Jira is a project management software created by Atlassian specifically designed for Agile teams. The software was initially released in 2002 as a proprietary bug-tracking tool. Over time, it has changed and now offers a range of Agile work management solutions. These solutions help teams collaborate effectively, even if they have different roles and functions. The platform is highly scalable and can be easily integrated. Users have the flexibility to customize it according to the needs of teams, regardless of their size. This review of Jira will help you decide if it’s the right tool for you.
About Jira
Jira is a tool for project management. It helps project managers plan, assign, track, and review projects in real time. Jira originally began as a bug-tracking tool, which is why it remains the top choice for efficiently finding, tracking, and recording bugs.
Jira is often criticized for being only for developers. However, besides software development, the Jira platform also supports other types of projects, such as:
- Service management, Work management, Marketing, HR, Finance, Design, Personal, Operations, Legal, Sales
Not all projects are the same. Software development projects have different requirements compared to human resources (HR) or operations projects. Jira offers four products that provide tools and templates for different types of projects. These products are designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes.
Software: To plan, track, fix, and ship top-quality software.
Service Management: Our customer care desk assists in efficiently and effectively tracking and resolving customer issues.
Work Management: You can use it to handle projects for any department in your organization, such as marketing, recruitment, legal, and operations.
Jira Align: This platform is designed for businesses. It helps connect all the teams so they can work together and stay updated on all the projects in real-time.
What Makes Jira Different From Other Tools?
Jira was initially created for software development and bug tracking purposes. The features are designed specifically for tracking issues and reporting bugs. Therefore, Jira is the optimal option for software development teams.
Jira software comes with an Agile version, which can be useful for projects that are not related to software. The Agile methodology is all about prioritizing and completing the most important tasks first. This helps the team to keep delivering work consistently and avoid any delays. This approach can be helpful for any project that is not related to IT. It can be used for projects like go-to-market strategies, sales pipelines, or recruitment and onboarding.
| Pros | Cons |
| Jira has two visually appealing boards, Scrum and Kanban, that can be used to track projects. If you want to set deadlines and keep track of the project’s progress based on those deadlines, Scrum is the perfect choice for you. If you prefer a visual approach to managing your projects and tasks (also known as issues in Jira), then the Kanban board is the best option for you. | Jira is designed to be easier for developers to use. It has a more intuitive approach and uses clear labels for tasks, events, and custom fields. Non-developers might need to spend some time getting familiar with the interface and how it works. Additionally, this project management tool lacks budgeting and invoicing features, despite being highly comprehensive and packed with features. |
The Features of Jira Core Are:
Now, let’s explore the main features provided by the Jira platform.
Issue Management
In Jira, any task or item that requires tracking from beginning to end is considered an issue. Every project consists of various issues that need to be monitored. Issues are divided into stories and tasks. This helps to break down big and complicated projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. These tasks can then be completed in shorter periods of time called sprints, allowing for continuous delivery.
Agile Development
Jira is designed specifically for Agile development. The software comes with Scrum, Kanban, and bug-tracking boards. This allows development teams to choose a project based on their needs. These boards are useful for projects other than software development, such as Go To Market, Recruitment, Onboarding, Budgeting, and more.
Jira comes with two types of boards—Scrum and Kanban—that make it easy to manage sprints for fixing issues. You can keep track of issues by using different project views, such as user stories and story points.
Bug Tracking
Jira was first created to keep track of software bugs during development. The software has a special template for bug tracking, which makes it easy to track, record, and fix bugs. You can easily see all the issues on one board, making it simple to prioritize bug fixing with just one click.
Roadmaps
Roadmaps help stakeholders understand the overall progress of a project by providing a big-picture view. Managers can use this summary to easily understand the project’s goals, timelines, and priorities. It helps them prioritize important tasks and focus on delivering the most valuable work first.
Roadmaps help everyone involved in a project understand and agree on the goals. They also encourage open communication and responsibility. You can easily share them by exporting to formats like PDF or CSV.
Reporting
You can create over 15 reports at each stage, starting from planning and tracking issues all the way to final delivery. Project managers can use various reports, such as sprint reports, control charts, resolution time reports, and time tracking reports, to get valuable and up-to-date information about their team’s progress. This information allows them to make informed decisions and adjust their priorities as needed. You can share these reports with clients to have clear communication channels. The reports are visually appealing and based on data.
Role Assignment
In the free plan, all users have administrator privileges. However, in the paid plans, you have the option to assign different roles to users, such as developer, reporter, and viewer. These roles are used for assigning permissions at both the global and project levels. They also allow for customizing notifications, setting up email notification rules, and more.
