Whidbey RTM Tell Mode!

On Monday (6/20) the Platform teams (those teams shipping in the .NET Framework Redist) entered DevDiv Tell mode, I see this as a very exciting time of the product cycle! It is one where you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, while at the same time every decision/bug fix gets greater scrutiny as we approach shipping a great product with Whidbey RTM. Tell mode is the first of four stages at the end of the RTM milestone (below I have broken out each stage). Each stage has a higher triage/bug bar than the previous stage as well as increased process and QA coverage in an effort to prevent regressions.

Stage 1: DevDiv Tell Mode: At the division level we will run a daily DevDiv shiproom. Tell mode is going to be 4 – 6 weeks. The focus of tell mode will be in establishing the triage/bug bar, understanding team’s bug trajectory, and moving teams towards a single branch. During shiproom we will be using the triage/bug bar as a guide, which we will continue to refine as we progress through Tell/Ask mode. Some of the data we will discuss at DevDiv shiproom:

  • Examples of approved/rejected (including tough calls and/or border line bugs) bugs. The focus here centers on the customer scenario and the fix in order to help level set the triage bar for teams across the division.
  • Have there been any major regressions from previous milestone or from Everett?
  • Team’s trajectory
    • RTM Active bugs
    • Bug fix rate (how many bugs were approved for checkin today)
    • Incoming/resolved bug rates
    • Weekly step down goals
    • Bugs resolved but not yet closed

Stage 2: DevDiv Ask Mode: DevDiv shiproom will continue to meet daily. During Ask mode we will further define and apply an even higher bar for the bug fixes we take into Whidbey RTM. All checkins to Whidbey RTM must be approved by DevDiv shiproom.
Stage 3: DevDiv Endgame: This is where the bar is raised to recall class bugs only.
Stage 4: DevDiv Escrow: This is a period of bake time, there should not be any Whidbey work or QA planned during this period of time. To be exact, “we are done with the product” and QA has signed off on the release

As we reach Ask mode I will provide more details on how we are progressing and the focus for the other 3 stages.

Thanks!
-Mike