Jira Work Management for Software Development?

[Vitaliy Pisarev]

Hello,

I know there is a lot of material on it online, including the post by Atlassian. However, I am looking at JWM and I see a board view and a list view, calendars etc.

We are a relatively small company choosing our SDLC tool, blogs claim that JWM is not meant for Software Development work but it is not entirely clear what I wont be able to do in JWM. 

I think it is managing sprints but I wanted to confirm with the community.
What missing other features may dissuade me from using JWM for SDLC?

  

[John Funk]

Hi Vitaliy - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

So, Jira Work Management and Jira Software have been merged into just Jira. Now those projects types are called Business and software. They are making the List view a part of the Software projects already. And Calendar is coming. So I would encourage you to use Jira Software for software development projects and you will get the additional functionality as it is added. 

[YY Brother]

Thanks John. I agree with you.

Just to add to that Backlog, Sprint, Release, Components, Codes & Deployment are features JWM doesn't have currently. If you need to use one of them, please switch to JSW. Otherwise, just keep on with JWM.

Thanks,

YY哥

[Ram Narayanan Karunakaran]

Jira Work Management can be a powerful tool for software development when tailored properly. Though originally designed for business teams, its flexible workflow engine, task dependencies & integration with Jira Software make it a strong choice for managing development sprints, backlogs and release cycles. It's especially useful for bridging non-technical stakeholders with engineering teams through clear visual timelines and forms.

In a technical setting, we’ve seen engineering teams—like those from a product focused tech firm under the CONTUS Tech ecosystem customize Jira Work Management to align with Agile methodologies. They map user stories, epics and bugs within tailored workflows that sync with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps metrics. When used alongside automation rules and structured boards, Jira Work Management becomes more than a task tracker, it supports end-to-end software delivery from planning to post deployment analysis.

[Kamal Deep Pareek]

Jira Work Management (JWM) is designed for business teams and lacks several key features essential for software development. Most notably, it doesn’t support agile-specific tools like backlog management, sprint planning, burndown charts, or developer-focused integrations (e.g., code repositories, CI/CD). While JWM offers boards, calendars, and list views, it’s not optimized for iterative development or engineering workflows. For full SDLC support, Jira Software is better suited—it includes scrum/kanban boards, epics, and advanced reporting. If your team follows agile practices or needs integration with dev tools, JWM will feel limited. Use JWM for non-dev projects; choose Jira Software for engineering teams.

[Mark Taylor]

Hey @John Funk is there a beta to get on this do you know? I'm just in the process of setting up JWM with our teams and be keen to try it out and do it once

[John Funk]

Hey Mark - Why wouldn't you just use a Jira Software project? I am not aware of any beta right now. 

Also, if you go to Project Settings for the JWM project, you should see Development Tools on the left hand menu that you can select and connect.