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Enterprise Agile Coach at Knowit Require
Real User
A user-friendly and intuitive interface, but it lacks integration with other products and tools
Pros and Cons
  • "My first impression of DevOps, after using Jira, is that it has a much better, more intuitive, and more user-friendly interface."
  • "I would like to see better interoperability with the agile scaling frameworks."

What is our primary use case?

We are currently involved in a financing exchange project, and we use this solution to keep track of the exchange activities within the backlog. We are not taking advantage of the repository and the code stuff at this stage. 

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature for us at this stage is the Azure Boards.

I really like the user interface. For comparison, I have been using JIRA for several years now, and I am rather skilled at using that tool. The reason for my using Azure DevOps is because my client uses it. My first impression of DevOps, after using JIRA, is that it has a much better, more intuitive, and more user-friendly interface. That first impression is still valid, today.

What needs improvement?

There is a lack of integration and portability with other tools and products.

I would like to see better interoperability with the agile scaling frameworks.

When I first started using Azure it was impossible to figure out how to do the configuration correctly. Perhaps there should be a configuration environment that hides some features and is not open for everyone.

I find it difficult to find some of the features, although it may be that they are not enabled, or perhaps I have to take some time to better understand the tool.

For how long have I used the solution?

Four months.
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Microsoft Azure DevOps
March 2025
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I cannot really comment on the scalability of this solution. We are running in a microenvironment with only a few users and a few integrations. It is enough for us at the moment, but if we want to go forward and continue to work with it then that will be a discussion for later.

We have approximately fifty users right now. There are three or four administrators, and the remainder of them are end-users.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted technical support. Coincidentally, I needed support today, so I went online to find the answer. The toolkit for helping yourself is there, but perhaps it should be more integrated into the solution.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used JIRA for several years, and although I am impressed with the interface in Azure DevOps, JIRA still has better integration with other tools.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for this solution is much easier than for that of JIRA.

What other advice do I have?

My advice for anyone implementing this solution is to have an expert for every fifty users of the solution. This person is responsible for configurations and so forth.

If you have a Microsoft environment then this is an easy choice for you, but if you don't then I think that JIRA would be a better choice.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Zeeshan Arshad - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 10
Build pipelines are useful, and it is easy to deploy and good for monitoring purposes
Pros and Cons
  • "It is good for monitoring purposes. We are using the build pipelines of Microsoft Azure. They are also valuable."
  • "We are facing some problems because the capacity can only be measured within a project. It cannot be measured across multiple projects. So, the reporting needs to be enhanced, and there should be more graphs to be able to easily give the upper management insights about all the employees from different departments. It will be helpful for employee management. Currently, the managers over here are using Power BI for insights because the functionality of Azure DevOps Boards is not enough. So, we have to export the data into another visualization tool and get the results."

What is most valuable?

It is good for monitoring purposes. We are using the build pipelines of Microsoft Azure. They are also valuable. 

What needs improvement?

We are facing some problems because the capacity can only be measured within a project. It cannot be measured across multiple projects. So, the reporting needs to be enhanced, and there should be more graphs to be able to easily give the upper management insights about all the employees from different departments. It will be helpful for employee management. Currently, the managers over here are using Power BI for insights because the functionality of Azure DevOps Boards is not enough. So, we have to export the data into another visualization tool and get the results.

We would like to have templates for work items. They are available in the Azure DevOps services on the server, but they are not available in the on-prem solution. We are using an on-prem server, and we are using version 2020.1119.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for almost four to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It works well. There are no issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is easy to scale. In our organization, some teams are using it, and some teams are not using it. We probably have 80 to 100 people.

How are customer service and support?

Their technical support is good. We haven't faced many issues. As far as I remember, we have had only one issue. We raised a ticket for that, and they resolved the issue.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have also used Jira. We have more control over Jira than Azure DevOps, but we are using Azure DevOps for our technical side because our VMs and build pipelines are on Azure. So, it is better for us to use one solution rather than using multiple solutions.

How was the initial setup?

It is straightforward. It is not that complex.

In terms of maintenance, we only do maintenance when we have new upgrades. Other than that, we don't need to maintain it much. We have optimized the TFS and Azure DevOps database, and we have done indexing and optimized it. It is pretty good.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft Azure DevOps an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Azure DevOps
March 2025
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Azure DevOps. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1506549 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director of Strategy at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Easy to use, with good monitoring and tracking
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the tracking and that we can monitor our velocity."
  • "When converting to DevOps, it was difficult to map."

