Project management has its challenges; one of which is the ability to communicate project plans and progress in a simple way everyone will understand. You want to be able to align your team for maximum efficiency, but you also want to turn a bunch of scattered project data into clear insights at the end of the day so you can make decisions. Otherwise what’s the point of having access to so much data?
Now, yes, there are a few roadmaps available for Jira, whether we’re talking Jira plugins or standalone apps that integrate well with Jira, but none of them approaches project, portfolio and product management like Swanly does!
The problem with a lot of tools today is that they’ve got way too much info available, they offer you a plethora of options but no real guidance whatsoever.
The Swanly approach to work management in Jira
Jira Cloud & integration
First things first, the obvious; Swanly has been a Cloud app since day one, and unless you’ve been living under a rock :P, you’re aware of Atlassian’s decision to discontinue Server products. Swanly is already established in Cloud and offers a real example of cloud extendability potential.
On another note, Swanly was originally created as a solution for digesting information in Jira; it was basically designed for Jira and so integration doesn’t get better than this. You can import Jira projects directly into Swanly, and have everything mapped instantly in your timeline.
Expert approach to project management
Swanly allows you to access the key data you need when you need it. It connects all your Jira data from across projects and teams, puts it together neatly so you don’t overdose on info, then provides you with the visual reporting you need to make decisions. After all, you don’t just want data, you want well organized data that you can work with, right?
The idea is to be able to plan your work clearly in a dashboard system that expertly compartmentalizes access to crisp and concise data delivered seamlessly to the right person at the right time. We call this approach methodology-driven or guided because it’s done in a particular way; a way we know works based on experience and a whole lot of feedback from all kinds of Jira users.
Centralized access to Jira data
Data is everywhere but you don’t want to waste your time looking for it. With Swanly, you can import all your Jira work into one place: the roadmap. Then it’s easy to align your team once you’ve integrated your data in a centralized hub that allows for cross-project, cross-team reporting, and the joy of missing out on fragmented and scattered information. Swanly is basically your hub for planning, tracking progress, and taking action to ensure your project moves in the right direction. It’s kind of an all encompassing expert tool with a lot of benefits.
Efficiency means no wastage
No waste, no garbage, no clutter, but quick drilled-down access to data; that’s the promise Swanly makes to you. Your key data points are all there, filtered out for you so you don’t get overwhelmed. The idea is that you should be able to make quick decisions just by looking at your data; that’s how it should be! Everything you need to access to make decisions is there, compartmentalized nicely for you. And on top of it all, Swanly literally takes minutes to set up. There are no such roadmaps in Jira!
Swanly features you want to know about
Portfolio issue roadmap
It allows you to schedule any issue from any Jira project in a super nice, super neat cross-project roadmap timeline then access issue progress details like aggregated scope insights (status, time tracking, story points) and the burndown chart with a single click.
Project release roadmap
You can plan and manage releases across Jira projects in a nicely centralized project portfolio release roadmap and create cross project releases with sync versions.
List view for issues and releases
With Swanly, you get full access to high-level data like name, status, type, progress, description and start&end dates, all in one table. Plus, you get to track progress across multiple issues, releases and projects.
Issue and release report panel
This is the holy grail where you’ll find the info you need about any Jira project issue and release. Anything from progress scope (status tracking, story points tracking, time tracking and burndown chart) to connected projects.
Predefined and custom stage templates
The whole point of working with Swanly is to work efficiently; one way to do so is by standardizing your Jira project planning process with simple stage templates you can use for issues and releases. It makes no sense to spend time setting up a repeatable process every time, right?!
Stage dropdown in roadmap
This is a pretty cool feature of the Swanly roadmap; it allows you to track progress of your Jira project, release and issue directly on the timeline. The drop down appears when you click on any work component in the roadmap, and shows you progress for all stages. So basically, you can track progress at a glance without having to go anywhere.
Roadmap timeline toolbar
The toolbar has been designed to offer maximum efficiency when you’re making changes to the roadmap. It allows you to zoom, filter, expand stages (drop down) and group by project, status and template.
Cross-project releases and reporting
This is a major plus when it comes to Swanly. You can synchronize release versions across Jira projects then track release scope in a single report which shows you the release from multiple projects. Basically, you’ve got full access to any release process, with reports that are updated on the spot and super easy to share.
Burndown chart for issues and releases
The burndown chart is really useful for understanding Jira issue and release progress; it looks at the effort needed to finish on time given what time and work you have left to finish.
Dark mode
Go big or go home, they said. We like dark mode, most of us use it at Jexo! It’s a really popular user interface feature with graphs and dashboards that look way better!
Upcoming features
As you know, life is short and so we’re on! We’re working on our next feature updates, and that includes 3 awesome new features: milestones, drag&drop, and dependencies. Hopefully, once we’re done with these features, we’ll be tackling columns in the list view and hierarchy! Oh yes!
