Do you plan tasks with Azure DevOps / Boards (Server or Service, formerly TFS) or are you using agile methods in your project environment? In that case, DevOps integration with your project management system (e.g., MS Project, Project Online, Planisware, Jira, SharePoint, etc.) makes sense.
Thanks to the Azure Boards integration with your project and portfolio management (PPM) system, you will always keep track of all deadlines, resources, and other important information on both sides. This increases your productivity, as all participants work with the tool that is best for their purposes. Everyone has access to the same information, and thus coordination becomes easier. The ability to make quick decisions increases considerably.
For over 25 years, TPG PSLink has been a proven middleware product for data exchange between different enterprise systems. It also supports a bidirectional integration with Azure DevOps / Boards (Server or Service). The product’s high configurability ensures that this middleware product is implemented very quickly. TPG PSLink enables several business cases outlined below.
Advantages of DevOps Integration with Project Online / PPM Systems
Through project planning in the PPM tool, the projects are structured. By integrating DevOps for example with Project Online, a structure can be created in DevOps from the PPM tool: e.g., the summary tasks become features and the subtasks become requirements. The project manager can decide individually which tasks to create in the Azure Boards.
The work packages of projects repeatedly involve the same to-dos. The team member must work through these again and again. In many cases, they must be created manually. Standardized to-do lists / checklists are a way of simplifying these repeated processes.
A SharePoint list is the suitable solution to this scenario. It includes the contents of the to-dos to be completed on the Azure DevOps side. The contents are also easy to update in case anything changes. The DevOps integration with SharePoint ensures reliable data exchange.
There are no limitations for setting up the checklists. TPG PSLink ensures this, as it permits the free assignment of SharePoint fields in the integration.
Once the stakeholders have created their individual work items in DevOps, the execution of those items begins. To convey a status to the project manager both in TFS and in the PPM tool, various attributes are maintained. These include:
Through integration with TPG PSLink, this data is transferred from Azure Boards to for instance Project Online as a PPM tool in a meaningfully aggregated form. This results in an up-to-date and lean project plan, as you avoid transferring all details from DevOps. This is a huge benefit for project managers, as their planning remains lean and concise.
The data synchronization by means of Azure DevOps integration occurs via the publicly available REST API. The latter makes the object model of the Azure DevOps available for the integration with other systems. The API consists of documented and quality assured web services, which Microsoft offers in many products.
TPG PSLink® ensures the consistency of the data shared across the systems involved.
Compatibility:
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