I'm a Jira application architect, and I support a major client. They use Jira Align to connect the business strategy to the work that's being done by the delivery teams. I adapt and implement the tool that supports their business processes. Sometimes I'm a release train engineer where I plan the work that's being done by multiple teams.
Enterprise and Team Agile Coach, Jira Align implementation SME
Has useful program-level reporting and great support
Pros and Cons
- "Being able to do PI planning using the program levels is most valuable. I find that the program-level reporting is most useful."
- "I would like to see Jira Align merge and integrate better with Jira as a whole. A lot of the time, the data from Jira won't map very well into Jira Align."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Being able to do PI planning, using the program levels is most valuable. I find that the program-level reporting is most useful.
However, I believe that each user would answer the question differently as it's a complex software used by many users.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see Jira Align merge and integrate better with Jira as a whole. A lot of the time, the data from Jira won't map very well into Jira Align.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
This tool is very stable.
Buyer's Guide
Jira Align
November 2024
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This tool is very scalable.
We have 5,000 people using this tool.
How are customer service and support?
We pay a lot of money for them to provide support. I would rate their support a five on a scale from one to five.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The implementation is a little complex and took six months.
I deployed it onto a machine and installed it. The installation doesn't take too long because it is hosted by the vendor. However, the configuration of the tool does take a long time. I've been working on it for two years and I'm not done yet because more and more portfolios and teams are onboarding.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
This product is expensive.
What other advice do I have?
Your business will need to understand the transformation as they are transforming into an agile business. Once you know that the transformation training is on track, then you can use this tool. If it is not on track, then the tool is not going to provide any real help. It is important to understand how you will adopt this tool.
I would rate Jira Align an eight out of ten. It is a pretty effective and powerful tool, but you will need to know what you're doing and the implementation to support your business is challenging. Part of the challenge comes from the fact that businesses are risk overt. People are afraid of failure and tend not to change, but if they are looking for a new tool I would suggest Jira Align, as it is very effective and helpful.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Chief Technology Officer at Ongil Private Limited
An easy learning curve with great integrations; reporting provides good visibility
Pros and Cons
- "Velocity and reporting provide good visibility, burndown charts, and particularly velocity measurement."
- "Lacks sufficient reporting capabilities."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for running agile sprints, for our weekly planning, task tracking, assignments, milestones, and reporting. I also use the burndown charts, velocity measurements, and developer productivity. We are customers of Jira.
What is most valuable?
I like the solution's ability to create a backlog and in the latest version, the epic view is very useful, you're basically creating a backlog and then dragging and dropping into the sprint. It's very cool. I also like the velocity and the reporting which provides good visibility, burndown charts, and particularly velocity measurement. I've found their email integration very useful and they have a configurable way of adding attributes. They have some of the mandatory fields, some of which are more advanced. The solution has an easy learning curve with the good documentation they provide. For power users, it's very useful.
What needs improvement?
One aspect that could be improved is that a ticket is declared as completed only when it is in the last column of the Jira board, regardless of the state it's in so that completed tickets don't get picked up because it goes by column rather than status. It's an annoying feature of Jira which they could improve. They could also add additional reporting capabilities. If I want to look at a graph of the performance and progress of a particular developer, I can't do that. GitHub gives a lot of good statistics on developer activity, productivity, and I'm not getting it here. It would be a useful thing to have.
Another feature I would love to have is an inline ticket creation from the board. Right now, I have to move to backlog, create ticket and then come back.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution on and off for the last 10 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
There are no issues around stability. Solution is available as a software as a service. I have not faced any outages or bugs which affect our work so far. Its been fairly stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I haven't had any performance issues in terms of scalability. We only have 10 users and it's working well. I know Jira is also used by enterprise organizations, so I don't think scalability is an issue.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used FreshRelease and Rally before. When I moved on, I had several options and found Jira hosted by atlassian to be the most viable solution for our startup. It works well so I'll stick with it. key point was it was integrated well with other tools used by us.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward, it's available over the web browser so there's no installation, it's just a matter of registering. The whole thing would have taken an hour maximum. It's pretty seamless.
What was our ROI?
well, clarity in terms of what we need to do this week. This reduces friction and translates into velocity and productivity.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost is $3 per user. So I'm paying $24 for eight users. We're just having an issue with the license flipping back to a free plan each week and I need to raise a ticket on that. Otherwise, it's seamless.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Have used other solutions in the past. Jira was chosen because it seemelssly integrated with bitbucket and confluence and provides an integrated collaboration environment.
What other advice do I have?
