Why integrate JIRA and MS TFS?

[Ole Kristensen]

What is the usecase for integrating MS TFS and JIRA? Why not simply choose the one over the other and avoid the hassle/cost of integration?

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!

Cheers,

Ole Kristensen

[andrzej_p · Accepted solution]

One thing to mention is that TFS offers also version control system while JIRA as such doesn't have that feature. Of course it can be easily integrated with Git, there's even Atlassian Stash that fits in nicely.

From technical perspective I don't see any strong reason for integration. Both solutions have pros and cons, and having them integrated probably is the worst choice overall. But there are situations when it's desired solution and then UseTFS plugin can also help you a bit :)

Few examples:

• company A has aquired company B. A was doing java application, they use JIRA + Git, while B something in .NET framework and use TFS. If both dev teams are happy with their tools why force them to switch. Integration can help
• help desk uses JIRA to register customer tickets, only some of these need to go to dev team that works with TFS on daily basis. Constanlty switching and copying info between those two is not what you want
• Dev team has TFS as version control, TFS build server in place etc. they want to use JIRA and keep TFS for version control. Now you need to associate changesets with JIRA issues.

So from my perspective it's only worth considering if you already have one of the solutions in place and there are reasons to use the other one. This should be considered case by case.

If you're "starting from scratch" - don't integrate.
If you're considering a swtich from one to the other and don't see strong reasons to partially stay with current system - don't integrate.
If there are clear benefits of using one solution in some of your scenarios and the other one for something different - think about integration :)

Hope this helps.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

This is roughly what I'd have posted as well.

There's no solid technical reason for bothering to integrate, it's purely a business and user decision to do it. Using both can become more of a problem than an efficient way to work, so if you have to use both, keep it simple, and always, always, listen to your users.

[Ivar]

@Ole, it is a very good question to ask. As some of the guys above say, there might be organizational reasons to do this. I am in a scenario right now where I am helping a new customer "go agile" - they are using TFS. My suggestion, because I find TFS quite inadequite even with the SCRUM Process Template for 2012, is to use Jira for reporting, overview and planning, and let the developers continue to use TFS for work-items and such. E.g. do not fight the entire war now but start using Jira little by little. I believe they eventually will move to Jira to deal with their "status updates" as well, and use TFS for code only.

One good reason for integrating them though, is e.g. what UseTFS have of funtionality in regards to check-ins. It makes it possible to link a check-in with a Jira issue, and have that information also available in Jira. This can make it easier to do code reviews, etc., and depending on your QA team and the work they do, they might do this for their code analysis as well.

If you only need to manage the issues and plan, and there are no good reasons to keep both synced, I see no reason why you should sync the two.

[Fabio Racobaldo _Herzum_]

Hello Ole,

this is an useful usercase http://www.kovair.com/omnibus-solutions/omnibus-adapter-for-atlassian-jira-and-tfs.html

Many companies has these two systems in place (due to business choice, supplier/customer request, specific group request or other reason) so they, probably, need to synch two systems each other.

Hope this helps,

Fabio

[UmarAlFarooq]

Fabio, your link is dead.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Again, it is 3 years old.

[Jon Hill]

The link is working for me.  I guess they reinstated it.