Targetprocess v.3.13.0: Portfolio Epics, Team Iteration-Feature and Release-Team Iteration relations, other improvements

Portfolio Epics

With 3.13.0 we've introduced  an additional level to the work hierarchy named Portfolio Epics. This is a new entity type above an Epic in a Project.

It’s supposed to be used for portfolio level planning and would be split into Epics and Features.

Portfolio Epics are very similar to Epics. You can assign several Teams, customize States and Fields, create Metrics, etc.

Taking into account that such a work item's implementation occurs over several Releases or Project increments, Portfolio Epics do not support Release/Iterations/Team Iterations planning.

Also there is no history tracked for Portfolio Epics yet, but it’s being implemented and will be released soon.

To enable Portfolio Epics, you will need to go to the Settings of the required process and find a new option in practices list.

Team Iteration - Feature Relation

From now, a Feature can be linked to a Team Iteration in the same way a User Story, Bug, or Test Plan Run can. It’s possible to set Team Iteration for Features either manually or to calculate as the Team Iteration of the latest User Story in the Feature. So you can plan Features by Team Iteration then build views with Features cards and Team Iterations as an axis, etc.

Release - Team Iteration Relation

We’ve added a relationship between Team Iterations and Releases. A Team Iteration may be linked to any Release which is linked to the same Projects as work assigned to the Team Iteration. It’s also possible to use Team Iterations without linking them to Releases as before. Please do not use this new feature of Team Iterations along with standard Iterations as they are also linked to Releases.

Planning Work with Dependencies

Now it is much easier to plan work items, that have interdependencies into Team Iterations, Iterations, and Releases. Targetprocess will help you to identify any planning problems while in a board view. The relation lines of "blocker" and "dependency" types will be highlighted in case of planning issues.

Let say, we have 2 teams: back end team "Aurora", and front end team "Elektra". A new feature involves some User Stories for the back end team and some for the front end team. Front end team "Elektra" is blocked by team "Aurora", since they can start only when back end work is finished. We can add a "dependency" type relation between these dependent work items in Targetprocess. If we plan work by Team Iterations, the system helps us to identify if the sequential logic of planning these dependencies is broken. If team "Aurora" plans User Stories later then team "Elektra" - system will show this planning issue.

Generate Team Iterations for all the Teams assigned to Project(s) that Participate in a Release

If you work with SAFe and need to create a sequence of Team Iterations for all the Teams that plan their work together, or you just want to create a bunch of Team Iterations for all the Teams in a Project, it could be a nightmare to add 20, 50, or even more Team Iterations at a time.
A new capability has been added in Targetprocess that extends the default Global/Quick add functionality.

If you need this extension, please contact Targetprocess support team, and we will replace the default Release quick add form with extended one.

To add a Release with cadenced Team Iterations for all the Teams you need:

• Click to add a Release entity
• Add the Name
• Select the start day of a Release (it will be the start date of the first Team Iteration as well)
• Select Project/Projects, which have assigned Teams, that need sequences of Team Iterations. Add the number of Team Iterations for each Team
• Add each Team Iteration duration

The system will calculate Release end date automatically and will create a sequence of Team Iterations that go one after another for every Team in the selected Projects.

Grouped Team Iterations Column Header

As you know, Targetprocess provides the possibility to group the Team Iteration axis for convenience. Now we made one step forward and replaced the long list of Team Iterations names in the header into 1, but useful. The start and end dates will be displayed in such a case. If you want to jump to some particular Team Iteration or Team view just click on the header and then on the necessary link.

Default Process Terms in DSL Filters

We have added support of a default process terms in DSL filters. It’s possible to use default process terms in card and axis filters in view settings, lookups, etc. This feature is disabled by default, please contact our support team if you would like to enable it.

Fixed Bugs:

• Quick add a Project to a board cell or list row will now provide the terms from all Processes not only default
• Fixed unstable custom terms on a view
• Custom field values in assignable entities will no longer be reset when Process for the parent Project is changed
• Fixed broken Iteration selection popup for Bugs and User Stories in IE11
• Project's Term will be available in quick adds if there are no Projects created for this Process
• No new boards mashup will now hide all possibilities to create new views
• SSH key in PUTTY format will be supported in Git plugin
• It will be possible to add time through a timesheet if the Time entity has system checkbox custom field
• Non-admin User will now see cross-project Release if he is not the member of the first Project the Release was added to