Hi Community!
This is a pretty long winded question so apologies, but thank you in advance for any help!
I am a pretty well versed in Jira Software and I have used a couple of Jira Work Management Project previously so I know how to do all of the admin side of Jira, but, I am looking for the BEST way to manage a PMO portfolio of Cloud WMS Implementation projects simultaneously. I've seen somewhat related questions but none of the already posted answers really achieve what I am looking for so asking in a different way:
I *think* Ideally I would like to have 1 whole "project" template set up that I can clone, and the build a "plan" to look at an aggregated Gantt view of the whole portfolio and a "board" that pulls from all of the projects to delegate work to the consulting & integration teams. I know how to create plans and boards but I'm also interested if someone has done it better in any other way. For example, my first attempt at setting this up I had created 1 single "project" for the portfolio, and then I had created issuetypes of Project and Phase and made the hierarchy :
Project
Phase
Story/task
Sub-task
and I used the 3rd party App DeepClone to be able to copy the entire "project" structure, which was now just an "issue" but this seemed to get messy pretty quickly.
Our implementation methodology has the projects set up into Phases including:
We also have integration workstreams that get added to some of the projects and development feature enhancement work that gets added to some of the projects. The dev work is recorded in a different Jira Software project for our eng team.
I need a way to visualize all 3 workstreams simultaneously and set dependencies with auto-adjusting start and end dates based on the dependencies (I don't think native Jira does this, so anyone have a suggestions for an app? that also might work with Deep Clone or something that copies projects & issues so the dependencies will stay in the new project once the clone has happened?)
So my main questions are:
Starting to think it might be easier to revert back to Smartsheet for the project planning aspect but I feel like I am close to a good way to do this in Jira.
Thanks!
Hi there! 👋
What a thoughtful and detailed question—thank you for sharing! Managing ERP/WMS implementation projects in Jira, especially across multiple simultaneous workstreams, can indeed get complex, but it’s a challenge that Jira, combined with the right apps and setup, can handle beautifully.
Here’s a potential approach based on our experience at Getint (we specialize in cross-platform integrations and helping organizations optimize their workflows):
For your use case, a combination of Jira Software (for dev teams) and Jira Work Management (for PMO and operational work) works best. You can leverage Advanced Roadmaps (available in Jira Software Premium) to aggregate views, manage dependencies, and visualize progress across multiple projects.
Given the phases and workstreams you’ve outlined, we recommend sticking with multiple projects to ensure scalability and clarity. Each implementation project can be a separate Jira project, and you can link related projects or workstreams using:
Alternatively, if you prefer to manage everything within one project, your hierarchical structure (Project > Phase > Story > Sub-task) works well but requires careful management to avoid clutter.
While native Jira doesn’t offer auto-adjusting start/end dates, here are some app recommendations:
These tools integrate seamlessly with Jira and can accommodate your cloning needs while maintaining dependencies.
To manage workstreams across different projects (e.g., dev work in a separate Jira Software project), ensure you’re using issue linking or cross-project Epics. For example:
Your approach is on the right track, and with the addition of the right apps, you can achieve a scalable, visual, and efficient project management setup within Jira. If you’d like tailored assistance or further recommendations, feel free to reach out—we’d be happy to help optimize your workflow!
Cheers,
Renata
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