Co-Founder - Managing Partner at Helvetia Fintech
Real User
Top 20
Powerful with many advanced features and good flexibility
Pros and Cons
  • "You can record your unit testing, regression testing, UATs, et cetera."
  • "While it's very powerful, it's very complex sometimes."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is primarily used in a scrum setting for creating all the features, topics, epics, stories, backlogs, and helps manage the scrum.

What is most valuable?

It's a very powerful product. It works well with Confluence. It interacts with it well.

There are very advanced features in Jira compared to, for example, ServiceNow.

You can record your unit testing, regression testing, UATs, et cetera. With a wider universe of applications, it's very flexible. 

I'm not totally a business analyst, however, a business analyst, can really, really use it very deeply due to the fact that you can register the results and create your test cases, run them, and document the results. All the testing is very advanced in Jira and it's very nice.

What needs improvement?

While it's very powerful, it's very complex sometimes. You can do many fancy things and have connections between features. With so many options, it's easy to get lost and it's not as easy to be on top of all the features and changes. In that sense, ServiceNow is easier to keep up with. Its configuration is more complex than ServiceNow.

The interdependencies between objects sometimes are not easy to trace back and to have a clear view of. That's why starting with small configurations is very important; we don't create very complex structures between objects in Jira. That said, sometimes when updating a history that was linked to an epic we would not understand why the epic didn't change when we changed the history. The relation sometimes can become complex. This is not a problem of Jira per se, it's a problem of how you configure Jira.

For how long have I used the solution?

I worked with the solution for a while, however, I stopped using it. My last project was about 12 months ago.

Buyer's Guide
Jira
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Jira. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. I cannot recall any issue with bugs or glitches. Jira never went down. It was reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable product. It can be applied with much more deepness, especially for developers.

How are customer service and support?

Normally if I had some questions and issues on how to do what on Jira, I'd look for local support. We didn't have any Jira consultants or anything like that.

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

We also use ServiceNow. We use both products in the same way.

How was the initial setup?

The configuration process is pretty complex. It's a pretty advanced product. You'll want to understand how to use it and what you want it to do before jumping in.

What other advice do I have?

I would advise potential new users to start with simple cases in terms of configuration and to build on top of that in order to add complexity by identifying the need and not working from scratch.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. You need to get used to using it. It's a solution that can et very complex. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Chief Architect / Owner at a security firm with 1-10 employees
Real User
It just works; great bug tracker saves time
Pros and Cons
  • "We do not have a lot of time for investigating new things, but Jira has saved us a great deal of time. It has a nice user interface and we can do a lot of things with it."
  • "They are not supporting in-house servers anymore and I think I've got until January to port this to something else."

What is our primary use case?

We are primarily a software development company. We work on some very specialized software for the government. So, we use Jira as our primary bug/issue tracker. We are also looking to put some add-ins in it to help with configuration management.

We also use it for configuration management and task assignment, but that's all within the bug tracker itself. What's good for us is that we are not doing all of that in three different applications. That's very useful. I'm sure larger businesses can find other uses and plugins for it, but right at the moment, Jira is fulfilling our needs.

How has it helped my organization?

We think Jira is great, it's been a real help as an issue tracker for us. We have had no problems with it. It just works; it's always worked. We never lose any data. So, we're happy to try to keep it going in the future.

We are a small business and we're up to our ankles in getting code out the door on a regular basis. We do not have a lot of time for investigating new things, but Jira has saved us a great deal of time. It has a nice user interface and we can do a lot of things with it.

What needs improvement?

They are not supporting in-house servers anymore and I think I've got until January to port this to something else. The issue is not that it is difficult to move Jira to another server, but we have a relatively large database on an SQL Server that Jira either uses or created and we do not want to lose that data. 

We are not a very large company so that is a problem. A lot of our business is on Azure and I would prefer to have an Azure solution for our software management. At the moment, I'm trying to figure out how to move Jira over to Azure on our servers. As a small company, we just don't have a lot of time to solve those kinds of problems. So we may end up moving to something else if it turns out to be more difficult than we can handle. 

Everybody has to make business decisions and obviously, right now, we're not in that sweet spot for them. But, moving onto the cloud has its advantages too. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We are using Jira regularly now and have been for about a year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

My impressions of Jira's stability are good. We are running the Jira application on a Windows Server 2019. We also have a large SQL database server running on Windows that Jira accesses. So, there's a Jira database running on the SQL Server and the Jira app and it's never gone down.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Jira is a scalable solution. We have not run into any issues with it. 