Software Integration
Jira can work with over 3,000 different integrations across more than 35 categories. These categories include project management, CRM, dependency management, security, and workflow. Atlassian’s Ecosystem team recommends top apps that are great for first-time users to start exploring.
Jira: Pricing and Plans
Jira offers a free plan for up to 10 users, which is great for small teams with basic project management needs. You can create single projects with basic roadmaps and dependency management in both the Free and Standard plans. You can create multiple projects with advanced roadmaps and dependency management using Premium and Enterprise plans. If you have more than 800 seats, choose the Enterprise plan to access advanced features and functions.
Jira Free Plan
If you have a small team of up to 10 members and you need a project management tool, Jira’s Free plan is a great option. It allows you to use the tool without any costs. In the Free plan, all users have administrator privileges and cannot customize project permissions, roles, issues, or security levels. The plan includes 2GB of storage for attachments and access to at least one support community.
The Free plan of Jira includes useful features like customizable templates and automated workflows.
Jira Standard Plan
The Standard plan in Jira has more features than the Free plan. It is a good choice for teams that are growing and don’t have very complex project management and collaboration needs.
The Standard plan on Jira software allows 35,000 users to work together on a project. On Jira work management, it allows 10,000 users. And on Jira service management, it allows 5,000 agents. You can efficiently manage these users by using advanced permissions and assigning multiple user roles. The Standard plan includes audit logs that help teams track important changes made to their Jira instance.
Jira Premium Plan
The Premium plan of Jira offers advanced features and capabilities that are ideal for big and complex organizations with multiple teams working on large and complex projects. The plan has features like global and multi-project capability, advanced route maps, custom fields for extra information, advanced security and compliance features, premium support, and more.
Advanced roadmaps help managers see the big picture of projects involving multiple teams and company-wide initiatives. The Premium plan offers premium support with a dedicated team of technical support engineers. They are available 24/7 to help you through phone, email, and chat.
Jira Enterprise Plan
Jira’s Enterprise plan is designed for big companies that have complicated needs, like having many teams, multiple locations, and multiple projects. It includes unlimited users, unlimited sites, advanced reporting and analytics, and dedicated support, along with all the Premium features. Atlassian’s Enterprise Advocates will be there for your team every step of the way, from implementation and training to ongoing support.
The Enterprise plan gives you access to premium add-ons and allows you to try out the beta versions of Atlassian analytics, Atlassian data lakes, and data connectors. Enterprise users only need one license to log in to all instances, which are the sites created on Jira cloud.
Jira Sign Up and Setup
When you register for Jira, you will receive an email with a link to verify your account. When you click on the verification link, you will be redirected to a page where you can create a workspace. All your actions in Jira take place in this workspace. Except for the Enterprise plan, all other plans only allow for one workspace.
Once you have created the workspace, Jira will prompt you to provide some basic information about yourself and your team. This is done to ensure that you are set up correctly. I have some questions about your team, your role, and your experience with Agile development. Can you please answer them? If you want, you can choose to skip them for now.
You can integrate popular tools like Slack, Google Sheets, MS Teams, GitHub, Jenkins, GitLab, and more. You can set it up later.
You have the option to begin with a pre-made template or a completely empty project. Using a template can save you time and effort. Templates come with pre-configured settings and workflows that are commonly used for specific types of projects. This includes issue types, project settings, custom fields, and best practices. Beginning a project from scratch can take up a lot of time.
Jira Customer Service and Support
Jira’s self-service portal is comprehensive and user-friendly. To access it, simply click on the Quickstart button located at the bottom right of your screen within the tool. The website also provides useful short videos that can help you get started and address any other questions you may have.
Every support request is considered an issue and is tracked based on its priority level. The priority level is determined by the information you provided when logging the issue. Other fields that are included are customer time zone, affected product, addressed customer comments, and BRT escalation.
Jira software offers round-the-clock support through email and chat. Our support ticket was resolved in a little over an hour. The ticket receipt email was great because it had useful links to webinars and articles in the knowledge center.
Who is Jira Best For?
If you’re looking for project management software for your IT team, Jira is definitely the best choice. If you’re willing to take the time to learn the software, Jira is a great option for teams looking to use Agile methods for task completion.
If you only need simple project management features and have a small team, you can begin with their free plan, which is available forever and allows up to 10 users. As your business expands and becomes more intricate, you have the option to upgrade to paid plans. The free plan offers a variety of templates that can be fully customized for project management, marketing and sales, and HR issues. These templates should be enough for a small business.
Conclusion
In summary, Jira is a versatile project management tool suitable for various project types and team sizes. It offers robust features like Scrum and Kanban boards, issue tracking, Agile support, and extensive integrations. Its pricing plans cater to different business needs, making it a valuable choice for IT teams and beyond.