Cards

The video provides a foundational comparison between two popular project management tools, Jira and Azure Boards, aimed at individuals new to these systems. The speaker, Alex Crossley, explains that despite differences in user interface, both platforms operate on the same core principle of using "cards," "tickets," or "work items" to manage tasks, similar to physical job cards on a workshop wall. The main focus is on the hierarchical structure used to organise work, from large initiatives down to individual activities.

Both Jira and Azure Boards utilize a three-tiered hierarchy for organizing work within a team. In Jira, the largest unit of value, which cannot be completed in a single sprint, is called an 'Epic' (represented in purple). Epics contain smaller, deliverable outcomes called 'Stories', which are then broken down into the day-to-day 'Tasks'. Azure Boards follows a nearly identical structure, though with different terminology: the top-level item is called a 'Feature' (also purple), which contains 'Stories' (or Product Backlog Items), and these are further broken down into 'Tasks'. The fundamental concept of organizing large goals into manageable, time-boxed pieces of work is the same in both systems.

When comparing which tool is "best," we suggest it's a matter of context and scale, not just user preference. Jira is excellent for startups and teams using frameworks like Scrum. Azure Boards, however, is more robust for large, enterprise-level organizations. This is because Azure Boards offers additional hierarchical layers above its 'Feature' level, such as 'Epics' (used differently than in Jira) and 'Projects'. These higher tiers allow multiple teams to coordinate their work under larger, shared initiatives, making it better suited for scaled agile frameworks like SAFe.