What is our primary use case?

We are an agile shop. We use it to build our sprints and for our user stories. We have everything aligned in epics and we track all of our requirements and our velocity.

What is most valuable?

We are still getting used to it and there is a lot that I haven't looked at yet. For me, at this early stage, the most valuable features are the basic functionality. This includes the ability to build and customize sprints.

I like the tracking and that we can monitor our velocity.

It took a bit longer to figure out, but now that we have, it's easy to use.

What needs improvement?

When converting to DevOps, it was difficult to map.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Azure DevOps since October 2020 when we converted from Jira to DevOps.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable now that it is up and running. It was a steep learning curve, but not the fault of DevOps. We did not put together adequate training.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Others in the company may have scaled this solution. I have not explored this area yet.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not contacted technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we were using Jira. Now that DevOps is running, I find that for what I am doing, does the same things as Jira. The main difference is in naming convention and layout.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't part of the conversion from Jira to DevOps but it was a painful process. We lost data, things didn't map. My Scrum Master who used it was not happy with the process.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft Azure DevOps and eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1411899 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consulting services manager at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Good user interface, constantly updated, and the technical support is prompt
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a well-integrated product in terms of the development lifecycle."
  • "It would be very useful if it had better integration with Microsoft Word because we would like to be able to define the priority requirement document and add it to different stages of the backlog."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use Azure DevOps for the early phase of software development projects. We don't use it for building the software. Rather, it is for development support. It handles management of the features, the composition, the definition of requirements, and checking our requirements against the use cases. 

What is most valuable?

Since it is a cloud product, it is constantly updated and not the responsibility of the user.

The quality of the user interface is very good.

It is a well-integrated product in terms of the development lifecycle. There are different functional areas from the requirements to finish including test management, product development, and deployment. I do not personally make use of all of these components together, but I understand from my colleagues that make wider use of it that everything integrates nicely.

What needs improvement?

It lacks integration with Office 365. It would be very useful if it had better integration with Microsoft Word because we would like to be able to define the priority requirement document and add it to different stages of the backlog. Currently, it is difficult to do this. There are some third-party products for this but they are either quite expensive or do not function properly.

I would like to see the requirement management links between work items improved.

An API to develop custom functions would be useful because we work with a large integrator that uses TFS, the on-premises version, and have seen what they do. One of the advantages of it is that you can develop using the XML approach to customization. Essentially, the customizability is more in-depth. This could be done, even without going to the code level, if they provided an API or and SDK. Although the interface currently used for customization is good, we sometimes find it limited. It would be more complex to use but also allow for greater potential.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Azure DevOps services for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable service.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would say that it is scalable. On a recent project, we had a lot of users and did not experience any issues in terms of performance.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have only been in contact with technical support on one occasion and they gave me a good and prompt answer. From my experience, I can say that I am satisfied.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I do not personally have experience with other products, although the company has some experience with Jira.

What other advice do I have?

In summary, this is a good product but I would like to see better Office integration and API support.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

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?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
IT System Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
A stable solution with a reasonable licensing fee and excellent technical support
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support has been excellent. On that side, Microsoft is very good. The customer support of Microsoft has really improved this past year. On the cloud side also we are very satisfied because it offers very good support."
  • "The solution could work to improve their reporting."

What is most valuable?

The Repos, Wikis, and pipelines are all excellent features.

What needs improvement?

The solution could work to improve their reporting.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for nearly one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the solution is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of the solution is good. I would give it a four or five-star rating. We have plans to increase usage. Right now we have about 100 users on the solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support has been excellent. On that side, Microsoft is very good. The customer support of Microsoft has really improved this past year. On the cloud side also we are very satisfied because it offers very good support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not previously use a different solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. We just implement it from the cloud. We took it and configured it with our local website infrastructure, so there was nothing much to do.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is a licensing fee of $6/user per month. That's not too much money for us. There aren't really any additional costs beyond that.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We considered using Jenkins, but we decided to use Azure DevOps because we have an enterprise agreement with Microsoft. It was much easier.

What other advice do I have?

We are using the public cloud deployment model.

