Frequently Asked Questions

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Licensing & Billing

If we’ve already purchased ActionableAgile for Jira, do we need to pay for this app too?

Yes. This app is a separate app from ActionableAgile for Jira and must be purchased separately.

Can I purchase this for just a few users on our Jira instance?

No. Atlassian rules say that all “paid via Atlassian” apps must be licensed at the same user count as the host instance. Please note that the pricing takes this into account.

How to apply a coupon code?Cloud Only

1. Go to Apps and then go to Promotions and press Apply Promotions

2. Open

   

   Enter the coupon code in the designated box

   Open

   

3. You should then see that the coupon has been applied

How to apply a coupon code? Server and data center only

Please look at this quick how to video: How to apply a coupon code

Basic Usage

Can I forecast epics or versions across multiple projects?

Yes. When choosing what to forecast you can enter more than one project. However, in order to get a valuable forecast, you need to be able to choose a representative set of historical data. This can be more complex when you’re working across projects.

How do I choose the right historical data to use for the forecast?

This is the most complicated question in the process and there is no one right answer.

Look at the work that you’re trying to forecast and choose that same type of work in the same projects. “Same type” can include some combination of issue types, component, label, etc.

In regards to how much data you pull, ask yourself if the conditions you had during the default time period roughly match the conditions you’ll have for the work you’re trying to forecast. Conditions means factors like team size and availability, type of work being done, how much work you try to do at one time, etc. These are all factors that impact the rate at which you finish work. If your answer is yes, you don’t need to choose a longer time period. But, if it doesn’t, you may need to widen the time period until it does.

Just remember, exact precision isn’t needed for either input - you just need to be roughly similar. Regardless, remember to revisit the forecast regularly to monitor how things go once work has begun.

How do I choose the right confidence level?

To answer this question, think about the question “How dire are the consequences if I am wrong?” Knowing that you can never be 100% certain and that trying to be close means the more outliers you have to include, choose what risk you will be comfortable with. If you are ok with a 10% chance of an item taking longer than forecasted, choose 90% for the confidence level. There is no “best” answer, but a common choice is 80 or 85%.

How does the app determine which Epics are In Progress?

In your Jira workflow, each workflow status is assigned a status category: ‘To Do', ‘In Progress' or ‘Done'.  For every Epic we check it’s current workflow status and its status category to determine if the Epic is not yet started, in progress, or completed. If you want Epics to appear as IN PROGRESS, make sure you have transitioned them to an In Progress workflow status.

We don’t assume that just because an issue in the Epic is In Progress, that you want to consider the entire Epic as In Progress as there are some use cases where that wouldn’t be accurate. We prefer to have you be explicit about this.

Want your Epics to automatically move to an In Progress workflow status when you start an issue inside your Epic? Jira has automation features that make this possible.

Why can’t I reorder items when Show not started is toggled off?

When you are in the mode where show not started is toggled off, the order of the items doesn’t impact the forecast. See the FAQ on how daily throughput is distributed across items for more explanation.

Can I simulate what would happen if we deprioritized an epic we’ve already started in order to focus on one we haven’t started yet?

Yes. Ensure that the Show not started toggle is toggled on. Now drag and drop items so that the items you want to count as in progress in your What If? scenario are the top items. Finally make sure that your Concurrent Items dropdown value is as desired. Click Save and the forecast will recalculate.
See this and other What If? questions

Forecast Mechanics

How is the daily throughput distributed across items in progress to get the forecast?

To simulate many real-life scenarios, we randomly distribute how much of your daily throughput goes to each epic or version currently marked as in progress. You cannot override how this works at this time.

How does the app take your historical data and use it to make a forecast?

We look at your data’s Throughput metric (how many items you finish per day) and feed that into our Monte Carlo simulations to generate the probabilistic forecasts used in the app.

Why does it take so long to generate my forecast?

In no case will the forecast be instantaneous - there’s a lot getting done behind the scenes! However, you do have an impact on this. The length of time it will take to generate your forecast depends on the number of items you’re forecasting and how many historical data points you are using within the forecast.

If you have a hundred epics, for instance, is it really valuable to forecast them all right now? How likely is it that your priority will change sooner than you get around to starting them? You also don’t need thousands of historical data points to give a great forecast. Unless there’s a valid reason to use so many, consider trimming it down a bit.

Portfolio Forecaster vs ActionableAgile: What’s the Difference?

Seeing double? Or at least it seems that way.
Forecasting can seem daunting, and when two tools offer you a way to forecast your outcomes, you may wonder if they're offering you the same thing wrapped differently.
We're here to fill those knowledge gaps and give you the tools to pick the best weapon for the battle, whether backlog, bottlenecks, or bad data behaviour.

ACTIONABLEAGILE
ActionableAgile is a great tool that offers you lots of features. With twelve different charts to choose from, you're spoilt for choice. The fundamental purpose of this tool is to help facilitate the flow of work through your process as smoothly as possible. Doing this helps you get down into the nitty-gritty details of your data, prompting discourse about what's working and, more importantly, what isn't.

When it comes to forecasting, ActionableAgile allows you to see:

• how long it's likely to take to finish a single work item

• how long it's likely to take to finish multiple work items

• how many work items are likely to finish in a given time period
  
  

Forecasting individual work items is done via our Cycle Time Scatterplot, and Monte Carlo simulations are provided via our Monte Carlo When and How Many charts.

PORTFOLIO FORECASTER

Portfolio Forecaster forecasts your entire portfolio of epics or versions for a given project or projects. Like ActionableAgile, it looks at your past data. But, Portfolio Forecaster is able to do higher-level forecasts by taking into account the current number of portfolio items in progress and the amount of remaining work in each. Portfolio Forecaster takes all of these factors, combines them with the level of risk you're comfortable with, and gives you a forecast for each item in your portfolio.

Not only that, you can do scenario planning to see:

• when portfolio items in your backlog might be completed

• the impact of having more (or less) portfolio items in progress

• the impact of reprioritizing some items and putting others on hold.

Your forecasts are updated every time you visit so you can rest easy knowing that all the conditions you’re experiencing are being reflected in your forecast.

MAKING A DECISION

All forecasts in both ActionableAgile and Portfolio Forecaster are presented with a probability (likelihood) to clearly associate risk. They also both allow you to get an updated forecast with very little effort so you can always be aware of the current situation and stay ahead of surprises.

Portfolio Forecaster is the choice for when work works; you just want to know how and when. When you aren’t satisfied with your forecast, ActionableAgile can provide detailed insights. Using them together is the one-two punch needed to elevate your team, department, or organisation to a higher level of maturity.