How I Fell in Love with JIRA

My introduction to Atlassian products was by chance.  The company I was working for was using an ancient bug tracking application.  By ancient, I mean software that would only load in a browser version which was no longer available. In fact, the manufacturer had stopped supporting it many years prior.  The software was becoming increasingly unstable and a decision was made to switch to JIRA.  We were so excited to ditch the old software that we set up an official funeral for it at the office.  This was around the Halloween holiday, so we hung pictures of tombstones on the wall along with screenshots of our most “ghastly” bugs.  A team member wrote an obituary for the old application. We covered the scene with spider webs and skeletons.  It was a fun way to celebrate that we were changing to JIRA and also say “good riddance” to our old system.

I was immediately amazed by what JIRA offered us.  We were able to track all our work, not just our bugs.  The flexibility to work differently between projects and between issue types was something I hadn’t seen before.  The ease of customization had me dreaming of all the ways we could improve our processes.  I found myself immersed in the user documentation, reviewing the internal materials produced for the transition, and even helping others use this new application.  I moved from being a typical end user, to an application administrator, strategist, and trainer.  JIRA administration became an obsession and was easily the best part of my workday.

Today, I use JIRA and other Atlassian tools at my primary job, as a volunteer with the Atlassian User Group program, to run my side business, and even at home.  At home, JIRA tracks “bucket list” items, personal goals, and my asset list, for insurance purposes.  I use Confluence to collaborate with family members, plan trips, track “to do” items, and capture research details for major purchases.  The JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook was written in Confluence and the book writing progress was tracked in JIRA. These tools have become a vital part of my personal and professional life. It’s safe to say I’m a huge Atlassian fan.

Image: I’m Currently in a Relationship with JIRA

Learn more about the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook