As more and more companies are embracing agile techniques to shorten their delivery timelines and create better synergies with their customers’ needs, the demand for tools to help manage the process has led to the evolution of tons of great agile project management and development tools.
But with so many tools on the market, the process of finding the right one can be tricky. To help you decide, we’ve created our own list of tools that are trending within our client ecosystem. These are tools that have been implemented with great success and have proved to take care of a lot of the “agile heavy lifting” for you.
1. JIRA
As quite possibly the most well-known agile tool on the market, JIRA has grown leaps and bounds from the humble issue tracking tool it once was to the full-featured task management, collaboration and reporting tool it is today. Its strength is in its flexibility which allows you to create custom workflows and processes, as well as its ability to integrate with the rest of the Atlassian suite to give you end-to-end tracking right up to deployment.
Find out more here: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
2. Slack
Slack improves project communication, particularly in situations where your team members work remotely. It creates an online collaboration space divided into what Slack refers to as “channels” which can be organised by project, topic or team. All conversations are fully searchable, providing access to important company-wide information when and where you need it. It also has a video chat feature which supports daily scrum meetings for dispersed teams.
Find out more here: https://slack.com/
3. Team Foundation Server (TFS)
If your company has already invested in a Microsoft stack, Team Foundation Server would probably be a logical next step. The tool provides source code management, reporting, requirements management, project management, automated builds, lab management, testing and release management capabilities. So in essence, it covers the full software development lifecycle in one robust tool.
Find out more here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/devops/server/
4. Azure DevOPS
Formerly known as Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), Azure DevOPS is an extension of TFS for those companies who are looking for a cloud-based solution. It offers pretty much the same features and capabilities as TFS but is less effort to setup and maintain due to the fact that you don’t require your own server hardware. It is definitely the more flexible option for those companies who do not require their tools to run on their own server infrastructure.
Find out more here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/devops/server/
5. Trello
Trello is built on the Kanban methodology where task boards, lists and cards are used to manage project activity. The tool has both a free and premium option which makes it a pretty easy option for entering into the world of agile tools. Out of the box Trello comes standard with task management and team collaboration, but for richer tools like reporting and analytics, you’ll need to upgrade to the premium version. The other big plus is that Trello is completely mobile-friendly which allows for task management on the go.
Find out more here: https://trello.com/
Know of any other agile tools that are worthy of this list? Then please share by leaving a comment below. Alternatively, call us on 021 447 5696 or email info@analyze.co.za if you’d like to share your thoughts on using tools to effectively support and enable the agile development process.
