JIRA portfolio planning and candidates

Question

I'm planning several epics for one specific team. I've assigned 4 people for that epic to make sure we deliver on a specific release (date). The planning algorithm only assigns 2 of the 4 candidates. Why?

I haven't configured any skills. And there are no other epics planned for this specific group of people.

The epic is <50 days. If i change it to 70 days it uses all 4 candidates. Why? Why is there a threshold of some kind?

unknown · Answer

Hi Martin,
Thank you for your reply. I'll try to alter the amount of work a bit to get the desired result.
Cheers, Joris

Martin Suntinger · Answer

Hi Joris, There are several factors that go into the scheduling algorithm, but a likely reason is the following:

Portfolio optimizes to get work done "as fast as possible" AND "with as few people as possible" - this optimization criteria has been choosen to guide the algorithm, particularly in case of larger teams, in order not to "over-assign" and focus on smaller groups of people completing a task - as long as it does not compromise the duration.

For Scrum teams, Portfolio "thinks in entire sprints", thus it could be that one scheduling option takes  let's say 1 full sprint and few days with 5 people, and another scheduling solution takes 2 full sprints for 3 people, the duration of both schedules is still "2 sprints", and thus considered equal, meaning the solution with 3 people would be preferred.

If this does not explain the behaviour, I'd recommend opening a support ticket with a plan export attached to the ticket so that the team can investigate the particular case and comment. Thanks!

Martin Suntinger, Product Manager for Portfolio