Microsoft Business Case: Developers at ADAM Software attain faster results with Visual Studio Team System

Michael Vanhoutte, Sr. Architect ADAM Software Microsoft published a case about the use of Microsoft Team Foundation Server at Adam Software. We've been using this product for several years now, but a little over a year ago Pieter Gheysens from Compuware (now from Sparkles) helped us to improve the way in which we use Team System. Because of this, we have been able to significantly improve the reliability of our build processes.

Pieter Gheysens is currently the only MVP Team System in Belgium. He has a blog on http://intovsts.net which specifically covers Team System.

download this business case in PDF format

Since mid 2008, the developers at ADAM Software have been working with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008. Efficiency has greatly improved as a consequence, allowing them to react more swiftly to acute problems and produce new product versions faster. They no longer have to devote much time to manual, routine tasks and can therefore devote their time to the real development work. Customers also enjoy a better product and a better service, while ADAM Software can fulfil the requirements of strict SLAs – an important benefit with large brand customers such as Lego, Warner Bros and Philips.

ADAM Software is an important worldwide supplier of Digital Asset Management (DAM) software. The latter guides the management, conversion and distribution of cross-media files and processes. Customers can use it to manage their image databases, generate product catalogues or process full cycles of marketing material. Interaction with customers and the potential customization of the software is carried out via a network of local partners. ADAM Software itself devotes itself entirely to improving the technology.

Switching between product versions
“We often have to switch from one product version to another because we also continue to provide support for our customers on older versions of the software. In the past, that switching used to be extremely cumbersome,” tells Michael Vanhoutte, Senior Software Architect at ADAM Software. “It was therefore essential to be able to work more efficiently on the different versions.”

In addition, ADAM Software also wanted both its development teams – one for the framework and one for the user applications – to work with the same development environment and tools. That was not the case in the past, which had a negative impact on collaboration and maintenance. The organization therefore decided to install new software to better support the developers in their work: Microsoft Visual Studio Team System. “This software was our first choice from the very beginning. The only thing lacking was the expertise and time to achieve an optimal integration of the technology amongst our teams,” explains Michael Vanhoutte. “After a thorough screening of the market, we ended up at Compuware. They already had experience with similar projects and are also a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, which was an added bonus for us.”

Automatic generation of installation packages
In the first phase, ADAM Software presented its requirements to Compuware. “We then advised them with regard to the product configuration and the way in which they could best use the software,” says the .NET Team Lead at Compuware Belgium. “By mid 2008 we had installed a central development environment for both development teams. The project was completed in a couple of weeks. The development environment is now optimized for advanced version management and makes it easy to work on multiple product versions simultaneously. Moreover, the Team Foundation Server automatically generates installation packages based on the entered source code.”

These installation packages serve firstly to extensively test the ADAM software and ultimately form the basis for the package that is supplied to the customer. “In the past, there was a lot of manual work involved in these processes,” says Michael Vanhoutte. “It used to take us a whole day to produce an installation package. Now it just takes one hour. We have even automated a number of tests which also saves a considerable amount of time.”

Better customer support and shorter development cycles
Switching between product versions is now also a lot faster than before. “We used to lose a lot of time in setting up specific, older environments. That is now done in a matter of seconds,” says Michael Vanhoutte. “As a result, we are in a better position to meet our SLAs for product support. That is extremely important given that we work for large, demanding customers. Also for our partners – who are often in the firing line when problems arise, our more efficient working methods imply a massive improvement.”

Now that the developers at ADAM Software spend less time on manual processes, they can devote more of their energies to development work. The support provided by Visual Studio Team System therefore has a marked impact on the quality of the end result. At the same time, everything is a lot faster. “In the past, it took us two to five days to get from the source code to an installation-ready package. Now all we need is a day,” explains Michael Vanhoutte. “On top of that, the Team Foundation Server’s standard reports enable us to closely monitor where we are in the development process.”

Simpler, cheaper maintenance
Seeing as both development teams no longer work in separate development environments, maintenance has become simpler and cheaper. Moreover, there is now an exchange of knowledge possible between the teams regarding use of the software. “The developers are happy because they have less repetitive work. We can therefore do more with the same number of developers.”

ADAM Software can now easily maintain the development environment itself, without the intervention of Compuware, who also provided a user manual. “We have been put on the right track, so we now know very well how to work with Visual Studio Team System. And we have achieved our goal: we work faster and with greater professionalism and are able to serve our customers better. As a small player in a growing sector, it is essential that we be alert and work efficiently in order to be successful,” concludes Michael Vanhoutte.

More information

For more information about the above-mentioned Microsoft products and services, call +32 (0)2 704 30 00 or visit www.microsoft.be/cases. You will also find a list of companies who use similar applications.

For more information about Compuware, call +32 (0)2 715 99 00 or visit www.compuware.be.

For more information about ADAM Software, visit www.ADAMsoftware.net

Software & Services

Servers

Developer Tools

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Development Edition

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server

Windows

Desktop Applications

Business Solutions

Microsoft Services

Microsoft Technologies

Microsoft Security

Partner

Compuware

download this business case in PDF format

	Enter the download center. Forgot your password?