Should a create a project for each division/product line?

[Marcela]

I am setting up Jira from scratch and my first thought was to create a Project for each Software project we plan to execute, but then realized that I should use Plans or Initiatives for that instead. Then, what is the purpose of Projects in Jira? are they meant to represent different groups/divisions such as product lines or functional areas in my org?

[Jack Brickey · Accepted solution]

That’s a difficult question to answer given the limited data here. However typically development teams will create a project per product. Key reasons for this include:

• Different teams working on different projects
• Different workflows and processes
• some teams may want to scrub some may want kanban
• release cycles are different
• permission schemes are different
• Notification schemes are different

While I don’t currently use road maps currently I don’t see how that would address multiple products without considering multiple projects.

certainly you would want to create different projects for different business units needs.

[Marcela]

Thanks Jack! that is what I was thinking, but wanted to have some level of confirmation I was leading in the right direction. 

I am thinking on creating a project per functional division, like HR, Customer Support, etc and also by product lines within Engineering.

[Jack Brickey]

Sounds good. What I would advise is to interview your teams like HR to understand their needs and willingness to use Jira to solve their needs.

[Marcela]

yes, I absolutely will do that. Thanks!!

[John Funk]

Hi Marcela,

We tend to use Projects in Jira as teams or product lines as you mention. Then we use Epics to track more traditional "projects" within the product line or team.