As we all know, Software Delivery is becoming increasingly complex due to increasing customer demands. However, with the right tools, you can efficiently manage every aspect of Software Delivery, possibly simplifying the whole process.  

The right project management tool does just that. It helps you build robust project roadmaps, customize workflows and prioritize tasks for every member, track the overall progress of the project from a centralized location, and achieve end-to-end real-time visibility across project deliverables. 

When it comes to project management tools, the market is buzzing with options.   Asana combines aspects of project management, file storage, and collaboration, while MyCollab enables seamless time tracking and issue and problem management.  Trello makes project visualization a cakewalk through dashboards, while Odoo offers a Kanban view of tasks for quick insights and monitoring.  The choices to drive results are many. 

Open Source Tools 

For many organizations, going with open source tools seems like an easy option. After all, for most, there are no license costs, and many allow you to get started immediately. 

There’s a lot that open source project management tools bring to the table:

• They are quick to implement and bring your project to speed through their community versions and deliver value almost instantly. 

• They provide flexibility and agility through their easy-to-use features. 

• Since they are (mostly) free, they are a cost-effective way of managing projects end-to-end while offering capabilities that are modern and innovative. 

• They provide a robust and vast online community of users who contribute tips and best practices, suggestions, guidance, and support – as and when needed. 

• They are great to use when you’re just starting a project, or when the project is small, and you are in the initial stages. 

To derive maximum value from your open-source tool, here are some tips:

• Start by understanding what your project management need is. Since there are tons of things that go into successful project management, you need to identify what your goals are – are you looking to build a roadmap? Are you looking to prioritize tasks for team members? Are you looking to get end-to-end project traceability? Are you looking to identify defects? Are you looking to enhance collaboration? 

• Once you have clarity on your needs, browse through the array of open source tools that are available in the market, and choose the one that fits your needs in the best manner. 

• Also, if you think you want to use different tools for different purposes, go ahead. The good thing with open source is, you can use as many as you wish – without increasing your overhead. But make sure you can integrate the tools to a certain degree so that you can manage and maintain them well. 

• Whenever in doubt, feel free to reach out to the community of open-source users. Ask questions, discuss possible solutions, and use the insight you gain to improve project outcomes.   

Several open-source tools are underdogs and don’t get the attention they should. For instance, 

• Linx is a low-code development tool that allows teams to automate workflows and accelerate software design and development. You can visualize projects through the Flow view, build connection strings using the Connection Editor and receive detailed info about input and output data through the Debugger. 

• Redmine provides Gantt charts and calendars for planning projects, simple time-tracking features, and advanced document and file management. You can use the tool to design and build product roadmaps and measure project progress against deliverables and milestones. 

• Paymo combines the features of project management, reporting, and billing into one robust tool. Using Paymo, you can track time spent on tasks and projects, assess teams’ performance through intuitive dashboards, and unearth insights from visual reports.  

JIRA 

As Agile dominates the Software Delivery space, Jira is one tool that allows teams to improve software quality, improve time-to-market, and reduce development costs – all at the same time. 

By allowing the software to be developed incrementally, it helps teams shorten the feedback loop and quickly respond to customer needs. 

JIRA is the perfect tool to use when development is complex, and teams are large, spread across different geographical locations. Because scattered teams usually struggle with real-time communication and collaboration, JIRA enables them to work together as a team from the very beginning. Whether you need to talk about a new feature, suggest improvements in code, brainstorm on issue resolution, or document the progress of your project – JIRA allows you to keep all of your team members informed and up to date, regardless of their location. 

 

With JIRA, you can:  

• Collect and organize data from across your project in a single location. 

• Leverage built-in analytics capabilities to track project progress, build reports and dashboards, and take necessary action. 

• Collaboratively work on projects, understand individual contributions, and solve issues as a team. 

• Get end-to-end visibility to project status, challenges, issues, milestones, and deadlines. 

• Keep track of every change that is made to the code and stay up to date with project progress. 

• Use an out-of-the-box workflow, customize an existing one, or create an entirely new one – to match the needs of your team. 

• Integrate with tools you already use across development, knowledge management, CI, and more. 

Conclusion

The project management tools that are available in the market today offer a host of modern and innovative features to help you manage your projects with ease. But how do you make the right choice? How do you choose between open-source tools and an advanced tool like JIRA? 

Here are some points to keep in mind. If getting started quickly is crucial for you, if you want to avoid spending time and money in setting up your project and if you’re comfortable reaching out to the community for any query or support – open source tools are a great way to begin. However, once your project is stable and you want to meet the growing challenges with ease, it is recommended that you switch to a tool like Jira. JIRA can provide you with access to a ready library of plug-and-play add-ons, out-of-the-box agile support, and integration to other Atlassian tools, and reporting that you need to drive maximum value from your project efforts.

With easy-to-use features, custom dashboards, intuitive reporting, and security features that are updated continuously, JIRA is what you need to be future-ready in terms of scale, performance, and customizations. 

Deciding what best suits you? We can help.