| Issue management with agile project management | | | | issue information in the platform's repository. |
| tools will vary, depending upon an organization's | | | | Agile development teams that work in large distributed |
| software development environment. Agile | | | | or highly regulated development environments will need |
| development teams handling smaller, less complex | | | | to go one step further. They will likely need to integrate |
| development projects don't typically deal with a lot of | | | | their agile tool with a more powerful platform such as |
| bugs. Therefore, they may decide to stop using a | | | | an application lifecycle management (ALM) platform. |
| dedicated bug tracking tool and rely entirely upon their | | | | Key capabilities of an ALM platform include the ability |
| agile project tool for managing issues. Why have two | | | | to handle issue tracking at a very detailed level, and to |
| lists of things to do? By keeping everything in one | | | | provide capabilities for change management, custom |
| force-ranked backlog in the agile project management | | | | workflow, source code management, task |
| tool, it is often easier for the product owner to make | | | | management, testing, lab management, collaboration, |
| priorities clear to the team, and it will give team | | | | and reporting and analytics. Best-of-breed ALM |
| members better visibility into all issues as they arise. In | | | | platforms also have integrated tracking capabilities that |
| addition, the team will still be able to see the origin of | | | | enable "traceability"-- the ability to easily associate, or |
| every issue, who is handling that issue, what changes | | | | link together, objects also referred to as "artifacts," |
| have been made, and when the issue is closed or | | | | within the system. Asssociation simplifies knowledge |
| completed. | | | | sharing and provides traceability of an object |
| The situation may be completely different for | | | | throughout its lifecycle. So for example if we think of a |
| development teams that manage large, complex | | | | customer reported issue" as the object: |
| development projects and that log hundreds of bug | | | | 1. the issue is entered into the system, |
| reports a week. Using an agile project management | | | | 2. the issue can be linked to |
| tool alone for tracking issues will not work. Take a | | | | the original report describing the bug or feature |
| video game company, for example, that may get 200 | | | | request |
| bug reports every week for one version of a product | | | | the source code generated to resolve the issue |
| they are developing. Many of the bug reports they | | | | the release containing the fix |
| receive are likely duplicate issues. By integrating their | | | | emails and discussions around the issue |
| agile project management tool with a bug tracking | | | | any other artifacts that need to be associated with |
| system, they will be able to triage and consolidate | | | | that issue |
| issues before they wind up in the agile project | | | | These associations enable development teams to |
| management tool's product backlog. | | | | improve information sharing, capture institutional |
| The real benefit of combining an agile project | | | | knowledge, and simplify regulatory compliance - which, |
| management tool and a bug tracking system is that it | | | | in turn, translate into building significant business value. |
| becomes a one-stop shop for tracking all issues, and | | | | In summary, issue tracking in an agile environment will |
| teams can leverage the best features of both | | | | vary greatly depending upon an organization's |
| systems. Agile software tools enable teams to | | | | software development environment. For some agile |
| manage issues at a project level and provide reports | | | | teams an agile project management tool will be |
| and views such as burndown charts and workload | | | | sufficient. But for teams working in large, complex, |
| balancing that do not typically exist in a bug tracking | | | | distributed or regulated environments, integrating the |
| platform. The bug tracking system, on the other hand, | | | | agile project management tool with either a bug |
| will allow agile teams to manage issues at a very | | | | tracking or ALM platform provides the best solution. |
| detailed ticket level, customize workflow, and centralize | | | | |