Potential users should not hesitate to move to Azure DevOps. It keeps on progressing and keeps on adding new features all of the time, so it's a solution that I would highly recommend people use.

I would rate the solution eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1689300 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Solution Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Reseller
Easy to set up, allows for third-party extensions, and is pretty scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "It is possible to add third-party extensions to increase the usability of the product."
  • "Some things like project management, tasks, progress, and having work progress views require us to use some external tools, or to create our own internal tools. These are not native to DevOps. It would be ideal if, instead of searching for third-party solutions, they had these feature sets or capabilities included under DevOps."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for our internal development and we have some clients that require some consulting around some DevOps functionality.

We use the product for the development process for the repository, for the tracking of the tasks in the boards, and for the pipeline for CINCD.

What is most valuable?

The test plan is one feature that we are exploring more right now. This is a great feature that we want to deeper into.

We have a solid base. We can do everything with DevOps.

It is possible to add third-party extensions to increase the usability of the product.

The initial setup is very simple. 

We have found the solution to be scalable.

The solution, for the most part, is stable. 

What needs improvement?

Some things, like project management, tasks, progress, and having work progress views, require us to use some external tools or to create our own internal tools. These are not native to DevOps. It would be ideal if, instead of searching for third-party solutions, they had these feature sets or capabilities included under DevOps. They need to expand the solution's offering.

For how long have I used the solution?

While I have used the solution for two years, the company has some personnel that have used it for longer. Our development team may have used it for four or five years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable. We had some regional degradations a few months ago, however, it wasn't too much. For the most part, it's reliable and there aren't bugs or glitches. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. If we need to expand it we can do so. 

How are customer service and support?

We've never had to contact technical support. I cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they would be, as I've never dealt with them directly. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple and straightforward. It is not difficult or complex. 

We use the online version. We don't have to deploy the tool. We don't have to put in a lot of effort as we already have the pipelines in the TFS. We just move it to Azure DevOps. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I'm a solution provider. I sell Azure DevOps and I have a client that was looking to analyze some differences between Jira and Azure DevOps. Therefore, I have evaluated Jira a bit for them.

What other advice do I have?

We are both a reseller and a partner of Microsoft.

We always use the latest version of the solution. 

I would recommend this product to other companies and users. If a company or a team doesn't know how to work with Azure DevOps, the advice I would give is to find someone that knows the tool and do a POC first to make sure you understand everything a bit better before diving right in. 

In general, I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

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?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
reviewer1411698 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Analyst │ Microsoft Power BI & Power BI App Development at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Free for up to five users, secure, easy to use, and integrates well with other Microsoft products
Pros and Cons
  • "What I like the most about this product is that it's free and it's secure."
  • "The user interface could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Microsoft Azure DevOps for tracking the requirements and tracking the issues.

Any issues that we have, are tracked and logged.

Also, we check the developer's workload.

It can be used for different purposes as well. For example, it can be used by software companies and different software teams for collaboration.

What is most valuable?

What I like the most about this product is that it's free and it's secure.

You can easily assign it.

It integrates well with other Microsoft products, such as Outlook.

If we experience a login issue, it sends a notification to one of my developers and you also receive an email notification, ensuring that there is no way that a developer can miss working on it or miss seeing it in emails.

What needs improvement?

The user interface could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for approximately two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution, we have not experienced any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have not had to scale it, as we have a very small team with only four members who use this solution on a daily basis.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not had to contact technical support. There hasn't been a need, it's very simple.

If you have any issues, you are sent a link through email, you click on the link to address your specific requirements and close it.

You will receive an email notification to confirm that the case is closed.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we were using Microsoft Excel. We decided to use Microsoft Azure DevOps because it allowed us to assign tasks and get a notification.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple.

It was easy to deploy and within a day, I was able to learn it and work on it.

What about the implementation team?

I did not use a vendor or an integrator, I did it on my own. It's a Microsoft product and we all use Microsoft.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Microsoft Azure DevOps is free for up to five users and allows you to track a maximum of three projects.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution. It's a good tool and it's free.

Instead of spending money on premium tools, you can at least start with Microsoft Azure DevOps and then upgrade it slowly.

You can learn how to use this tool in less than a day.

If you have Microsoft 365, this comes with it for free.

It doesn't require any maintenance.

