Does anyone specifically use a tool for agile processes? Currently we use a software package called Axosoft. It gets us some nice features like burndowns, velocity, and sprint planning. However we find it more of a burden to use than a simple taskboard made of cork and tacks. It's just too big and complex for our needs.
Does anyone else use a tool like this? If so, what is it and what have been your experiences?
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Jimmy Bosse
You need to adapt to both your team and your business owner. We have tried several different system. I like Target Process, especially the new Kanban board, but for my current business owner, the physical task board works best and we have greatly increased our productivity since switching to it. the key is to sit down every iteration, sprint, or other predefined amount of time and discuss making small changes to enhance your process. Don't make too many at once, and make sure you go back to review if it is working. This is how we found out that the physical board works best with our environment. Adapting to your environment is the essence of Agile.
Brenden McGlinchey
Tools can be extremely helpful for teams that have individuals in geographically disparate locations and for larger enterprises with large volumes of requirements. They can also help to quickly build the metrics and graphs necessary to give feedback to the team and management about flow, progress, and impediments. Simplicity is key.
We find that starting teams with physical cards backed up with a simple spreadsheet is the best way to keep organizations focused on their thinking and on improving their process - rather than implementing rules around a tool. After a few iterations the teams can investigate and choose a tool that meets their needs and adds value.
Improperly used, tools can blind an organization to unhealthy behaviors. Electronic format has a tendency to encourage a large amount of requirements to build in a backlog. The physical feedback of cards in limited space has the effect of encouraging lower work-in-progress... even for business and stakeholders. Teams should not have to alter their thinking to accommodate a tool's functionality. Find a tool that is flexible enough to meet your needs and capable enough to produce output that justifies the time spent using the tool.
We are partners with VersionOne and find their tool helpful for most teams.
thoughtadrian
Agree with Brenden - it's important to define your approach before choosing a tool that steers you in its codified direction.
Also like the criteria Ilja has layed out in his blog post.
One tool that hasn't been mentioned in this dialog is Mingle - ThoughtWorks' entrant in the agile project management space. Though I haven't used Version One, I find Mingle's flexibility to be superior to some of the other products in this space. (Full disclosure: I work for ThoughtWorks).
I do like having a physical card wall in addition to a tool. There's a visceral feel to moving a physical card that can't be duplicated in software. Also - if you have a physical card wall in a common area, it's in the team's "face" - rather than being a hideable, closeable window on the desktop.
ilja preuß
I have condensed my current thinking on Agile Planning tools in a recent blog post
Conclusion: no current software can beat index cards for collocated teams.
don_19
Check out WRAP (WoodRanch Agile Projects) at www.agielwrap.com. We have used it and found it pretty good compared to many others in this space.
The tool provides visual Taskboard where you can track the progress of all tasks and defects next to the story. WRAP also offers comprehensive reporting, charting and analytics including burndowns, velocity, burn up, story cumulative flow, defect cumulative, dashboards.
The tool is very easy-to-use, intuitive and adapted nicely to our hybrid agile processes. We signed up for 5 users free pack.
john_mack2
Great question.. We have been fairly happy with Axosoft’s scrum software OnTime so far in our use.. What version are you using right now because version 10 has made things simpler for our development process.
jonathan cogley
[ Admin ]
We have used TargetProcess with some success. On one of our teams, they have abandoned software in favor of a physical taskboard. On another team, we have changed over to do backlog management on a physical board and the developer team uses the software for daily tasks while working on stories.
The priorities seem to be:
Product Owner
Developers
We have also looked at RallyDev in the past. Their local seminars are awesome - some very smart people - go to one if you can.
We also looked at VersionOne a few years back but didn't pursue it at the time.
Thanks for the feedback! But doesn’t having two different locations make it more difficult? Why not stick with virtual or physical?
What was the reason for the other team giving up on the virtual task board? Do they still use Agile? How do they manage burndown and velocity?
I haven’t tried TargetProcess – demos look interesting – I’ll play around with their online demo.
Yes – you are right about two locations. That is typically one of the main reasons I have heard to use a virtual taskboard. The other team wanted the taskboard to be more visible to whole team (including Product Owner) – since having a physical taskboard they see the PO stop by the team room more frequently to look at the board – the PO will even ask about impediments he sees and try to get them resolved there and then. So far they are happy. I believe they are managing a basic set of metrics manually.
I have worked with a number of Agile tools and bug trackers. Right now I am using Yodiz(http://www.yodiz.com) which is a relatively new player in the market. It’s an all in one tool combining Agile, Issue tracking and SCM. I like it’s clean UI. It has some nice progress tracking charts scattered all around which are quite useful. I particularly like its task board which is very handy for updating and keeping track of my current tasks. It also has facebook like comments, user tagging and notifications which are really handy for discussing things with the team on the spot. In my experience it’s a very good tool for complete project management. Regards Sadaan
I have worked with a number of Agile tools and bug trackers. Right now I am using Yodiz(http://www.yodiz.com) which is a relatively new player in the market. It’s an all in one tool combining Agile, Issue tracking and SCM. I like it’s clean UI. It has some nice progress tracking charts scattered all around which are quite useful. I particularly like its task board which is very handy for updating and keeping track of my current tasks. It also has facebook like comments, user tagging and notifications which are really handy for discussing things with the team on the spot. In my experience it’s a very good tool for complete project management.Try it http://www.yodiz.com Regards Sadaan
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