Which Agile tool should you use?
After browsing through discussions on the Agile Alliance LinkedIn group this morning I came across a thread: Best SCRUM tools in the market. I posted a comment on this thread and thought it worthwhile expanding on this and sharing details of my analysis.
A while ago I did some detailed research into agile tools for managing distributed Scrum teams. There were 9 tools that I looked at in total evaluating each based on the following metrics: functionality, price, usability and scalability. For each of the tools I either created a test account or downloaded and installed a test version of the application. The top 3 tools that I came up with were : Target Process, Rally and JIRA with Greenhopper. Here is a detailed matrix containing my analysis:
* ping me your email address if you interested in the cost breakdown per user details and I will send through the full spreadsheet – andrew [at] thekeggies [dot] com:
We decided to go with JIRA with Greenhopper and have been using it with our distributed teams for a couple years now…to good effect! It is an extremely affordable solution and does more than is necessary to enable teams to get things done. I have found that the Atlassian Greenhopper team listen closely to what their users are saying and have an aggressive approach product improvement and development which is encouraging. Here is some evidence.
Now don’t just dive into using an automated tool if you are just starting out with Scrum or any other Agile approach. If you have a collocated team, start off using a white board and stickies and automate once you are comfortable.
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