Jira is great for small and enterprise organizations. I highly recommend it for startups. Another benefit is that Atlassian gives me Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, and Trello, they're a useful stack. I can use Jira for project management and agile management, Confluence for content collaboration, Bitbucket for code repository management and Trello can be used for a daily to-do list. It's all integrated. Atlassian has the key advantage of having been in the market for a long time.
I rate the product nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Jira Align
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Jira Align. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,660 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Principal Consultant at Great Cloud Admin
Eliminates the mess created by Excel with better tracking capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The tool helps us with better tracking across various departments. Jira Align is highly valuable for organizations due to its flexibility. With my experience as an administrator, I can attest that it can be tailored to meet the diverse needs of any organization. It helps to eliminate the mess created by Excel spreadsheets."
- "The product needs to improve its configurations."
What is our primary use case?
We use Jira Align for standard agile use cases.
What is most valuable?
The tool helps us with better tracking across various departments. Jira Align is highly valuable for organizations due to its flexibility. With my experience as an administrator, I can attest that it can be tailored to meet the diverse needs of any organization. It helps to eliminate the mess created by Excel spreadsheets.
What needs improvement?
The product needs to improve its configurations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Jira Align's stability a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the product's scalability a ten out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The tool's deployment is straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Jira Align's pricing is reasonable.
What other advice do I have?
You need to start your evaluation with simple use cases. I rate the product a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Delivery Manager Scrum Master at Accenture UK & Ireland
Is used for business strategies, collaboration, and reporting
Pros and Cons
- "We use Jira Align for business strategies, collaboration, and reporting."
- "Jira Align has price packages for different purposes. Users must do their own research and see if it fits their purpose."
What is our primary use case?
We use Jira Align for business strategies, collaboration, and reporting. The solution allows us to manage the various products and features delivered on that platform.
What is most valuable?
We use Jira Align for business strategies, collaboration, and reporting.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Jira Align for over seven years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are quite a big organization, and hundreds of employers use the solution in our organization.
How was the initial setup?
I've not faced any challenges with the solution's configuration and initial setup.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Jira Align has price packages for different purposes. Users must do their own research and see if it fits their purpose.
What other advice do I have?
Users have to understand their business objective before using the solution. Given the right training, it is easy for somebody to learn to use Jira Align for the first time.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jun 23, 2024
Flag as inappropriateCloud Solution Architect at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Improves working efficiency for every project manager or customer by providing utmost transparency
Pros and Cons
- "The interface of Jira Align is very easy to use and manage"
- "The vendor should implement automation features"
What is our primary use case?
I have used Jira Align for project management.
How has it helped my organization?
Jira Align improves working efficiency for every project manager or customer by providing utmost transparency. Project managers can easily obtain a comprehensive overview of tasks using Jira Align, and their working speed or efficiency drastically improves with the product.
What is most valuable?
The interface of Jira Align is very easy to use and manage. In comparison, the interface of Microsoft Azure DevOps is complicated with too many items and options.
What needs improvement?
The vendor should implement automation features in Jira Align. The solution should allow simple integrations with other applications like Microsoft Office.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Jira Align in our company projects.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a nine out of ten. I haven't faced any service interruptions with Jira Align.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable product.
How are customer service and support?
In our company, we have received tech support for Jira Align.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
At our company, we didn't find Jira Align to be useful enough, so our company has presently migrated to a competitor tool known as Microsoft Azure DevOps.
How was the initial setup?
In our organization, we were previously deploying the solution on-prem, but in the past few months, it's been deployed on the cloud.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
At our company, we were concerned about the cost of Jira Align, which is expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the solution as eight out of ten. I would recommend every company working on Google Suite or open-source solutions use Jira Align. For small and medium-sized companies, Jira Align is a more suited product than large enterprises.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Jun 4, 2024
Flag as inappropriateIT Communications and Sustainability Manager at CNH Industrial
Good access to strategic control reports for high-level directors
Pros and Cons
- "Jira Align's most valuable feature is the view of strategic control reports for high-level directors."
- "Jira Align's setup process could be more straightforward, and they could make training and educational documentation more accessible."
What is our primary use case?
I mainly use Jira Align for planning apps in the department.
What is most valuable?
Jira Align's most valuable feature is the view of strategic control reports for high-level directors.
What needs improvement?
Jira Align's setup process could be more straightforward, and they could make training and educational documentation more accessible. In the next release, I would like to see an improvement to the navigation system.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Jira Align for two to three months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Jira Align is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Jira Align is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Jira Align's technical support is good but limited - there are people in my department with more experience.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was of medium difficulty, and I needed to find support documents to complete it.
What other advice do I have?