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

We have used a number of things from spreadsheets to in-house-built issue trackers. But Jira worked right out of the box.

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

For a small business, this quality of a product for the price is really nice. I think we're paying $78 a month or something like that right now.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend it. Now I'm a 10-person development company with about 30 staff members. If you don't have a lot of IT support and you're doing everything yourself, Jira is a great product for you. It's not hard to install and it just works.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Jira
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Jira. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Principal Project Manager at Systems Limited
Real User
Beneficial jQuery function, easy design creation, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the most valuable features is querying because the jQuery function is very good. Additionally, we can create good designs very easily."
  • "Jira should allow you to create and develop pipelines easily. In India, we have to purchase them separately or integrate other data tools. All these tools should be in Jira."

What is our primary use case?

We are using primarily using Jira for the project and issue tracking mostly.

What is most valuable?

One of the most valuable features is querying because the jQuery function is very good. Additionally, we can create good designs very easily.

What needs improvement?

There are too many restrictions in Jira. In DevOps, you can access the dashboards easily, but in Jira, you should have more administration rights. In our organization, there are some restrictions on creating dashboards and other features. Everything should be accessible with all access rights for everyone.

Jira should allow you to create and develop pipelines easily. In India, we have to purchase them separately or integrate other data tools. All these tools should be in Jira.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Jira for approximately 12 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Jira is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In my experience Jira is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support has been satisfactory but could be better.

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

I have used DevOps and the main difference between DevOps and Jira is the test cases. You can have test cases in DevOps, but not in Jira. This is what I have observed in my recent comparison. Jira has jQuery and it is far better than what they have in DevOps. There are some filtration and grouping settings in DevOps which I do not like.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

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

Jira is expensive and a lot of people are choosing DevOps because they are cheaper, open-source, easy to use, and have basic licenses. Jira should decrease its price to be more competitive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Jira an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Sr Consultant at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Scalable and easy to set up with good prioritization capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup isn't too complicated."
  • "It is not intuitive."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use the solution for use cases and make sure that our tasks and priorities are getting done.

What is most valuable?

I like that we can actually categorize the stuff from high priority to a lower priority. You can make categories and you can focus on the right items that need to be worked on. 

The initial setup isn't too complicated. 

The solution is stable. 

The scalability is good. 

What needs improvement?

It is not intuitive. It was hard for me to understand how to use it right away. It would be ideal if they could make the solution more user-friendly so that it is easier to pick up.

For how long have I used the solution?

I haven't been using the solution for that long just yet. it's been about six months or so.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. it's reliable and the performance is good. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale well. it's pretty straightforward if you need to do so.

We have product owners, project managers, and scrum masters on the solution. I would say that we have a thousand people using it, however, I'm not saying that for sure, as the bank has 46,000 employees and I'm just a part of a small team. I'm estimating that I would expect over a thousand people to use it.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have never used technical support. I've been able to manage everything and figure stuff out with the stuff I have here. Everything is available to me.

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

I did use a different solution, however, I switched when I switched roles at the company.

How was the initial setup?

For the most part, the solution was set up for us. My understanding is that it was pretty simple I assisted a bit, and I found that the navigation piece was not enjoyable to implement. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using currently. 

I'm a customer and an end-user.

I'd advise users considering the solution to make sure that they have a little time to review it and understand the tool and make sure they actually find that it is a good solution to meet their needs and that it's what they're looking for. From Agile delivery teams that are here to deliver their MVPs and stuff like that, I think it's great to keep track of all their backlogs and stuff like that. It is also great for someone from a use case perspective as they break it down well.

