How does JIRA help me track and manage customer and product info during a beta field trial?

[Julia Kedward]

At my company we gather and monitor information about sites that are beta testing hardware and software. We collect name, phone number, equipment, install date, feedback, and various details about the site setup. The program we currently use (Approach Lotus SmartSuite (N.9.8.0208.1300)) is old as dirt but flexible that we can add various fields and criteria at a whim. While the system is flexible in that regard it's so old that it's challenging to turn the collected data into information (reports, metrics, etc.) and, it no way, works with our other systems, where we capture bugs and issues. So the question is, if we went with something like JIRA for bug, issue, and PLM tracking and management what options does JIRA have for the unique collection of beta data?

[Fringe Technology]

You can easily create custom fields and screens in Jira, then report on that data or display it via Dashboards. Would you collect this data as part of a survey? or would you want to collect the data as a user enters an issue during the beta testing period?