I would give Jira Align a rating of nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Helps to track and share information with all team members
Pros and Cons
- "I joined the company because they had a large project, and as a startup company, they needed to scale up efficiently. My task was to review the current baseline, assess the team's capabilities, and propose solutions to increase production capacity. Upon observing the process in Jira Align, I realized we didn't need to invest heavily in expanding capacity."
- "One feature that needs improvement is the tool's ability to change schedules automatically. Users can't simply drag and drop tasks to reschedule them without notifying the entire team. This lack of functionality can hinder project management control, as changes should be communicated transparently to all team members."
What is our primary use case?
When we receive a new customer requirement, the sales and marketing team inputs it into Jira Align. Then, the design team creates a task in Jira Align and assigns it to various engineers, such as hardware, electronics, and software engineers. We track the progress of these tasks and regularly update their statuses in Jira Align.
This allows everyone to log in and follow up on the progress. Once the design phase is complete, we assign a plan to the production team to build the initial sample for qualifications and verification purposes.
Once we've received approval from the customer or the marketing team, we transition the status from design to production. Our production planning coordinator then utilizes Jira Align to release the work order, especially if we've received a purchase order from the customer.
From there, it's an operational process where the warehouse follows the demand, prepares the materials, and releases them to production for building the product. This represents the general progress of our workflow in Jira Align.
What is most valuable?
I joined the company because they had a large project, and as a startup company, they needed to scale up efficiently. My task was to review the current baseline, assess the team's capabilities, and propose solutions to increase production capacity. Upon observing the process in Jira Align, I realized we didn't need to invest heavily in expanding capacity.
Instead, we could improve by optimizing the current process, particularly focusing on reducing idle and queueing times. My proposal to the management team was to introduce a lean concept, combining similar processes and materials to reduce idle and queueing time. This approach would streamline operations and address customer concerns about turnaround time.
The most significant feature of Jira Align for our project management is its ability to track and share information with all team members.
What needs improvement?
One feature that needs improvement is the tool's ability to change schedules automatically. Users can't simply drag and drop tasks to reschedule them without notifying the entire team. This lack of functionality can hinder project management control, as changes should be communicated transparently to all team members.
The solution cannot currently alert users when changes occur, which I believe is a function that it should provide. I hope that Jira Align will introduce AI functions to address this issue in the future.
We hope to utilize it further to establish connections between the development, production, and sales marketing teams for better alignment. There seems to be a gap between product design and final mass-volume production, possibly due to cost constraints or missing models.
It should also improve the support.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the product for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Jira Align's stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution's scalability a six to seven out of ten. My company has 40-50 users.
How was the initial setup?
I rate the tool's deployment an eight to nine out of ten. The time it takes to deploy the solution varies depending on the project scope. Simple tasks like extracting data from Jira Align into Excel for reports can be done quickly and easily. However, deploying new processes may take a couple of weeks.
Typically, we deploy solutions with a small team of about three to five people from different functions within the company. This includes individuals from design, production, and IT who work together on the project assignment. So, not many people are required to participate in the deployment process. We have one resource to handle its maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
In our company, we've considered bringing in third parties to help with deployment but ultimately decided against it due to the associated costs. Instead, we've opted to develop solutions in-house, although it does take time to do so.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the product an eight out of ten. It's been helpful for internal process control and information sharing, particularly in data management. Every change is recorded, allowing us to track when and why changes occur. Additionally, importing and collecting data from the system is easy.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: May 7, 2024
Flag as inappropriateSenior Atlassian Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
One of the best tools for scaling agile use cases
Pros and Cons
- "Jira Align's most valuable features are the roadmap, the program board, and the reports."
- "One area for improvement is that Jira Align's double menu and multiple menus can be difficult for new users."
What is our primary use case?
I primarily use Jira Slight to perform agility at scale, a method where you connect businesses with operations, which helps connect the enterprise strategy to the operations.
What is most valuable?
Jira Align's most valuable features are the roadmap, the program board, and the reports.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement is that Jira Align's double menu and multiple menus can be difficult for new users. They could also improve their search function.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Jira Align is stable and improving all the time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Jira Align is scalable, with special policies for licenses so you can have a lot of people using it.
How are customer service and support?
Jira's technical support is really helpful, available, and quick to respond.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup can be straightforward, but it depends on the availability of Atlassian for technical support. The time required for deployment depends on the user's requirements, taking anywhere from one to six months.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Jira Align is quite expensive for small-to-medium companies, but it's quite reasonable for larger ones.
What other advice do I have?
Jira Align is good for project owners and managers and Release Train Engineers because it offers them more visibility. I would recommend Jira Align for those with scale agile use cases and advise getting some training on the tool in order to get the best use from it. I would give Jira Align a rating of nine out of ten, as it's one of the best tools for scaling agile use cases.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
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