Jira vs. TestTrackPro

By Zacharias J. Beckman

We recently compared TestTrackPro to Jira. We ended up choosing Jira, but it was a close margin. I thought I'd document a few of the things we liked about TestTrackPro.

TestTrackPro is a mature product. It's been around for a long time and has developed many real-world solutions. Most of it's attraction lies in this area... in other words, their solutions to real-world problems. Overall, we felt that their user interface was fine (a bit harder to use than Jira), the basic features are very similar (to Jira), etc. Here's where they excel, though:

Rules

TTP has an extensive rule engine making it possible to assemble some very complex automation tasks. Setting up rules such as "if component=X then assign to Joe," or "if an issue re-enters opened state assign it to the last developer to work on it," or "if the estimate field is not filled don't let work begin on the issue," or "if target release=beta4 then set due-date=(beta4 due_date)."

Customer integration

TTP provides web- as well as embedded tools for integrating with our applications. So, for Windows applications we can actually have a Windows dialog box open up to submit an issue. This particular aspect was not that important, but what we found very attractive is how TTP handles users and customers separately, and how we could create and publish forms by class of customer and product.

So, for example, we could create different issue submission pages for each product. Those pages could then be "published" and visible only to customers. The facilities for creating forms used only in certain contexts (eg. with customers for product X vs. other customers for product Y) were very attractive.

More customer integration

We can easily see all kinds of information about customers. This is very conducive to customer support. We know who the customer is, how to contact them, what kind of installation they have, and what issue(s) they have reported in the past. Excellent customer handling features. This is really helpful when an annoyed customer calls – I can, at a glance, see how long they have been waiting, what kind of issues they have reported and how often, etc., etc., and all within a few seconds.

User defaults

As a regular Jira user, Jira should know a bit about me. Who I am, what platform and O/S I am using, my hardware configuration. If I could store this into a personal profile, then Jira could enter my defaults into every issue I create... and I wouldn't have to retype them.

User interface

Overall, the Jira user interface is better. But there were a few things we liked about TTP. The layout of issues in directory (tabular) form is better--you can see more information more readily.

Probably my biggest gripe with Jira's layout is that the issue summary is in such a small column relative to other things (such as submitter or type). Some work could go into column layout and page layout. Ideally, I'd love to have the ability to create different column layouts and switch between them with a single click (eg., the "time tracking layout" and the "issue summary layout," which are very different). Jira's single layout makes it hard to see everything.

Solosubmit

They include a few prebuilt customer forms, including Solo-submit, a web-based bug reporting form that is appropriate for customer facing support requests.

Workflow diagramming

TTP's workflow customization actually provides a web-based diagramming tool. That is, we can change workflow (eg. "if a case is resolved set parameter Y and route it to Customer Service Followup") or change the default rules of the system (eg. "after an issue is marked Fixed change status to Pending QA") and see it in a diagram. While the diagram was snazzy, what we really loved is the ability to make this kind of customization easily.

Windows client (Java client?)

TTP includes a native Windows application for working with the support database (you can get a screen shot of it off their web site). For those who live in Jira all day long, a more powerful, possibly Swing based client would be a nice option. (On the other hand, some of us feel that all that effort should just stay focused on making the web client exceptional).

Workflow summary

Issues have a workflow summary that shows the entire history of an incident in compressed form (eg., one liners that say "assigned to Fred on XXX," "Fixed by Fred on XXX.") This was nice.

CVS integration

I understand that's coming in version 2.6. I can't wait to see it.

Incidentally, the reasons that we chose not to go with TTP correspond with Jira's strengths: TTP is a bit hard to use (the interface is convoluted), it has a few too many options and fields making it hard to administer, installation and setup was difficult and left us with the impression that we'd have long term support issues.

We also liked JIRA's pricing model. Long-term, TTP would be a bit more expensive, although initial costs are about the same.

I'd say the number one reason we agreed Jira was the choice is your user interface. We don't want to spend time figuring out how to use and manage our tracking system – we have enough trouble finding time to work on our tasks already! The most important feature in my mind (from the project management perspective) are your project estimation, time tracking and roadmap features. These are a great help in keeping our team focused on upcoming goals.

Thanks for a great product. I hope you found this interesting reading.