JIRA vs TFS

Table of Content

• Difference between Jira and TFS?
  • What is JIRA?
  • What is TFS?
• Jira Vs TFS: Key Difference
• Jira Vs TFS: About Project Planning
• Jira Vs TFS: How does Jira compare against TFS
• Conclusion

In the software development sector, Jira and TFS (Team Foundation Server) are both commonly used project management platforms. They provide a variety of tools for work management, progress monitoring, and team collaboration. But there are some significant differences between Jira and TFS that might make one better suited for certain project requirements than the other. 

Difference between Jira and TFS?

What is JIRA?

Jira is an exclusive issue-tracking tool created by Atlassian. Project management, bug tracking, and issue tracking are their main uses. Jira can be used to track issues and tasks for project management, software development, and other business requirements. For teams to design, track, and distribute software, it offers a collaborative and adaptable platform. Jira has a number of functions, including issue tracking, agile project management, and connectivity with other software development platforms. It is frequently utilised in the project management and problem-tracking-required sectors of the software development business as well as other industries.

In Jira, you create an issue Jira tickets for each assigned project-related task, which includes a description and allows you to track its progress. In addition, to tracking projects and bugs, Jira now provides time-tracking and transparency for Agile and Scrub teams.

What is TFS?

Microsoft created the collaborative software development platform known as TFS (Team Foundation Server). It offers a range of tools and services for managing software projects, including build automation, testing, project management, work item tracking, and version control. Although it also supports other platforms and programming languages, TFS is primarily used for.NET-based software development projects. 

TFS can be used with different development tools, although it was created to interact with Microsoft's Visual Studio development environment. Software development teams frequently utilise TFS to coordinate efforts, manage their development processes, and produce high-quality software. Azure DevOps, a cloud-based platform that offers the same features as TFS, has taken its place.

Jira Vs TFS: Key Difference

Jira and TFS (Team Foundation Server) are two popular software development tools used for managing projects, tracking issues, and collaborating with team members. Next, let's examine some primary differences between Jira and TFS tools regarding the following aspects and rephrase it. 

Platform

Jira is a tool that may be used on any platform, including Windows, Mac, and Linux since it can be accessed using a web browser. Jira is accessible via a web interface and is hosted on a server.

TFS, on the other hand, is a desktop tool created by Microsoft and targeted largely towards Windows users. TFS needs to be set up on a local server, and users must install a client application on their desktop computers in order to access it. TFS can therefore only be utilised on systems that run Windows.

Reporting

Using the Jira Query Language (JQL), Jira tracks each task and issue in an ongoing project to streamline reporting. Filtering the issues and generating reports are made simple with JQL. This makes it easier to keep everyone updated on the status and development of the project.

Similar to how it streamlines team activities, issues, and backlogs, TFS also streamlines report generation. Pre-configured reports from the MS SQL Server reporting services are also available through TFS. To meet the precise needs of the project, these reports can be altered as necessary.

Cost

Jira is a piece of software that needs to be licenced in order for users to utilise all of its functionality. This means that in order for an organisation to utilise the programme, each user licence must be purchased. Microsoft TFS, on the other hand, requires the acquisition of a licence for larger teams and is only free for small teams of up to five users. This means that while organisations can use TFS for free at first, as their teams expand, they will have to purchase more licences to keep using the programme.

Integration

Both Jira and TFS allow you to expand its functionality using third-party tools and have a variety of connectors with other tools, including IDEs. Jira integrates more deeply with Microsoft products like Visual Studio and Azure DevOps than TFS does with others like GitHub, Bitbucket, and Confluence. The two systems both support a variety of IDE tools, however, Jira comes with built-in IDE connections for MS Visual Studio, IntelliJ, and Eclipse, whilst TFS is compatible with IDEs including Eclipse, IntelliJ, Visual Studio, and Android Studio.

Additionally, both tools let you add third-party add-ons to expand their functionality. TFS provides a marketplace where you can acquire specialised solutions or pick from pre-existing solutions provided by third parties.

 You may leverage Jira's expansive Atlassian marketplace, which contains over 2,500 apps, to increase its functionality. Additionally, Jira's APIs let you create your own apps and plugins.

