BigPicture vs Structure for organizing JIRA programs

[Andrei [errno]]

not too worried about time tracking, mostly organizing tasks and seeing nice overviews of what's done/todo across teams etc.

has someone looked at these add-ons for their needs? thanks!

[Matthew Jagiello]

Structure let you organize your tasks very neatly, but that's about it - once organized, you are left on your own and good luck. BigPicture's main forte is the ability to visualize the data in multiple ways (suiting different purposes, such as resource, team or Sprint oriented) and sync the data between all these views right away. Also, just like Steven correctly noted, BP is easier to set up (or at least more straightforward).

From my my experience, the 2 plugins can coexist together, but often customers decide to stick with BigPicture alone, as it also lets you arrange your tasks without limits, so the basic promise of Structure is fully covered right away, too.

[Igor Sereda [ALM Works]]

Hi Matthew, I think it would be nice to disclose that you work for BigPicture.

[Matthew Jagiello]

Correct, it's not hidden anywhere, but I will add a line saying so at the end of such answers for clarity.

[Steven F Behnke]

They are similar.

Structure is much more mature. You will find more resources out there in regards to past experiences and implementations. However, I find structure to be quite complex. You can build nearly any system requiring hierarchy with Structure. ALM and HLM are within your grasp with Structure. Structure is great but you need to learn how to properly administer the configuration and synchronization. 

BigPicture is much more Software Development/Agile focused. It's very much focused on being a Project Management tool and is easier to set up. It's more simple to plug-n-play. 

[Andrei [errno]]

how overlapping are Structure and BigPicture features? what's more convenient to use? do these co-exist fine installed on the same system? from the sysadmin perspective: should we expect any pain in managing those? thank you for a quick reply

[Steven F Behnke]

I've implemented BigPicture, Structure, and JIRA Portfolio for clients. What sort of questions do you have?