recognize issue before the deployment stage. The Logical Datacenter Designer can visualize the logical structure of datacenters, specify the operational policies, and validate applications before deployment.

Database Edition
Team System 2008 Database Edition helps database developers and administrators increase productivity and quality when creating database applications. It features Schema Compare and Data Compare to keep schema versions and the data in two databases synchronized.

Offline database projects allow developers and DBAs to isolate changes. A data generator can define sets of repeatable test data, and Database Edition's designer enables users to create T-SQL with the same fidelity as managed code.

Database Edition includes Team System 2008 Development Edition.

Development Edition
Team System 2008 Development Edition is an advanced set of tools that developers can use to identify inefficient, insecure, or poor-quality code, as well as to specify best practices for coding and automated software unit testing. By creating high-quality code and cutting down on security issues, the development lifecycle will work more smoothly.

Code quality is improved with Development Edition's static code analysis and new code metrics. Code profiler measures performance and identifies performance bottlenecks. Unit testing with code coverage allows developers to test code early and often and measure the efficacy of their tests.

Team Suite
Team System 2008 Team Suite has the tools for every role and discipline involved in the development process. Comprised of all four client editions profiled above, Team Suite is a completely customizable ALM solution.

Team Foundation Server Workgroup Edition provides the underlying server that provides the source code control, work item tracking, and bug management features developers need to create a smooth development environment.

Users with a premier MSDN subscription get priority access to tools, updates, and technical assistance. More than 200 Visual Studio Industry Partners offer tools, processes, and platforms to enhance the Team Suite experience.

Regardless of the size of your development organization and the types of projects you're creating, Microsoft Visual Studio Team System has the tools to help streamline the process and make for a smooth launch. It can also help bridge the gap between business stakeholders and development teams by allowing communication and collaboration between the teams and giving business users insight into the development process they lack in many instances.