Re: Stakeholder access
Scrum Guidance
Stakeholder access
crowleym
01-16-2009, 11:01
Should stake holders add to the product backlog, or is this the job of the product owner.
Question is what role/access should I set up in TFS for stakeholders if they are to add to the porduct backlog.
From what I can tell you can either write to all workitems, or just have read access. There is no way to limit write access to the product backlog only.
Re: Stakeholder access
DancesWithBamboo
01-29-2009, 2:27
I know this wasn't your question, but don't forget that each stakeholder will need a CAL to be licensed to use TFS. This might effect your desire to let them in if cost is an issue.
Re: Stakeholder access
Stuart Preston
02-09-2009, 6:51
Just to add that from a technical perspective you are correct, if you grant the Stakeholder "Contributor" access then he/she will have write access to all work items for that Team Project.
Re: Stakeholder access
Simon Bennett
02-25-2009, 11:05
From a Scrum perspective, the rule is "anybody can contribute to the Product Backlog but only the Product Owner may prioritise them" -
In practice however it's usually easier for the product owner to be in control of adding backlog items, as the backlog items have to be meaningful to the PO adding them. Having stakeholders add items can cause confusion, if you do have stakeholder adding items, put them under a separate iteration path release or other container marked "candidates", and then the PO can review the work added (without it affecting the burndown for the current release)
Typically PBI's are usually "too low a level" for Stakeholders to deal with, let alone create.
Our forthcoming Backlog Manager tool will greatly ease PO/Stakeholder communication and will focus this discussion around "features" and releases, rather than "stories" and "sprints"
Kind Regards,
Simon
Senior Practice Consultant (Lean & Agile)
EMC Consulting
Re: Stakeholder access
mvandillen
06-29-2009, 8:51
Hi Simon,
A Backlog Manager tool is something really welcome here. In the meantime I am trying to setup an alternative.
I am investigating the possibilities of giving stakeholders access to TFS to submit PBI's. The candidates container you talk about, what type of container do you mean? I currently have a separate TFS project setup with no source control, just to collect requirements. What I can't figure out is how to limit the options and visibility in this project. I created a separate security group with selected domain users to control authorization, which works fine.
What I would like to do is to limit the number of projects visible in the Project dropdown on the upper left of the Scrum for Team System template website for all users concerned. I know a logged on user can select visible projects but I was wondering how the list on the Selected Projects screen is controlled. For some reason different users accross TFS see different projects there.
Also, I would like to limit the number of PBI types in the New Work Item drop down. Is this possible?
Regards,
M van Dillen
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