I would rate Microsoft Azure DevOps an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1282677 - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Operating Officer Executive at a cloud solution provider with 11-50 employees
Real User
Fast, scalable, and stable work planning and code collaboration software; offers a good user experience
Pros and Cons
  • "Stable and scalable solution for work planning and code collaboration. It's fast, and it offers a good user experience."
  • "The optimization feature in Microsoft Azure DevOps needs improvement. Control over multiple projects could also be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We use Microsoft Azure DevOps for management, e.g. managing items that we need to work on, planning activities, connecting to components to get information on how long the developer is working on the items assigned, etc. We use the solution for our projects.

We have internal users from the development team, and we have the work logs that we need to work on for each customer. We match those to have control over the projects and the budget. We have a component plugged into the solution for the billables and performance delivery. What we don't have yet is optimization, and that is something that needs to be improved in Microsoft Azure DevOps, but the solution has all the activities and the budgeting functions, so the project is working good. We're making an exact component in seven days that we can use with the solution.

What is most valuable?

One of the features I found most useful in Microsoft Azure DevOps is that we can use it to plan activities. We use the dashboard to work on the tasks we have, and also use it to find out what could be better. It's also useful when you have many customers and many people working together on different projects.

In our case, we have one developer working on more than one project within the same day, week, or month, and Microsoft Azure DevOps helps give better control of his schedule, making it easier to find out if the developer still has availability to take on new work. The solution helps us see the work status and availability of team members, making work management and task management better.

The validation and quality offered by Microsoft Azure DevOps are very good. The user experience is good. The speed of the solution is also good, e.g. the pages load fast.

What needs improvement?

The optimization feature in Microsoft Azure DevOps needs improvement.

Sometimes, having control over multiple projects for a customer could be difficult. If you're a developer, you need to know if you still have time to work on more activities within the day. When you're working on one project for one customer, Microsoft Azure DevOps is great, but when your team is working on different projects for several clients, it may be too hard to handle, e.g. you really need to organize and plan the activities, so planning is another area for improvement in the solution.

Planning includes budgeting, e.g. creating a budget for each project, especially if the developer is working on multiple projects of customers. You need to have control and see to it that you are within budget, but it can be hard because you can't always see the daily, weekly, or monthly activities of the developer, particularly if the developer doesn't keep the calendar updated. We want to be able to view the complete list of activities of the developer, whether daily, weekly, or monthly, to make planning and budgeting easier.

I'd also like the Microsoft Azure DevOps Gantt chart to be improved. We need to see in the schedule how to plan the fields out. We have daily activities and we'd like to use the Gantt chart to make our work approach more successful.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been a partner of Microsoft for 10 years, and we've been using Microsoft solutions for 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure DevOps is stable. Sometimes there's a little lag, but the next day, it'll work fine. The solution works fine.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Microsoft Azure DevOps is a scalable solution.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up Microsoft Azure DevOps was easy.

What other advice do I have?

We use Microsoft solutions as part of management. We use Microsoft's platform.

We use the latest version of Microsoft Azure DevOps for our projects.

We have 15 people who are in charge of the deployment and maintenance of the solution. Per project, we have one or two developers who utilize Microsoft Azure DevOps: At the beginning, we have the front end developer and the cloud personnel who create the environment, the designer who works to create the right frame, the right materials, the layout, and the design for the project, and at the middle, we have four to five operators.

The platform works well so we didn't have the need to open a ticket or contact Microsoft technical support.

I really like Microsoft Azure DevOps, so I recommend it to people who want to start using it. My advice to them is that it's a huge platform, so it won't be easy the first time. When you test the platform, you need to spend time and make an effort to understand how it works, but it's the best solution. It's the top solution. 

Another advice to new users of Microsoft Azure DevOps is that it's harder to have a macro view of all the processes together. When we needed to cross-match a lot of information from the different processing teams of customers, we found it difficult. You also need to plan well, particularly plan when your developer can work on more than one project. When you have many projects, you need to handle the processes well, e.g. create separate folders for each customer, separate projects, etc., to keep the information separate and be more organized.

Microsoft Azure DevOps could still be improved more, so I'm rating it an eight out of ten.

We are a partner of Microsoft, and we use Microsoft solutions. What we recommend to our customers is for them to use the Microsoft environment, server and databases. We work with some of the solutions and technologies from Microsoft.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure DevOps Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Azure DevOps Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.