No single method or process optimally applies to all projects. Yet, the need for guidance exists. To compound this challenge, few technology efforts are either "pure" software development or infrastructure efforts. Accordingly, MSF was assembled to be an adaptable and scalable framework. It was thought that a framework would better enable an organization to adapt this information easily into a methodology that fits its needs—not change an organization to fit a methodology. The trade-off of this decision is that the resultant guidance is sometimes less prescriptive than what people generally expect. Microsoft recognizes this, too, and built a new suite of products to enable a project team to pick as much MSF prescriptive guidance as they need.

New with version 4, Microsoft provides prescriptive instances of MSF through its Microsoft Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) product line. As shown in Figure 1-2, Microsoft currently offers two application development approaches (e.g., MSF for Agile Software Development and MSF for CMMI Process Improvement). Other instances in the application development family and in other domains such as infrastructure deployment are planned. Note that an organization is also able to define its own MSF-based instances.

Figure 1-2. MSF family tree

Figure 1-3 offers an alternate view of the MSF family. As shown, MSF v4 Core encompasses and extends MSFv3. Each domain (e.g., application development and infrastructure deployment) incorporates parts of MSF that are applicable to that domain. Each instance of MSF might also incorporate domain-specific guidance that exists outside of MSF.

Figure 1-3. Relationship of MSF content