Implementing Requirement Itemization in TFS: Process and Best Practices

The author, from the Agricultural Bank R&D Center Project Management Office, introduces the widespread adoption of TFS in the center, highlighting its capability to manage the full lifecycle from requirement itemization to code implementation, testing, automated builds, and deployment.

Requirement itemization is presented as a fundamental basis for R&D process management, and the article proceeds to reveal the details of this practice.

Following the principle "Without rules, nothing can be achieved," the article describes the structured workflow of TFS information entry, emphasizing that the standardization of data directly impacts the effectiveness of automated reporting tools.

Three types of work items are outlined:

1. Project work items – created and maintained by process administrators after task decomposition, serving as the top‑level classification nodes; mandatory fields are highlighted in red.

2. Module work items – created and maintained by the project team to categorize functional modules; required fields are also highlighted.

3. Function work items – created and maintained by the project team for detailed functional breakdown; the "7" marker indicates demand batch and change order numbers, which must be filled in consistently.

The article provides examples of how to fill in demand batch numbers (e.g., "Batch 1", "Batch 2", …) and change order numbers (e.g., "BGX000000479 added", "BGX000000479 modified"), explaining that change numbers come from ITA and should be marked with add/modify/delete attributes in TFS.

Overall, the piece serves as a practical guide for ensuring disciplined, standardized requirement entry within TFS to support the bank's agile and DevOps initiatives.