Jira is a popular issue-tracking tool that was introduced by Atlassian in 2002. It was designed specifically for software companies as a way to track bugs and issues. Interestingly, Atlassian named its product after "Gojira," which means Godzilla in Japanese. This was inspired by the fact that Atlassian's coders used a bug-tracking software tool called Bugzilla before they developed Jira.
As the agile development methodology became more widely used by software companies, Atlassian expanded the Jira platform to offer services to different teams. Today, it provides several internal products, including:
- Jira Core: This is the platform's basic project-management tool, designed for non-technical teams. Departments such as HR, marketing, finance, and operations use the Core tool for change requests, workflow approvals, and general task management.
- Jira Software: This version is designed for software development teams. Jira Software offers all of Core's features but also includes agile functionality. Software teams use this tool for bug tracking, managing basic software-development tasks, and product management. Jira Software is also designed to support development teams that use Kanban, Scrum, and other popular agile frameworks.
- Jira Service Desk: This is an add-on developed for IT teams. Call center managers, helpdesk agents, and other support professionals use Jira Service Desk for issue ticketing, incident management, and change management.
Product management is one of the common use cases for Jira Software. By integrating the tool with its product roadmap, a product team can sync the status of its day-to-day tasks with its big-picture strategy. Here are a couple of ways a Jira-roadmap integration can benefit your product team:
- Pull Issue-Completion Updates from Jira into Your Roadmap: With the right product roadmap software, your product team can automatically sync updates of tasks in Jira with its roadmap. This will allow you to display an up-to-date picture of your development progress, and it will help make your team's roadmap a single source of truth.
- Prioritize Issues from Jira Using Your Roadmap App: The right product roadmap software will also have tools to help you weigh the costs and benefits of initiatives and decide which your team should work on first. For example, your team maintains a list of epics, stories, and other projects you'd like to work on, but you're not sure which to pursue next. You can import all of those items into your roadmap app, then use the app's Parking Lot platform to create side-by-side comparisons of the items and weigh them against each other according to factors such as customer value, implementation effort, operational costs, potential revenue, and risks.
In conclusion, Jira is an effective tool that can be used by different types of teams for various purposes. From basic project management to issue ticketing and incident management, Jira has something to offer everyone. With the right product roadmap software, you can take your team's productivity to the next level by integrating Jira into your big-picture strategy.