Item: Jira Software
Rating: 8
Author: Lisandro Fernigrini

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Jira was implemented to track all Product development, customizations, and customer production support tasks in the Argentina solution center. Product development teams keep track of user stories, development tasks, and test cases, while product support attending customers keeps track of bugs or product enhancements, using a single tool that also integrates with other internal/legacy tools.

Pros and Cons

Very customizable, workflows can be defined based on company definitions.
Improves communication and access to information. It is easy to understand each item's status, priority, and responsible person.
Allows us to prioritize tasks and estimate delivery dates.

May have too many options for small and simple projects, making it a little hard to use for starter users.
It is more expensive that other options.
Help does not cover all options.

Most Important Features

Integration with other tools (Confluence, etc.).
Ability to customize and configure workflows and rules.
Easy filtering options.
Adaptable to most frequent used agile methodologies.

Return on Investment

Unified development and support tasks in a single tool.
Collaboration between teams.
Quicker response times and better visibility of tasks status.

Alternatives Considered

Trello and Rally Software (formerly CA Agile Central)

I personally use Trello to keep track of personal stuff and used it as a task management tool for very small development teams/projects, but Jira is a million miles ahead of it regarding a number of options and customizations. I also used Rally on a previous company and although it is a quite complete tool I think Jira offers more options, mostly regarding customizations.

Key Insights

Do you think Jira Software delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Jira Software's feature set?

Yes

Did Jira Software live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Jira Software go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Jira Software again?

Yes

Other Software Used

DbVisualizer, Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Integration Services

Likelihood to Recommend

It is great to manage a software center or big development teams. It includes all options that are usually needed to manage the product development cycle and it has many customization/configuration options that allow it to adapt to your organization's processes. It is a little too complex for small teams and the effort to customize it may be too much compared with other less complete but still acceptable solutions.

Users and Roles

200 - All Engineering and Management Team members use the tool, from Senior Management (use dashboard to analyze project status), Product Managers (define and prioritize development tasks), and development team members (Software Architects, Software Developers, and Testers) to develop and test features, track and solve defects and request and develop product enhancements.

Business Processes Supported

Manage workload
Prioritize tasks and resource assignment.
Reduce delivery time.

Likelihood to Renew

Without taking into account pricing (I do not know the details but it is more expensive than other options) the product allows us to design, develop and deliver software products in a simpler, more integrated, and visible way. Information and status about tasks, enhancements, and bugs are easily available for all members of the organization.

Usability

The software is quite easy to use once you get used to it. Some effort is required to configure and customize options and workflows, but once everything is set up as desired and you get used to the tool it delivers what is expected.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Convenient Feel confident using	Requires technical support

Easy Tasks

Advanced search
Stories creation

Difficult Tasks

Time tracking
Attaching big files

Mobile Interface Availability and Impressions

Yes, but I don't use it

Complete and Highly Customizable Product Lifecycle Management Suite

Overall Satisfaction with Jira Software