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. Of course, I'm still learning it. That said, it's great for keeping track of all the items and the stuff that needs to be done and for the use cases that have been closed, to make sure that we get the proper sign-off and understand the line of business. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Senior PM / Scrum Master at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Stable and easy to learn with good customizations, useful burndown charts, and support for a query language
Pros and Cons
  • "It was very easy to learn Jira. As a scrum master, I run daily stand-ups, and they are run directly from Jira. The feature that I really love in Jira is called Issue Navigator. It allows me to customize how I want to show the user stories within Jira to my squad."
  • "I can use Jira Query Language (JQL) to write queries to see the stories that are there for the current sprint. I can also sort them by assignment. I also use Jira is for burndown charts, which give an indication of how efficiently the squad is performing. I also use the Active Sprints function and a feature called Planning Poker."
  • "One major issue that I, and even our business stakeholders, have noticed is related to Epic Link. When Epic Link's background color is a dark color, it effectively becomes unreadable. I wish there was a way for us to change the text color of Epic Link in the Issue Navigator view."
  • "There needs to be an easier way to capture a few metrics. I wish there was an easy way for Jira to explain to me what has been added after the sprint has been done. Currently, it is a bit difficult for me to tell. In addition, when rolling over stories from one sprint to another, it is kind of difficult for me to find out how many story points were actually rolled over without going into Jira and doing an analysis. I wish Jira would somehow aggregate that information for me so I can easily report about it."
  • "I also wish Jira had an indicator to tell you that you are approaching the limit for the story points that can be delivered during a sprint. I don't think there is an indicator like that, but such an indicator will be very helpful because then I will be easily able to see that we are approaching the limit."

What is our primary use case?

I work with a credit rating company in the US. As a scrum master and project manager, I have to make sure that all the impediments are removed for the team. I work with product owners to make sure that all initiatives requested by our stakeholders, who are mainly compliance and regulations people, are moving in a timely manner.

I use Jira to make sure that we are capturing all the work that is requested, and it is progressing in a timely manner. I am in charge of a squad called Core Operations Reporting. A squad is usually focused on one or two initiatives. The goal of our squad is to automate regulatory reports as much as possible. I talk to our stakeholders to ensure that any errors in credit ratings are dealt with in a timely manner. A lot of these requests are ad hoc, and we prioritize them in sprints in Jira. 

What is most valuable?

It was very easy to learn Jira. I can't explain how easy it was. The hardest part of my job is understanding the business and communicating with difficult stakeholders and difficult people on the squad who are resistant to change and agile methodology. The fact that Jira was so simple to understand was a huge boon in my book because I didn't have to waste time trying to learn the tool to get work done and move the squad along. It was very easy to understand.

As a scrum master, I run daily stand-ups, and they are run directly from Jira. During these stand-ups, to make sure that there are no impediments, I run through all of the open issues and action items that the team members have. The feature that I really love in Jira is called Issue Navigator. It allows me to customize how I want to show the user stories within Jira to my squad. 

I can use Jira Query Language (JQL) to write queries to see the stories that are there for the current sprint. I can also sort them by assignment. I am able to call each assignee and have them walk through the status of what they did yesterday, what do they plan to do for the next 24 hours, and if there are any blockers or impediments.

I also use Jira is for burndown charts. A burndown chart provides a visual depiction of how quickly the squad is closing out user stories. It gives us an indication of how efficiently the squad is performing. I also use the Active Sprints function and a feature called Planning Poker. Planning Poker is an add-on, and it allows me to work with my squad members to estimate the complexity of user stories. It allows me to estimate user stories in an unbiased way with my squad members. It is important that people are not piggybacking on other people's estimates, so when a business requests a functionality, I use Planning Poker to have people send me their estimates in an unbiased way. They cannot see what other people have estimated. This way, they have their own unbiased view on specific user-requested functionality and its worth. After that, we end up talking out like, "Why did you think it was a three? Why did the other person think it was a five?" So, it allows an unbiased way of estimating user stories.

What needs improvement?

One major issue that I, and even our business stakeholders, have noticed is related to Epic Link. In Issue Navigator view, Jira allows you to enter JQL, which is basically like SQL. You just enter a query, and it displays the stories that satisfy the query. There is a field called Epic Link, which is basically a high-level designation for a bunch of user stories with a common goal. Epic Link is typically of different colors. When Epic Link's background color is a dark color, it effectively becomes unreadable. I am looking at my screen right now, and there is an Epic Link called Click View User Request. The background is purple, and the text is black. It is almost impossible to read it unless you click on it or give it an extra minute of viewing. That's basically what needs improvement. I wish there was a way for us to change the text color of Epic Link in the Issue Navigator view.

I've been required to report on metrics, and I don't know if it is possible with Jira, but there needs to be an easier way to capture a few metrics. For a two-week sprint, we are required to report on a number of metrics such as committed, completed, added, and rolled over. There is a way to see the stories that have been added after the sprint has begun, but there is no easy way to aggregate this, which is a waste of time. I wish there was an easy way for Jira to explain to me what has been added after the sprint has been done. Currently, it is a bit difficult for me to tell.

