Pros and Cons of Jira Regarding 2020 Updates

Last updated on June 23rd, 2022 at 04:29 am

Are you wondering if Jira is the tool you need to manage your team? There is no doubt that Jira is among the most popular tools used worldwide for project management as well as to manage the test cases. Jira test management tools are also come up with an extensive list of features and advantages due to which tester specifically lookout for tools that can be integrated with Jira. In 2002, Jira came up with limited packages and features but now if you see the latest 2020 updates, this tool is a whole new world in itself. 

Who can use Jira?

Agile software development experts and developers rely highly on Jira and this is an ideal staple for such teams. Basically, Jira was developed for the businesses inclined towards software development and testing but with time it becomes prominent as being a project management software and is suitable for all sorts of businesses. Below mentioned are a few business types or departments that use this tool the most.

• Software Development
• Marketing
• HR

Key Features and Benefits of Jira

Here are a few powerful features and aspects due to which Jira is considered as the most reliable tool and gained incomparable popularity.

Powerful Agile Views

Jira’s scrum boards allow engineering teams to collaborate together and all teams can complete their sprint tasks in a consolidated area. With scrum boards, teams can organize the work for a particular sprint and keep track of different project stages while performing the tasks. 

Whereas Kanban boards are extremely handy through which work can be visualized. Tasks are organized through sticky notes and laid on the board. It gives the birds-eye view of the whole project and managers can quickly identify the tasks which are being performed smoothly and the ones which require attention or causing blockage. This board can also be used to track bugs and issues while monitoring all the tasks which are related to the project in one way or the other. Kanban board is a drag and drop system which is super easy to manage and setup. 

Custom Workflows

To complete or manage a task there is a set of processes that needs to be performed and is known as a Jira workflow. A software workflow consists of colored boxes that represent processes along with arrows which define the transition flow. It helps you to understand and track the project progress. One can create the workflow from scratch which can help their team to understand the project’s performance and transition. 

Roadmaps

One needs to have a clear vision of the project they are working on and that can be done through the roadmaps. With a roadmap, your entire team will have a path to follow and that can be shared with the stakeholders too so that they know how stages through which a project is expected to go through. 

Reporting Functionality

Its reporting feature is highly appreciated by all the teams as one can create a quick report regarding the project in a few simple steps. Reporting types offered by Jira are:

• User workload
• Average age
• Recently created issues

Limitations of Jira

Although Jira is highly used and is considered as the topmost choice for the software teams it has its own set of limitations. It does not allow you to manage your test cases and testers opt for Jira test management tools that need to be integrated with the system. Some other limitations of Jira are:

• Hard to set up.
• Users require time to understand this tool and to get used to it. 
• Projects progress can’t be tracked through built-in timelines.
• Mainly built for engineering software development teams.
• It does not allow you to communicate with your team as there is no such feature available.
• This tool is costly.
• Due to its file size constraint, files below 10 MB can be uploaded and one needs to compress the files if they are heavy than the mentioned size.
• Though it is easy to create reports they are not reusable as images from the report can’t be used separately. 
• Integration or migration from other ALM systems is complex and it consumes time too.

Conclusion

If you are someone who works around the Agile framework then Jira is the best choice for you. It is important to understand its advantages and disadvantages so you know what to expect from it and what would be the limitations one may face.