With the release of TFS 2015, we have also updated the process templates. All of these changes were done to:

• Add support for SAFe
• Add an additional portfolio level called “Epic”
• Respond to user feedback

Many of you have requested a list of the improvements that we have made to the process templates, so here we go.

Template changes

1. In TFS 2015, the system templates are locked and cannot be changed. That change allowed us to overwrite the templates we ship, and with that we were able to rename the templates to Scrum, Agile and CMMI.
2. Update description of scrum template to: This template is for teams who follow the Scrum framework.

Workflow changes

1. Add the New state to the Agile bug
2. Add missing transition to all non-system work items to support any-to-any transitions with some exceptions
3. Remove the hours from the Agile task, Agile bug and Scrum bug when it is moved to Done
4. Remove the Required rules on remaining work from the Scrum Task to avoid an error when the Task is moved back from Done to In Progress

Field changes

1. Add the Priority field to Epic, Feature, PBI, Requirement, User Story and Bug (to support Kanban swimlanes)
2. Add the StateChangeDate to all non-system work item types (was missing on PBI and Scrum bug)
3. Add the ID to the all work item forms
4. Add Effort to the Epic and Feature
5. Add Storyboard tab to Epic and Feature
6. Add Acceptance Criteria tab to Agile User Story
7. Add Business Value to Scrum bug
8. Add Epic portfolio level
9. Add Epic WI category
10. Add Epic WIT
11. Add Requirement Type field to Epic, Feature and User Story / PBI
12. Add Time Criticality field to Epic and Feature WIT

To learn more how to add these elements to your team projects, please visit the customization pages on MSDN. You can also find more examples how to update your team project in this blog post.

Process Inheritance

I want to close with the good news that this is the last time that we have to tell you what has changed in the Process Template. In July we have announced our new model which enables Process Inheritance. With Process Inheritance, you will receive any changes that we make to the System Processes automatically!