In addition, when rolling over stories from one sprint to another, it is kind of difficult for me to find out how many story points were actually rolled over without going into Jira and doing an analysis. I wish Jira would somehow aggregate that information for me so I can easily report about it. There should be an automatic aggregation of how many story points were added after the sprint began and how many story points were rolled over to the subsequent sprint.

I also wish Jira had an indicator to tell you that you are approaching the limit for the story points that can be delivered during a sprint. Typically, there is an established capacity for each sprint. I take an average of all of the delivered story points from the past six sprints, and I use that number to estimate how many story points can the squad deliver. I wish there was an indicator in Jira that tells you that you are approaching the number of story points that can be delivered during the sprint. I don't think there is an indicator like that, but such an indicator will be very helpful because then I will be easily able to see that we are approaching the limit. I can then talk to the squad members and say, "Okay, we need to remove some story points from the sprint because we're reaching capacity."

For how long have I used the solution?

My experience with Jira is pretty extensive. I pretty much use Jira every single day and multiple times a day. When I'm not using Jira, I'm using Confluence. I also use SharePoint.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is 100% stable. Stability is also dependent on a lot of factors. Jira has been down once or twice, and people go crazy. In almost two and a half years that I've worked here, Jira was down only a handful of times, and I don't think that was Atlassian's fault. Atlassian is the company that is responsible for these tools. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I am not really aware of things in terms of expansion. However, there are some add-ons or extensions for expanding the functionality of Jira. The Planning Poker tool seems to be an add-on. Similarly, there is also another extension or plugin called Structure that was previously going to be leveraged. We haven't moved forward with that because we're using more of a manual solution in the metrics reporting. There is another add-on called Dataplane Reports. So, scalability is definitely there, and there are definitely opportunities to scale horizontally and expand the functionally of Jira through plugins and add-ons. 

In our organization, we only have 5,000 employees, and probably 70% of the company is using Jira. which includes the business as well. The business is also learning how to use it, and they understand that it is a very powerful tool. I would say about 3,500 out of 5,000 people are using Jira.

How are customer service and technical support?

I didn't have to contact Atlassian. We have an internal Jira support team that answers all our questions. I don't think they have contacted Jira support in a while.

How was the initial setup?

Its initial setup was not done by me.

What about the implementation team?

Its initial setup was done by Jira administrators.

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

I am not sure about the pricing, but I know its licensing is on a yearly basis.

What other advice do I have?

The main advice would be to just use it as much as possible and try to learn the basics of JQL, which is Jira's proprietary language that allows you to tell Jira exactly what you want to see. It is pretty self-explanatory and not hard to use. There are so many different fields in Jira such as issue type, key, sprint, summary, Epic Link, reporter, assigning, status, story points, and components. You can add the required columns to the Issue Navigator view, and it will spit back exactly what you wanted to see.

You should also learn what kind of value it can add to the organization before just jumping in. Try to talk to senior management and figure it out. You should learn how to read the burndown charts to basically understand how efficiently the team is working. Every organization has an IT organization, and I am sure the majority of them are using Jira.

I would rate Jira an eight out of ten. No tool is perfect, and there is obviously room for improvement.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Global Client Support Operations Manager at kyriba
Real User
Good UI, easy to trace tickets, and very stable
Pros and Cons
  • "This is our way of communicating with different teams. We are a global company. I am based in San Diego, for example. A lot of the BAs are based in Paris. The development team is based in Minsk. We absolutely need to be in constant communication and on the same page."
  • "Jira has recently updated their UI, but more can be done to make it even better."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to trace our business needs development.

We have some nice dashboards out there where we can track needs for clients or track internal projects.

How has it helped my organization?

This is our way of communicating with different teams. We are a global company. I am based in San Diego, for example. A lot of the BAs are based in Paris. The development team is based in Minsk. We absolutely need to be in constant communication and on the same page.

With the time differences that we all have, it is very hard to kind of get on a call and centralize the information in person or during meetings. This solution makes it possible. 

What is most valuable?

One of the most valuable aspects of the solution is the fact that everything is traced on one ticket on Jira. We know exactly what has been done and what is left and we share the same feasibility we are assigned. We don't have to wait for team updates or emails or calls or even reminders. We just need to look at the same ticket and we know in real-time exactly what is happening. Without Jira, I don't see how we would be able to manage and trace in a very consistent, effective way.  At least, not across all of our development initiatives.

