Jira Align Reviews

We have a semi-detailed project plan, and our software groups break down design feature X into sub-tasks in Jira and assign estimates, resources, and due dates. Then they manage a sort of agile sprint. They'll look at task items within the next two weeks, and they track that at the beginning of that two-week sprint. At the end of the two-week sprint, they again see where they ended up. We have had people using it to do essentially earned value calculations. They look at what percentage of work has been completed by estimating the total work for a task or set of tasks, and then they track hours spent against those tasks and percentage complete. 

The most valuable feature is that engineers can access the Jira database and just search for the tasks that are assigned to them. They can then update the status on their own in those records that are assigned to them. 

There is no linkage between the Jira records and the overarching schedule. We maintain the overarching schedule in Microsoft Project, and there is no linkage back and forth with the Jira tasks. They are independent of each other.

I have not heard anybody complaining about it.

I suspect it is scalable. We have had semi-large software projects managed through it.

We can also use Microsoft Project. However, we generally can't post a Microsoft Project schedule and have each individual engineer go in and update their own tasks or even look at it. In fact, most of the engineers don't even have Microsoft Project as a tool on their PCs. So, they rely on the project manager to post a PDF version of the schedule, and essentially, we end up having to have a meeting every week to say, "Okay, you guys were working on these things, and they were due this week. Did you get them done or not?"

It is not a project management solution in itself. I would call it an adjunct tool to something like Microsoft Project. In Jira, I don't see a way to show project or task dependencies or even a high-level schedule layout. It is more for the individual tasks that are going to be done in the next two-week period, but the big picture of why you have to do those things in that two-week period is kind of missing.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. It is not perfect, but I also don't see any big problems with how we're using it.

I used Jira Align when I was working with CACI. We use Jira Align to build and manage workflows, which allows each team to understand their work.

Jira Align helps us manage communication and tasks for a variety of teams without overlap.

I like how things can be sorted out, and it shows the different objectives one can do. You could also create a team view that would allow your team to see work outcomes. Jira Align also helps with the reporting, because we can export data to Excel or another format.

The workflows are scalable from portfolio to individual level but can sometimes be complex to navigate.

I used Jira Align for about a year.

It was very stable, and I liked the refresh rate. I know a lot of it also depends on personal network connectivity, but it instantly updates changes.

When you sign in, you will see the different objectives that you would have, and then it would show you bigger objectives, your status, who was using it, and what they completed and what wasn't. If there are linked topics that were part of it, then it will show the aligned tasks.

The support team was very helpful, knowledgeable, and very responsive. Also, when you visit their forum page, they have a chat thread where you can look up problems or questions with other users and get answers from there.

I wasn't part of the initial setup, but the setup was easy when I got access to Jira Align. It was easy to personalize after I signed in, and I could put in my icon, picture, background picture, and thumbnail. So it is easily customizable and you can set up your page. With that, it was easy for all teams to organize their profiles.

The pricing wasn't something they exposed me to because the business development team handled it.

We use the product for enterprise agile planning, aiding in project management and customer solutions.

The platform's communication features could be more robust for better team integration. 

We have been using Jira Align for Approximately three years now.

The technical support team responds quickly and resolves issues effectively.

Positive

The initial setup process was straightforward and deployed on the public cloud with minimal complexity. It is easy to maintain and we rely on support from the provider for any issues.

We integrate Jira Align with ERP systems like SAP using web services for seamless data exchange.

It facilitates team coordination and project tracking, especially with remote work.

I recommend it for companies with complex project management and agile practices.

I would rate it a nine; it's been instrumental in our project management strategies, though there's room for minor improvements.