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In This Episode

I share my thoughts about JIRA7, JIRA Core, and JIRA Software.

Resources Mentioned

• JIRA 7 Migration Hub (IMPORTANT!)
• Podcast Music – The Boss Intro (remix) – MDAJ (Me)

Social

• Twitter
• Facebook

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Blog Version Of Podcast

Not a transcript, but a standalone blog post of the podcast if you are unable to listen. Enjoy!

Overview

With JIRA 7.0 came the breakout of JIRA from being an application itself to being a platform.  What sits on top of this new platform are the applications: JIRA Core, JIRA Software, and JIRA Service Desk. Here are some things that I found from my early testing and documentation.

JIRA Core

This is JIRA. If you had JIRA before JIRA 7.0 then JIRA Core will carry on that moniker with some changes. This application is aimed at business teams with project schemes and workflows aimed towards business solutions.

When creating a project, you can choose from business templates that focus on Task management, Project management, or Process management.  Each option will have it’s own workflow style suited for those work styles.  When selecting one, each project will have its own Issue Type Scheme, Screen, Screen Scheme, Workflow scheme and Workflow.  The field configuration is left at default. You may also choose to opt for a shared configuration for projects that are similar.

Groups

First is the change from “jira-users” to “jira-core-users” for group management. Users will be added to this group by default to login and to be able to access the JIRA Core application. This does allow you to associate other groups for access permission and to define a default should you have more requirements regarding security.

JIRA Software

JIRA Software combines JIRA (Core) and the previously known, JIRA Agile. With this “merger”, JIRA Agile is no longer available for you to download in the marketplace. The downside is that the Agile functionality cannot be updated separately. This was something I liked to keep the improvements coming to my development teams throughout the year without the need of doing system upgrades. Now, to provide those new features, the entirety of the application must be upgraded.

With JIRA Software, you gain access to everything you had before. You will have access to the Boards for scrum planning or kanban. The release hub is available as well as developer tool integrations. And with that, this is what users of JIRA without Agile lose out.  If you were a team that used JIRA for development, but opted NOT to buy the Agile plugin, with JIRA Core you do NOT gain access to the release hub NOR the integrations. Meaning you cannot view commits on the issue as that is part of JIRA Software application functionality. Dashboard gadgets such as Road Map or Version Report are hidden from JIRA Core users as well.

Groups

The new group to give access to JIRA Software is called “jira-software-users”. Like JIRA Core, if you are upgrading to this version, then those users that had permission to use JIRA via the “JIRA Users” group will be assigned to this new group so that they may login and access the application.

Applications

With JIRA as a platform, applications were introduced. JIRA Service Desk is now an application instead of a plugin. Installation of this is now done through the Applications tab instead of the Add-ons.  JIRA Portfolio may follow in the future, so you may want to stay tuned.

Licenses

Licenses now fall under each application that you have installed. You may ask yourself “If they are applications now, can I have more than one installed?” Yes. You can have JIRA Software licenses while simultaneously having JIRA Core licenses.

Example: If you have a business team that has no interest in the “Agile” or Software development features of JIRA, then they can be assigned the JIRA Core license only.

JIRA Software users DO NOT need to be assigned to the JIRA Core user group. JIRA Software users automatically inherit JIRA Core features in addition to the Software features.

Pricing

There should be no change in licensing for existing users. JIRA > JIRA Core pricing remains the same. JIRA + JIRA Agile > JIRA Software pricing remains the same as well.

“Wait, I just check the cross reference and the price increases from what I pay for JIRA + JIRA Agile?”

You’re right. Though, Atlassian has stated that pricing will remain the same for existing users while the listed price will be for new users going forward.

Final Thoughts

JIRA 7 is a big release and I’ve only dipped my toe in it.  Like you, I will have to think about how my existing security structure works and how it will work in JIRA Software going forward. Potentially, how does my licenses work if I have a mix of business and development. Can I break it out as per application? Or Just stick with JIRA Software. Not only do admins and users have a new UI to deal with (if they skipped 6.4), but we will need to understand the new structure of JIRA so that we can manage this new platform going forward!