Why expertise embedded in an app matters
Thing is, simple is better; that’s the truth. Even Einstein, whose brain could tackle the most complex of problems, believes that unless you manage to make it simple, you’re not doing it right! The problem with a lot of tools today is that they’ve got way too much info available, they offer you a plethora of options but no real guidance whatsoever. Also, a lot of apps require serious technical skills to implement and a whole lot of training for everyone to use them. Swanly, on the other hand, can be set up in minutes and it doesn’t get simpler than that.
Been there, done that
The info we think you need to see, we present it in a way that maximizes user experience. No one does it like we do; a lot of time and work were spent perfecting the design and abilities of Swanly. Thing is, we’re not giving you a bunch of data for you to look at, we’re giving you the data we know matters because we’ve been there and done it. After all, Jexo co-founder and product manager Nikki is also a UX designer, while co-founder/CEO Biro is a project manager. They’re users who couldn’t find what they wanted in the Atlassian ecosystem so they decided to create it!
Why are we here even though Advanced Roadmaps exists in Jira Premium by default?
Ok, so we’ve actually done a feature by feature comparison between Swanly and Advanced Roadmaps, so check it out! Now, you might ask yourself why we’d bother build an app that competes with a Jira-built roadmap; the answer is simple; it’s not exactly competition!
A roadmap timeline is not a Gantt chart
First of all, Swanly is a plug&play app which means it’s a simple tool you can get up and running within minutes (skipping the headache of setup all together of course)! It’s super easy to configure and work with, and requires no technical background at all. The dashboard gives compartmentalized access to information so you don't go blind with everything all at once, and you can get ready-made reports on the go to share with others.
Advanced Roadmaps is a Gantt chart, it’s not a timeline. It’s much more complex than Swanly, and fundamentally, it's more of a table (more complex than Swanly’s list view) with a section that showcases dependencies; and that is quite technical to set up. Plus, if you've ever worked with Advanced Roadmaps or similar Gantt charts, you know that all of your tasks are going to be included in that table. Swanly stacks tasks which is why it's so much easier to look at. So, instead of scrolling down, you simply choose what you want to see.
If your project is huge, and you need a complex tool that can do a gazillion things, then you’re probably better off with a Gantt chart like Advanced Roadmaps, Structure or even BigPicture. These tools are difficult to navigate and explore; the features aren’t super clear and you need to customize the hell out of them to get the data you want to see.
But if your project is ok complexity wise (not too big) and you’re simply interested in managing everything from one place with instant access to the information we know you’ll need to make decisions, not to mention you’d rather include everyone on the team and make it easy for them to align, then Swanly is a perfect fit. We believe in living the good life while we work; simple is definitely better.
Why companies like us are the future of software?
You can no longer differentiate between code, software, design, development, marketing, content and customer. They all interact together in an ever-moving ecosystem that is whole. Isn’t it lovely that we’re moving towards more inclusion and a holistic outlook on things?
Identity is a mix of purpose, value and uniqueness
So why do companies exist? Mckinsey research will tell you it’s all about identity. People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. And how do companies create identity? Three things: purpose, value, and uniqueness.
- Purpose: we create software that answers as many requirements from clients as we can, without compromising our values of course. Basically, we create simple, straightforward SaaS apps that customers want. The magic happens when we manage to keep the right balance and choose the requests that can help as many customers as possible while maintaining the integrity of our apps.
- Value: we’re not just building software here, we’re building a culture of knowledge in the industry. We want our clients to know what they’re doing, what’s available, how the industry operates, and so on. Our tools are the apps of the future, simple, straightforward, easy to setup and use, and that offer data in the best possible way. We’ve really thought very hard as to what makes data important. We understand that managers don’t have time to figure things out, they want ready-made plug&play solutions they can use to manage everything.
- Uniqueness: our team is quite unique and has skills; to each their own and they all put them to work. See, we all participate in creating content for Jexo, from videos to blogs, interviews, ideas, pictures, you name it! We’ve managed to put together so many projects; from our weekly Atlassian news segment which is super helpful for anyone involved with Atlassian, to our Startup Corner which is beneficial for anyone starting a software company, Glossary articles and videos, and other articles about a bunch of topics in PPM, risk management, product development and so on.
When you invest in software, you’re not just paying for an app; you’re paying for the whole experience, and the more complete that experience is, the more valuable your investment is, right?
Check us out! Swanly is free if you're 10 users or less; and if you're more than 10, you can still try Swanly for free in the Atlassian Marketplace; you’ve got a whole month to experiment with it and see what it can do for you. And please don’t be a stranger - message us regarding any question you might have, we’re always quick to answer! :)
Also, we put together three use cases to give you an idea of the various ways you could use Swanly: