Introduction of JIRA

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Software development teams use Jira Software for every stage of the development lifecycle.

Jira is a suite of agile work management solutions that powers collaboration across all teams from concept to customer, empowering you to do the best work of your life, together.

Jira offers many product and deployment options that are purpose-built for Software, IT, Business, and Ops teams.

Introduction

Jira is a software tool widely known for its Issue Tracking and Project Management capabilities.

It is a Cloud-based technology that helps teams plan, execute, and report their work.

This software finds applications in Bug Tracking, Issue Tracking related to Software and Mobile Applications, and Project Management.

Projects based on Agile Methodology be it Kanban, Scrum or any other Agile view utilize Jira for managing projects.

Installing JIRA software

Now, let’s have a look at the installation of a JIRA application in a production environment using the Windows and Linux installers.

The first step in the installation is downloading JIRA (downloading the installer for your OS (operating system). You can download this here.

In the next step, you have to run the installer.

Windows administrator account should be used for installation on Windows.

For installing on Linux, you must make the installer executable and run the installer.

It is recommended to use Sudo for running the installer as this creates a dedicated account for running JIRA and enables you to run JIRA as a service.

You must follow the prompts in order to install JIRA.

You will be asked for the following information such as home directory, destination directory, and TCP ports.

Once the installation gets completed, JIRA will startup in your browser.

Set up your JIRA Application

You have to choose the setup method first and then connect to your database. In the next step, you should set application properties and enter your license.

After that, you have to create your administrator account and set up email notifications. Then, you can start using JIRA.

Key Features of Jira

Jira offers the following key features to enhance your Project Management and Issue Tracking tasks:

Time tracking:

Tracking the time sent on issues is an important part of Project lifecycle management.

This feature covers various parameters and views, like Working hours per day, per week, weeks, etc.

Project Roadmap:

The Project Roadmap provides a structure to your Product Development process.

It allows you to segment your Development Lifecycle to assign work to individual teams.

Mobile Acess:

The Mobile Application of Jira allows you to manage your Backlogs, Create Tasks, or Edit Issues. It even supports real-time notifications about Project updates.

Dashboards:

Its Dashboard is a console that enables you to control and manage your ongoing projects.

Using Dashboards, you can track assignments and issues of any project from a single platform.

Security:

Two-factor Authentication and Password protected policy controls keep your application from outside threats.

Types of Jira Products

Jira offers the following 3 versions which provide services according to the user’s needs:

1. Jira Core

It is the original Project Management platform consisting of the basic features.

It provides Business & Task Tracking for your project and supports general Reporting tools.

This simple platform is for non-technical teams which wish to perform general Project Management work.

2. Jira Software

It is an extension of the Core tool and is designed for Agile Developers.

Its main features include Virtual Scrum Software Development tools and Kanban Boards.

Software Teams deploy Jira Software for Bug Tracking, Task Management, and Product Management in their Agile-based Product Development.

Scrum Master, DevOps Teams, etc, are the main users of this tool.

3. Jira Service Desk

It is popular for offering Information Technology Service Management solutions related to managing tasks and resolving critical issues.

It promotes a complete overview of business data and maintains a common understanding between teams.

Advantages

Easy to learn:

It offers a wide range of product documentation and discussions on community support forums.

This supports and guides the users in their learning curve.

2. Plan, Track and Work Faster:

In the field of Software Development, the product’s release date brings new challenges for both Software Developers and Testers.

They need to track the new issues and also maintain the proper documentation of the changes.

In such a scenario, Its Bug Tracking ability and Tracking Management streamline the above problems.

3. Affordable and Hassle-free:

Its per-user cost is almost half as compared to its peer products.

Provides a hassle-free experience in terms of customization and maintenance. It also has a feature called Confluence Pages.

4. Track the progress of our documentation
It is a very useful tool for tracking the progress of our documentation. This tool provides a very important feature, i.e., a pie chart macro.

In the pie chart macro, you can view tasks such as Open tasks, Closed tasks, and Resolved tasks.

Limitations

In contrast to the Web version, the Mobile version has tedious navigations that become a major limitation for its users.
Its users thus prefer to use the web version only as it has straightforward features while the Mobile version suffers from complications.
Migrating projects from other tools into this Atlassian is a time-consuming process. For example, if you wish to import a project from Microsoft Team Foundation Server into the Jira environment you, are required to manually migrate each artifact into Jira.
You cannot download Jira reports, in a visual format like images. Moreover, if you will take the help of third-party software for the same, it will result in a poor quality image.
A major complaint among users is regarding its User Interface (UI). Users find the UI a bit cluttered, and even the search filters are not straightforward.
Furthermore, you may find the configurations somewhat confusing, because you will have to browse a lot of options to get to your exact requirement.