Our partnership with Atlassian - how we can help you implement agile working with the tools you already have

Although it originated in the world of software development, the agile manifesto can be applied to almost any project. The idea that work should be flexible, collaborative and continually responsive to feedback is as valuable today as it was 20 years ago. The only difference is that now there are dozens of products designed to help you. The marketplace is flooded with options, but one company has stood the test of time: Atlassian. 

The name may not be familiar, but you’ll almost certainly recognise some of its products. Since 2002,  Jira, Confluence and Trello have all become household names in the world of collaboration software.  Atlassian boasts over 235,000 customers across 190 countries, and that number is growing every day. 

Altassian’s tools are easy to use, but not always easy to master. Many companies have purchased an Atlassian subscription, but are only enjoying a fraction of the potential benefits. We hate to see good software going to waste, and so does Atlassian. That’s why they made us one of their official solution partners. 

Whether you’re a new user or an old hand, we can help you to get the most out of your Atlassian suite. In this blog, we’ll take a look at some Atlassian products in turn, and explain how we can work with you to unlock its full potential. 

Meet the Big Three

Atlassian has spent the last 20 years helping teams to manage projects and collaborate more effectively. The company offers a wide range of products, but there are three in particular that have caught the world’s imagination:

• Jira Software is Atlassian’s flagship product. It is a collaborative task management tool which allows users to track projects from inception to completion. Tasks (or “issues”) are raised and then grouped into projects. These are represented visually on boards, which can be edited to reflect different workflows. The status of each task can be updated as you go, giving everyone a clear picture of how the project is progressing. 

• Jira Service Management takes Jira one step further. It is designed to improve the workflow between multiple teams by increasing visibility and allowing team members to make service requests. It also includes a portal to bring customers into the loop. 

• Confluence is designed to act as a “single source of truth” for a company's knowledge and information. It is a shared workspace that can be updated and edited by anyone. Think of it as an internal Wikipedia, but with a whole lot more functionality. Pages are grouped into page trees for easier navigation, and a search function lets users find what they need in seconds. 

Find out more about our partnership with Atlassian

Practising what we preach

We were big fans of Atlassian long before our partnership. The company’s products are at the core of our way of working, and this gives us the confidence to advise others on how best to use them. Everything we recommend has been tried and tested at Daemon Towers. We’re not just the scientists. We’re the guinea pigs too!

Jira is a cornerstone of life at Daemon. We use it to track all of our work, from digital transformation projects to daily admin tasks. This is especially useful when it comes to recruitment. Jira allows us to track vacancies and monitor new hires. Every step of the onboarding process is automatically assigned to make sure that nothing is missed. The same goes for offboarding. From start to finish, the lifecycle of every employee is tracked through Jira. 

Confluence is just as important. It functions as our intranet and information and knowledge management system. Confluence provides a wealth of knowledge for every employee. New hires don’t have to ask around for information, or go searching for a certain drive or document. The cumulative knowledge of the entire team is stored in one easily-searchable location. 

More than software development- How Jira can help with any task

Something for everyone

We believe that the Atlassian suite has something to offer every company. Our job is to identify areas for improvement and match you with the perfect set of tools. Our recommendations will vary from business to business, but they will usually focus on unlocking the three core benefits of Atlassian:

• Knowledge sharing

A 2018 study found that the average employee wastes 5.3 hours a week hunting down information. That’s almost an entire working day spent looking for something that should be immediately accessible. 

By acting as a “single source of truth”, the Atlassian suite  puts this information at everyone’s fingertips. There’s no need to wade through a sea of documents or pester a senior colleague. Everything is right there, and this can drastically improve the turnaround time on projects. 

• Transparency 

With nearly half of UK employees now working from home at least some of the time, keeping everyone on the same page can be a challenge. Overseeing a project via email is impractical when team members are keeping different hours or working in different time zones. 

Jira solves this problem by providing a shared visualisation of each project. Even if an employee isn’t contactable, it’s easy to see what they’ve been working on and what needs to be done next. Comments can be added to any task, guaranteeing that important feedback isn’t missed. 

• Team spirit

This is where Atlassian’s mission statement really chimes with our own. We often talk about the ‘North Star Vision’- the overall goal that guides a project. By visualising individual tasks as part of a single objective, Jira makes this vision seem far more tangible. 

These are just some of the many benefits that we’re keen to share with you. Training, guidance and best practice consultancy support are our bread and butter, but we offer a range of other services as part of our Atlassian partnership. We can also renew, upgrade and combine your Atlassian licences. For more details, send us an email or connect with Dan Hellings on Linkedin.