Workflow

Regardless of whether or not you need custom Work Item types and link roles (but especially if you do), review the workflow customization capabilities for Work Items, Documents and Test Runs. The Project Templates provided with the different products provide workflow configurations that are suitable for many projects and processes. If the predefined workflows in the project templates do not meet your needs, your administrator can configure the workflows for your project to support your process.

Workflow enables you to embed process knowledge in the project to ensure that everyone on the team complies with the process, even though they may not know all its details. Workflow makes process compliance seamless and painless. You can set up workflows to ensure that no steps are missed, that the steps progress in the correct order, and that the right things happen after steps in the process are completed. A good example is the workflow configured for the standard Requirements Project template provided with some products. Work Items of Requirement type go through a process or review and approval before they go into the implementation phases. After that phase, they automatically enter the testing phase. Workflow can be circular. For example, if a Requirement is not approved, it reverts back to an in progress state; or if a test discovers a defect, it reverts back to an unresolved state.