Help me finding a suitable SCRUM tool [closed]

Question

I need help finding a suitable, simple SCRUM board tool for using with a distributed team. The tool is meant to replace a physical SCRUM board. We use currently use FogBugz as the source of information and it will remain that way, this tool is only meant to replace the physical SCRUM board to visualise the progress in the current sprint.

I have tried the Kanban plugin for FogBugz which is merely acceptable. I have also tried Scrumy but I feel it's a bit to limited.

Requirements:

• Some kind of API, probably a HTML REST API. Needed in order to be able to import/export from/to FogBugz
• Custom columns (stretch, not started, started, review, test, done)
• Multiple users
• Sprints, name + start date + end date
• Stories, assigned to a sprint, assigned to a user, worked hours, estimate, current state (column on the board)
• Task support not needed since our smallest item is the story
• Description field should support rich text editing with bullet points, links etc.
• Easy drag/drop of stories between columns in the sprint
• Easy to move a story from one sprint to another

Extra:

• Dashboard

Not needed:

• Source control integration

Answer 1

I just went through an exhaustive search and trial of the tools out there (about two dozen or so) that include most of what you're looking for plus a few more, such as horizontal 'swimlanes' or pipelines. I was also looking for customizable columns, which is surprisingly rare, open RESTful APIs, integration with Google Apps, esp. gmail, built on a solid cutting edge web 2.0 framework such as Java or Ruby on Rails, Javascript, nice clean interface, etc. and the best I found are:

1. YouTrack by JetBrains
2. Yodiz
3. Mingle by ThoughtWorks
4. JIRA with GreenHopper plug-in
5. JayScrum

Not really scrum tools, but these Kanban tools are worth looking at:

1. KanBanTool
2. Kerika

Of these, Mingle and JIRA/GreenHopper are the most robust and can handle anything you would possibly want to do and would be great for distributed organizations, but are too complex for my simpler needs.

KanBanTool is dead simple and fast, but not enough features, such as sprints. I found YouTrack to be just right, with the best combo of features you need with an easy javascript drag and drop interface.

I think it imports from FogBugz and other tools. It also integrates with ZenDesk and several others.

Oh, I forgot Yodiz. Yodiz is a new one from Finland. Very powerful and nice clean interface. Free for up to 5 users. It does almost as much as Mingle (Mingle is the most robust one here) but seems much easier to customize and navigate, less learning curve.

Yodiz integrates with Google Apps and has an iOS version for iPhone and iPad for those interested in bridging the Apple and Google ecosystems, the only scrum tool I'm aware of that fits in both platforms/ecosystems.

JayScrum is a slick new HTML5 app with persistence so it's not dependent on a continuous internet connection. It also has a companion Android app.

I want to add three newer tools I recently discovered that are definitely worth checking out:

Moovia, which also has great built-in social tools

Agile Bench, a slick nicely designed yet easy to use Ruby on Rails tool

Scrumwise, a well-laid out online app that makes it simple

The ones that fit my own needs best after giving them all a spin: Moovia, Agile Bench, Yodiz, YouTrack, and Scrumwise but your mileage may vary...

Answer 2

I'm not sure if it fully fits your needs, but have you checked pivotal tracker?

See here:

http://community.pivotaltracker.com/pivotal/topics/using_pivotal_to_manage_scrum_environment

I've used it and quite enjoyed it, but I'm not doing pure "by the book" SCRUM

Answer 3

Have peek at Gemini and see if it meets your requirements:

• Has a planning board
• You can import quickly using the Excel/CSV based import wizard
• Has rich text editor as per your requirements
• You can tune to suit what you need through it's use of Project Templates

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I think it was mentioned earlier but for us Yodiz work like a charm. If offers more than what we need. Agile management tool, issue tracker, customizable group chat, company and project level reporting, graphs, scrum boards and issue boards and more. I tried quite many of those softwares but non beats Yodiz, and above all they are inexpensive and have best customer service ever. Awesome!

Answer 5

This is an Old Post, but still replying this in case some one finds this Post later and needs some info

I would recommend the following order

Atlassian Jira + Agile Pros - great on price, lots of feature Cons - Long leanring curve, too many feature makes navigation confusing

Pivotal Tracker Pros - lots of Integration points( so good for enterprise) Cons - Low on customization feature

VersionOne Pros - great UI and build for remote team to work together, medium to high on price Cons - Feature burden some of which you might not use but are cumbersome to navigate through.