JIRA is Atlassian's tracking and project management system, recently released in version 6.0. We recommend teams and business that work with other tools, such as ClearQuest, Trac, FogBugz, Mantis, HP Quality Center or Bugzilla, to consider the alternatives, no matter how established an existing system might be. What does JIRA offer, that other tools don't?
Improve productivity and collaboration
When taking a closer look at the details, it becomes clear that many software manufacturer invest in features that improve sales, instead of realizing features that would actually improve the productivity of a business.
Faster product development is one of the main goals of most businesses. In reality, we now have to produce more with less. One way to achieve that is using tools that offer features which aim at productivity instead of sales.
Atlassian has the goal to save each user 15 minutes per day with JIRA and other products. When planning any major relase, product owner, software architects and developer ask, how additional features could improve productivity. Many JIRA features focus on core functions of the software, such as the opportunity to quickly filter and find issues, or the speed at which operations can be run. JIRA offers keyboard shorcuts for all important commands. Another example are features that avoid media breaks when switching tools.
Functions that improve communication and collaboration between users are limited in many classical issue trackers. A main goal of migrating to JIRA is to improve collaboration between project members across teams, departments and distributed locations.
Establish agile methods
After booming for ten years, agile methods are still increasing in businesses. Any doubts in agile could be proven wrong. This trend has resulted in a need for tools that support these processes. Atlassian has the goal to provide a tool, that allows saving and sharing of agile and project management data in one central electronic system. Many classical issue trackers are not equipped for the that and do not offer that flexibility in configuration.
Pilot teams that are evaluating JIRA should implement the plugin JIRA Agile, which expands existing projects by agile methods. Backlogs, sprints and issues can easily and comfortably be managed digitally. JIRA Agile also supports Kanban.
Complete the Application Lifecycle management process
Many systems offer tools for software and QS teams, but that is often the beginning and the end of development lifecycle support. In reality, in most businesses many more parties than these two are involved, such as product owner, manager, software architects, operations, accounting, and even customers that are integrated in product development.
In a business that wants to depict the complete application lifecycle management, the pilot team should demonstrate how JIRA supports both upstream systems (wikis, mockup tools, team rooms, CRM systems, mobile integration) as well as downstream processes (quellcode tests, continuous integration, peer reviews, etc.) as well as other Atlassian systems and third party tools or sub systems.
Simple expansion
It is not a secret, that expanding some systems can be so complex, that it is not always easy to find people in IT that are willing and able to do it. Alternative clients often don't offer standardization regarding the interface but they do have restrictions in their features. Businsesses that plan on expanding might want to evaluate in a pilot project, how easily JIRA can be expanded and configured with its web based architecture, well documented REST-API, custom fields and the integrated marketplace access for add-ons by Atlassian and third parties, which can be installed by one click.
Lower costs
Costs, especially total cost of ownership (TCO) is another major reason for a migration. Businesses that base decisions on TCO should consider JIRA licenses and costs and compare them to license and maintenance costs of other systems.
Atlassian products require considerably less resources than similar products, which is why businesses can take TCO based decisions in all areas: hardware, licenses, maintenance and administration costs.
PURCHASING LICENSES WITH //SEIBERT/MEDIA
//SEIBERT/MEDIA is one of the biggest Atlassian sales partners in the world. We cooperate closely with the software developer, and were elected Fastest Growing Partner of Atlassian in Europe in 2011. Our expertise regarding Atlassian products is emphasized by carrying the status of official Atlassian Platinum Expert, and thus being specialist for the complete Atlassian product portfolio. For further information about JIRA see JIRA: effectice and systematic task management. Sign up for a free 30 day trial of JIRA here.
JIRA Workshop Options
JIRA general information Establishing a professional JIRA software
JIRA - prices, costs, licenses, extension of support
Atlassian tools used for internal organization at //SEIBERT/MEDIA: Confluence, JIRA, HipChat
Tutorial: How to Create and Configure a JIRA Project
JIRA Workflows: Convert tasks into systematic and transparent procedures
SWIFT: The Easiest and Fastet Way to Try Confluence, JIRA or Stash
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