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Agile project management software recommendations

Hello all,

I recently started my first BA position after working as a developer for the last 6 years. The department I am currently working in has about 10 developers and 2 BA's - myself and another person. They are looking at moving to an agile methodology, and since I am new to the BA role, I am challenged with finding a software solution that will allow me to effectively manage the various projects I am assigned to, in an agile manner.

We have something in place already for the development side of things, and I know that the best solution would probably be a full-blown solution that would allow us all - developers, BA's (who act as PM's and quasi-scrum masters), and QA - to all work from one 'location'. But I am not sure if that is in the budget yet, and I am in need of something to help me organize miscellaneous project information sooner than later. I am currently using Excel, and it is obviously somewhat cumbersome.

Does anyone have any suggestions for something they have used that worked well for them? Preferably, something cheap (or free even) and relatively simple to get started with. I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

Kevin

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Permalink Reply by Christina Lin on December 22, 2011 at 17:40

We use AgileWrap and it is working very well for us. AgileWrap is easy-to-use, intuitive and fast. You can plan and track user stories, tasks, sprints, releases, projects and defects in AgileWrap so your entire team will be on the same page.

We tried AgileWrap with 5 users free plan for couple of weeks, and then we signed up for more user seats. It is a simple, high quality and low cost tool. Check out at www.agilewrap.com.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Wood on December 22, 2011 at 18:03

Although I get the impression your 'reply' may be a bit of a sales pitch, I still appreciate the info. I will definitely check it out.

Kevin

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Permalink Reply by Olga Goloburda on December 27, 2011 at 11:29

Hello, Kevin

I’m with Easy Projects .NET and I think our product might be a good fit for you (of course I’m biased :) )

We have:

- Projects and tasks with unlimited hierarchy

- Timelogs

- Resource loading reports

- Interactive Gantt with Critical Path

- RESTful API

- It’s web-based and I think you’ll find our pricing very reasonable

Take a look at http://www.easyprojects.net or let me know if you have any questions,

I’d be happy to help.

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Permalink Reply by Petra Hietaniemi on December 29, 2011 at 18:40

Hi Kevin,

You might also want to take a look in Yodiz (www.yodiz.com). It is free of charge for users less than 10. It includes Agile planning, issue tracking and discussions. It has sort of inbuilt instant collaboration with comments, possibility to follow items and share. My team is right now taking it into use and so far looking good, especially for our distributed team.

Br, Petra

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Wood on December 29, 2011 at 19:30

Thank you Petra - I will definitely check that out!

Kevin

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Permalink Reply by dusankocurek on January 5, 2012 at 14:26

ScrumDesk might be good solution for you. See www.scrumdesk.com. It is Scrum project management solution available for Windows and iOS with an integration and synchronization.

It helps to do Scrum correctly (coaching module inside), it contains Planning poker, printable documents etc. 5 users are for free, read-only stakeholders are for free as well, additional are charged.

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Permalink Reply by Manish Manekar on January 6, 2012 at 16:43

I am trying it out with XPlanner+ and it is serving the basic necessities for a beginner.

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Permalink Reply by Mat V on March 13, 2012 at 17:08

Hello there!

I work at a small start up with this same type of issue (lots of developers, only 3 BAs). We were using white boards and note cards, all kinds of things to try and become more agile. But on days when people were out or couldnt attend meetings (or simply couldnt see the board), the entire team would fall behind. It ended up becoming more of a hassle to organize than it did to do the actual work!

We stumbled (accidently) on a site called Timebox (www.agiletimebox.com), that uses agile practices that are friendly for BAs and developers alike. It was free to sign up and now the enitre team signs in and manages stories/tasks/bugs on the Timebox backlog. I recommend giving them a try!