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Atlassian JIRA has significantly improved our work intake and request tracking processes
Updated April 08, 2015

Atlassian JIRA has significantly improved our work intake and request tracking processes

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

6.1.6

Modules Used

  • Agile (formerly GreenHopper)

Overall Satisfaction with Atlassian JIRA

Our organization uses JIRA for work intake and tracking across multiple departments. It was initially implemented by our Software Development department to manage day-to-day support requests and bug fixes. However, it was so successful that nearly every other department has set up their own project(s) and developed new processes for managing their work intake, centered around JIRA. When used in conjunction with JIRA Agile (it used to be called GreenHopper), JIRA is a fantastic tool for identifying bottlenecks in the process. We use it for work intake, prioritization, tracking, and ultimately as a record of work completion.
  • Excellent for use as a repository for work requests
  • Allows easy prioritization of work requests
  • Can be highly customized to match your processes
  • The administrator tools can be difficult to understand - there is a pretty steep learning curve if you want to start customizing
  • I wish you could attach a screenshot during issue creation - I don't know why it's available once the issue is created, but not as part of creation
  • Dramatically improved visibility into work queues across multiple departments
  • Streamlined work hand off processes - e.g. software development can hand off code to quality assurance, who uses JIRA to track bugs, and can watch the progress of those bugs right in the tool
  • I use both a hosted instance (for internal work tracking) and the cloud service (for work tracking with outside vendors) and both are fantastic
  • Asana,Basecamp,Zendesk
JIRA is simply the most robust and customizable product I've worked with. If you're a casual user, the interface is pretty simple and straight forward. If you're an administrator, there is definitely a learning curve, but there's also ample documentation available. In addition, Atlassian's forum has many active, highly knowledgable users, and I've never failed to have a question answered. It may take time to learn all the ins and outs around the configuration options, but once you do, JIRA becomes a very powerful tool.
If you're looking for a work intake and management tool, JIRA is by far my preferred tool. I've used Asana and Basecamp, and while both have their uses and strengths, I find JIRA to be the most flexible and robust tool out there. If all you're tracking is to-dos, JIRA might be more than you need. However, if your work management processes have multiple steps, or require a lot of information to be collected, JIRA is perfect for your needs.

Using Atlassian JIRA

Software Development, Quality Assurance, Business Analysis, Project Management, Customer Support, Client Consultants, and Sales Support departments all use JIRA on a regular basis. We also set up a JIRA project to manage Performance Reviews, so HR can see who has completed their reviews and who hasn't. Additional departments use JIRA on an ad-hoc basis.
For the most part, JIRA support consists of administrator functions related to configuration. This includes creating projects, building workflows, setting up screens (with specific fields on each screen), etc. This requires some analytic skills, but little to no technical skills. However, if you have a locally hosted JIRA instance (as we do), you'll also need someone with server knowledge to set the program up, and to assist in regular upgrades.
  • Managing day-to-day software development support requests
  • Tracking work with outside vendors
  • Managing configuration or support requests from sales staff
  • We use JIRA to track annual and mid-year performance reviews - every employee is a "ticket" and every ticket is assigned to the appropriate manager, who has to track their progress towards writing a review, reviewing it with the employee, and delivering a signed and finalized review to HR
  • Many departments use JIRA to track internal work, so that everyone on their team knows the current status of any particular issue
  • We already use JIRA to track almost all of our work. I imagine that if additional departments are created, or new, novel projects are begun, JIRA will continue to be the go-to repository for work tracking
JIRA is highly integrated into our organization. Nearly every department uses it, and many have multiple JIRA projects set up to track different types of work. We rolled out JIRA in a staged manner, but it continued to be adopted by more and more people and departments because it continues to show results. I expect we will continue to renew our JIRA license for years to come.

Jira Implementation

  • Implemented in-house
Change management was a big part of the implementation and was well-handled

Using Jira