I have never been trained on Jira, to be honest. However, it's easy to navigate. Even for somebody who is never on it, it's very simple to pick up and understand. The only caveat is that when you get a bit more in detail, or you have some business requirements, you don't have documentation that you can just go and consult to enrich your portal or access.

One aspect of Jira that is very nice is that we are able to integrate other tools that our company is using. For example, we do use Salesforce for our support team and that's linked to Jira. Slack, as well, is also integrated into the system. It makes everything so much easier.

What needs improvement?

Jira has recently updated their UI, but more can be done to make it even better.

One thing that is missing is notifications that we can send out in an automated fashion so that we don't have to log into Jira every single time. We do have dashboards on our navigation pages, but we need to log in to see the current status. I can't just click reports every once in a while to trace or track projects, I have to log in to see. I'd prefer it if the data automatically came to me instead of having to go seek it out. 

It's possible the dashboards and the reports are something that can be properly configured on our end. However, I'm not the Jira administrator in our company. I probably just don't know how to do it. Jira may actually be able to trigger these kinds of reports. However, if they don't have this functionality, it should definitely be added.

For how long have I used the solution?

 I have been using the solution for four years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We've never experienced any downtime with the app. I can't recall any bugs or glitches. There haven't been any crashes of any sort. It's very reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would say the solution is pretty scalable. Every single project team in our company uses it. Our staff, our BA, our developers. We do also have DevOps teams using it. Everyone uses it for different purposes. Our company, over the past ten years, grew exponentially. We've tripled our size and we never had any downtime with Jira. 

We have business owners, developers, quality testers, business analysts etc. on Jira. We have internal consultants from professional services teams, who trace the needs as well so that they can transmit information to their clients. All the top management personnel go to Jira to consult the dashboards as well. If they wish to trace the progress that their teams are making, they can do so. The solution is basically used in every aspect of the company, and as the company grows, so does the usage.

How are customer service and support?

I've never had to reach out to technical support, so I can't speak to how they are.

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

When I joined the company, we already had Jira. 

How was the initial setup?

I wouldn't consider it complex at all.

What about the implementation team?

I wasn't here at the initial setup of Jira, however, in our company, we have a Jira administrator. Whenever we have a project to review and need to know how it's laid out and how we can place them better, etc, it goes through this person. She analyzes the needs and does it for us. 

 She knows the tool pretty extensively, but we don't rely on external consultants to do it. We have somebody from our company who does it for us and acts as our own Jira professional. They would be the one that basically helps you with the setup for your project needs.

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

I don't handle the finance side of our relationship with Jira.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

As far as I know, no other solutions have been considered as we've been pretty satisfied with this tool. 

What other advice do I have?

I'd advise other companies to go for it and try using it. Jira is one of the biggest players in the market. It's a scalable solution and very user-friendly. The onboarding is quite simple. I have never been trained and I've been using it for the four past years. Whenever there is a new release on Jira, we get a guide, which is helpful, and instructions as we use the latest version that comes in the form of pop-ups on your screen. If you want, you can just disregard it, but once you discover them, you can just hover over with your mouse and you can see the new features. If an organization is looking for something that will be easy for its workforce to adapt to, Jira would be a smart choice.

With the communication and the bridges that we've established with other tools, it's helping other teams get the information they need without having to get the Jira license or get them to go onto Jira. They just need to find their tool and they get the update from Jira in real-time.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Gerente, Tech Mgmt at a engineering company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Helps in tracking features and projects, and allows us to comment almost anywhere
Pros and Cons
  • "It has enabled us to keep track of features or projects. Previously, we used to manually keep track in Office. We now have a centralized repository for all the information."
  • "I don't know if it's the way it's deployed in the organization, but the interface we are provided is not as customizable as other tools. The multi-language report is not enabled in our installation. I don't really know if it's something related to the tool or our installation."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for Kanban boards, bug reports, and some workflows.

How has it helped my organization?

It has enabled us to keep track of features or projects. Previously, we used to manually keep track in Office. We now have a centralized repository for all the information.

What is most valuable?

I like that you can comment almost anywhere, and you can leave a trail. That's the most useful thing.

What needs improvement?

I don't know if it's the way it's deployed in the organization, but the interface we are provided is not as customizable as other tools. The multi-language report is not enabled in our installation. I don't really know if it's something related to the tool or our installation.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is pretty good. I haven't had any problem with it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't had any problems with scalability. It doesn't feel slow. It hasn't been down. It's working pretty well.

