Dependency Tracker

[Saleem Raza]

How to identify and track internal and external dependencies in a sprint and beyond in Jira?

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Saleem Raza 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

Are you using Jira Cloud or Jira Data Center?

If you are using Jira Cloud, what type of subscription are you using - Free, Standard, Premium, or Enterprise?

What is your definition of "internal" vs. "external" dependencies? Is the boundary based on whether or not the depended on item is in the Sprint, or in the same Project, or within Jira at all?

[Saleem Raza]

Jira Cloud 

Enterprise subscription

Internal refers to other engineering teams, databases, architecture, etc., and external relates to business marketing/sales, etc.  

It depends, sometimes, on items in the Sprint, multiple sprints, Project definitely

[John Funk]

Are you using specific link types that identify internal and external dependencies? Something like Blocked internally by or Blocked externally by, etc. 

[Trudy Claspill]

Thank you for the additional information, @Saleem Raza 

When you talk about dependencies, are the things that are depended on going to be Work Items within Jira?

I recommend tracking dependencies by linking work items to each other. You can use the native links types that are available, like "blocks" / "is blocked by", or your Jira Admins can create custom link types.

Within the Enterprise plan you will have access to the Plans feature in Jira. You can create a Plan and leverage the Dependencies view and the Timeline view to visualize the dependencies between work items. You can learn more about the Plans feature from this documentation:

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/plan-and-view-cross-project-work-with-advanced-roadmaps/

There is also a recent collection of short videos on some of the features available here, including one on Dependency Tracking:

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/Unwrap-the-Perfect-Plan-Bite-Size-Learning-Series-for-Jira-Plans/ba-p/3156392

[Danut M _StonikByte_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Saleem Raza,

Welcome to the Atlassian Community. 

You can add the dependencies as links to the issues from sprint. For example, if an item from the sprint or product backlog depends on an issue from another Jira project, you can add a link to that issue of type "depends on".

If you have the dependencies tracked like this, you can then see them in search results or in Filter Results gadget of Jira by adding the Linked work items column. Unfortunately the Linked work items column does not show the link type and the status of linked items. 

But, if you are open to using plugins from Atlassian Marketplace, the dependencies can be visualized along with their linked type and status by using the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) gadget offered by our Great Gadgets app configured with display mode Linked Issues View.

See also https://community.atlassian.com/forums/App-Central-articles/How-to-Visualize-Linked-Issues-and-Their-Status-in-Jira/ba-p/3150240

Hope this helps.

Danut

[Saleem Raza]

Thank you - Danut M _StonikByte_