Functionality

When it comes to feature utilisation, Microsoft TFS's free version only delivers a small portion of the capabilities available in the expensive version. This makes the instrument easier to use, but it also limits how much its users can do with it. Jira, in comparison, provides a whole array of products with access to their full feature sets, including Core Jira, Jira service desk, and Jira software. Jira can also be integrated with other Atlassian technologies like Confluence, Trello, Bitbucket, and Statuspage to improve its functionality. This gives customers a wider variety of alternatives and enables them to customise the software to meet their own needs.

Agile Mode of Working

Jira and Microsoft TFS can both support Agile-Scrum techniques and project management, as was already mentioned. Scrum and Kanban dashboards are available in Jira and can be customised. With the capacity to expand its features through connectivity with other Atlassian tools like Trello, Bitbucket, and Confluence, it also contains Core Jira, Jira Service Desk, and Jira Software.

Microsoft TFS, which incorporates Kanban boards, has supported Agile methodologies from its 2012 iteration. TFS users may manage the product backlog and task board in addition to other project management activities including gathering software requirements, developing, and testing.

Customizability

Jira offers customers a high degree of customization and flexibility, enabling them to design customised processes, features, and interfaces that are suited to their particular needs. On the other hand, TFS can also be changed, albeit not as much as Jira. Users could only have a few options for modification and might have to rely on TFS's default settings or pre-built templates. Jira may now seem like a more appealing choice for individuals who demand a high level of customization from their project management tool.

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Jira Vs TFS: About Project Planning

Project management software with features for project planning including Jira and TFS. They each have a different method for project planning, though.

Jira is a versatile and adaptable application that enables teams to develop and manage projects with agile management techniques like Scrum and Kanban. Jira provides many features for project planning, such as:

1. Backlog Management: A prioritised list of activities that must be accomplished can be made by teams, and it can readily be changed as the project moves forward.
2. Sprint Planning: Teams can plan and organise their work into sprints, which are quick iterative cycles. Teams can use Jira to schedule sprints by defining tasks, predicting their completion times, and distributing them to team members.
3. Release Planning: Jira has tools that support teams in organising and managing releases. Teams can make, track, and prioritise the features and problem fixes that will be added to each release of their software.

On the other hand, TFS, which is a component of the Microsoft Visual Studio toolkit, is a thorough project management solution. Jira-like project planning elements are also available in TFS, but the latter places more of emphasis on conventional project management techniques.

1. Work Item Management: TFS allows teams to create and manage work items, which can be used to track tasks, bugs, and requirements.
2. Gantt Charts: Teams are able to visualise their project timeline and monitor progress towards important milestones using the Gantt chart view offered by TFS.
3. Resource Management: Teams can track the availability and capacity of project resources, such as team members and equipment, using TFS.

Project planning features are available in both Jira and TFS, however, they take distinct approaches. TFS is more focused on conventional project management, whereas Jira is more focused on agile approaches. Teams should assess their requirements and select the tool that best suits them.

In order to help teams identify linkages between tasks and organise their work, Jira and Microsoft TFS both provide hierarchical tasks and task dependencies. The Scrum and Kanban techniques are also supported by both systems, albeit Jira needs the Jira Agile add-on to have these features. Both tools also have issue management and tracking features that let teams keep track of bugs, feature requests, and other work items.

Recurring tasks, milestone tracking, and critical path/chain management are not supported by Jira or Microsoft TFS. Assisting in the identification of actions that cannot be delayed without having an adverse effect on the project timeline are recurring tasks, milestone tracking, and critical path/chain management. Recurring tasks enable teams to describe work that must be repeated.

Jira Vs TFS: How does Jira compare against TFS

Conclusion

Two well-liked project management solutions for software development are Jira and TFS. TFS was released in 2005 and is a Microsoft product, but Jira has been available since 2002 and is created by Atlassian. Choosing one tool over the other depends on the particular requirements of the organisation. Both tools have advantages and disadvantages.

There are numerous choices for people who want to learn Jira, get certified in Jira, or enrol in a Jira training programme. You can join us to master the Jira training course. The Jira Certification covers everything from Jira fundamentals to advanced subjects like Jira workflows, JQL, and Agile reporting. Experts in the field created the course, which also includes practical exercises, real-world case studies, and a certification exam at the conclusion. In conclusion, StarAgile's Jira course is a great choice for people or organisations wishing to learn more about Jira's features and how to use it to manage software development projects successfully.