Its users are in the hundreds, but I don't know specifically. It is available to everyone in the company, and it could potentially be used by anyone. We all are allowed to use it and implement it as we see fit.

How are customer service and support?

I have local technical support. That's our first line of support, and they contact Jira technical support if needed. 

How was the initial setup?

I'm just a user. I don't know.

What other advice do I have?

General advice would be to find out about customization features and multi-language support features.

I'm not a heavy user of this solution. From what I've used, I would rate it an eight out of 10.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Managing Partner at Wingspan Consulting
Real User
Consolidates everything and has good metrics, but should have flexible pricing for those users who are only viewers
Pros and Cons
  • "I like seeing which tickets are open and what our response rate is. They have a lot of good metrics in their system to see what's going on."
  • "I would like our clients' IT group to be able to have oversight without setting up agents. We're managing tickets, and I'd like their IT group to see everything we're doing without having to set them up as agents. There should be a better way of managing their users. I've got such requests, but Jira is expensive, and it is difficult to pay an agent fee for somebody else to view these tickets. Currently, the only way in which I can do that is by setting a user up as an agent, and it becomes cost-prohibitive. They need to do a better job on ticket viewers."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for client ticketing. We have managed services agreements with clients, and we use it when they have issues. It consolidates well with their IT ticket system. We are the first pass on the ticket issues. If it seems that a ticket belongs to them, we can easily pass it onto their system and their people. So, it is a ticket system for our clients.

We are using its cloud version, and it is hosted in Atlassian's cloud system.

How has it helped my organization?

It is not problem resolution by email. It consolidates everything in one place. We have unique cases that don't fit a particular engineer, and we're able to assign those on an ad hoc basis. It is a good process. For example, if it is a network issue, it goes to engineer A, and if it is an Azure issue, it goes to engineer B. So, we are able to quickly route it to whoever needs to resolve the situation without overview intervention. I like that feature.

What is most valuable?

I like seeing which tickets are open and what our response rate is. They have a lot of good metrics in their system to see what's going on.

I interface it with Slack, and that's a positive. We get our notifications in Slack, so everybody doesn't have to be an agent in their world for us to see everything, which is a positive.

What needs improvement?

I would like our clients' IT group to be able to have oversight without setting up agents. We're managing tickets, and I'd like their IT group to see everything we're doing without having to set them up as agents. There should be a better way of managing their users. I've got such requests, but Jira is expensive, and it is difficult to pay an agent fee for somebody else to view these tickets. Currently, the only way in which I can do that is by setting a user up as an agent, and it becomes cost-prohibitive. They need to do a better job on ticket viewers.

If they had a customizable dashboard, it would be great. There should be one with a public URL so that I could share it amongst other viewers. This is the beauty of Smartsheets. With Smartsheets, I'm able to have a customized dashboard. I can bring everything into Gantt charts for budgeting, performance, etc. There is one point of accessibility for our clients so that they can see the program in a snapshot and get whatever assets they need. I love that about Smartsheets, and I wish Confluence had something similar.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its reliability has never been a problem.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It works for us. We're probably managing about 25 to 30 tickets at a time. It is not like we're pushing the system.

Across the board, we might have about 100 users. Its usage is currently moderate. I would love to focus on one tool, but I use Smartsheets a lot for project planning. I know Confluence and Jira provide reasonable project management, but they're short in some features. So, unfortunately, I have to pretty much go with two tools. Confluence and Jira together make one tool, and Smartsheets is one tool.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate them a five out of five. They are pretty good.

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

We did Freshservice for a bit. We got a client on Freshservice, and it was good for the time. We didn't really utilize Freshservice at the time. We had set it up for a client, and while setting it up, we customized it. We did a lot of front-end GUI tasks to make it work with their world.

A client pushed us toward Confluence and Jira, and that's how we started with them. I knew about Jira, but I never really used it internally. We had a client with whom we got a managed service agreement, and they said, "Hey, we're using Jira," and that's how we got in.

How was the initial setup?

I did the setup, and it was easy. In terms of the setup, everything was intuitive with Jira. The setup is not intuitive with Confluence. It is not at all intuitive while setting up SSO.

It only took a few hours. It was really quick.

What about the implementation team?

It was set up in-house. We didn't use a consultant.

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

I don't have the number, but I sure wish Jira was less expensive. Its price point should be a little lower, and it should be more flexible for users who are just ticket viewers.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it a seven 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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Jira Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Jira Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.