5 Best Jira Project Porfolio Management Plugins for IT Companies

What is a Jira project portfolio management plugin? 

A Jira project portfolio management (PPM) plugin is a software extension or add-on that integrates with Jira. It enhances the capabilities of Jira by providing additional features specifically designed for managing and overseeing project portfolios.

The primary purpose of a Jira PPM plugin is to help organizations effectively plan, track, and prioritize multiple projects within a portfolio. It provides a centralized platform where project managers and stakeholders can gain visibility into the status, progress, and performance of various projects.

What should a Jira project portfolio management plugin include? 

A typical JIRA project portfolio management plugin should include features such as: 

Portfolio Planning: These plugins enable organizations to create and manage project portfolios, define strategic goals, allocate resources, and establish timelines for project execution.

1. Resource management, including workload management and capacity planning. 
2. Reporting and analytics combined with time tracking, timesheets, automatically updated data and visualizations with charts and graphs, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) related to project portfolios.
3. Project scheduling with flexible calendar, complete budgeting (overheads included), project progress and settlements. 
4. Overview of all projects with general statistics, reports and interactive charts. 
5. Integration and collaboration allowing for seamless data exchange and collaboration across teams, managers and their employees. 

Jira project portfolio management plugins: best choices 

But which Jira project portfolio management plugins can combine all of the above features? 

We have checked that - and here are our findings. 

Jira project portfolio management plugins: comparison

Primetric 

General description

Primetric is a tool that was made with managers’ needs in mind. It allows them to oversee all the projects while being able to delve into their details in just a few clicks. As a result, they are always updated on their operations, and they can make informed decisions about their future. 

Primetric stays ahead of the game thanks to its holistic approach. Its project portfolio management combines project schedules and resource management plans with finances and forecast. Importantly, all these information are automatically processes into intuitive reports helping the managers stay on top of thinks through the entire duration of project life cycle. It is also a perfect tool for collaboration with employees, which can track their time in the tool and see their automatically updated schedules, and sales department that can use Primetric to create an offer for customers in just a few minutes. 

Features: 

• advanced and flexible project scheduling with an option to create draft allocations or reservations, 
• smart resource management with skill management and capacity planning for better overview of employees’ availability, 
• complete control of project finances with real-time costs of work based on time tracking, overheads and settlement,
• collaboration space for all the departments with various customizable roles and access levels, 
• top-notch reporting with visualizations, tables, charts, and automatically updated info, as well as advanced customization features.  

Pros and cons: 

Pros: 

• a comprehensive Jira project portfolio management plugin with seamless integration, 
• covers all critical aspects of project portfolio management, 
• includes finances tailored to the needs of agencies and IT companies, with an option to monitor billable and non-billable hours, as well as different types of projects (Fixed Price, Time and Material),
• advanced reporting for both individual projects and the company’s business performance as a whole,
• customizable roles and access levels for all the employees, 
• easily customizable,
• extensive and excellent support (according to reviews on G2 and Capterra).

Cons: 

• high entry threshold solved by extensive support and consultations, 
• large number of features employees need to familiarize themselves with. 

Structure by Tempo

General description

Structure by Tempo is a Jira plugin that enhances project management by introducing hierarchical organization, visualization, and some reporting features. It allows users to break down projects into manageable components, track progress, and establish relationships between tasks. With its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with other Jira plugins, Structure facilitates efficient project planning, collaboration, and decision-making.

However, Structure by Tempo does not offer a bird’s eye view of all the operations in the company, leaving executives in the dark. Additionally, the tool does not contain any financial features and cannot be use as a source of knowledge on project costs or schedule variance. Its resource management is also limited to basic allocation and it does not facilitate resource forecasts or advanced planning. As a result, it only partially covers the needs of managers and executives.

Features: 

• gestión de tareas, 
• project overview, 
• información básica, 
• integration with Jira, 
• collaboration on a single project. 

Pros and cons: 

Pros: 

• intuitive work on a single project, 
• suitable for small teams or organizations, 
• ability to create roles and hierarchies. 

Cons: 

• no financial features, 
• only basic resource management features, 
• limited reporting, 
• no big picture of all the projects at once, 
• no forecasting.

JIRA Portfolio

General description

Jira Portfolio is a robust project portfolio management (PPM) plugin for Jira that helps organizations to effectively plan, prioritize, and visualize their project portfolios. With its feature set, users can create project hierarchies, establish realistic timelines, and gain valuable insights through basic reports. 

However, that is where Jira Portfolio’s capabilities end. The tool only offers basic project management tools and it does not provide the managers with information on finances, project progress or any advanced statistics executives might find useful. Its collaboration is also limited, as the tool only uses tracked time from Jira and offers no additional insights about the work in the project. 

Features: 

• timeline with capacity management, 
• dependencies and task management, 
• draft allocations. 

Pros and cons: 

Pros: 

• seamless integration with Jira, 
• low entry threshold. 

Cons: 

• basic features
• lack of finances or more detailed resource planning, 
• limited project analysis, 
• poor collaboration with no customizable roles. 

PPM Express

General description

PPM Express is a project portfolio management (PPM) solution offering centralized portfolio management with some reporting and analytics. PPM Express provides real-time insights into project performance and utilization, helping the managers make better decisions. The tool supports effective collaboration through task management, fostering seamless coordination within project teams. 

Still, despite its focus on project portfolio management, PPM express fails to expand its features to facilitate the needs of executives and high-level managers. Its reporting is very limited and may be confusing due to its overcomplicated interface. The tool also contains very limited financial features that cannot be used to draw any viable conclusions. As a result, this tool may not be enough for some more advanced users. 

Features: 

• project and product management, 
• reporting, 

Pros and cons: 

Pros: 

• more general view of projects, 
• utilization management. 

Cons: 

• complicated interface, 
• limited reporting,
• only basic, very general financial features, 
• only a few collaboration features. 

BigPicture

General description

BigPicture is a popular Jira project management plugin. With features like project hierarchies, Gantt charts, and resource allocation tools, BigPicture simplifies project organization and scheduling.

BigPicture's robust reporting and analytics capabilities provide valuable insights into project progress and team performance, facilitating data-driven decision-making. However, they unfortunately include some rather significant gaps, as the tool does not include information of project’s finances or employees’ wages. 

Features: 

• gestión de tareas, 
• información básica, 
• project calendar, 
• objectives and progress tracking. 

Pros and cons: 

Pros:

• large and extensive task management module with progress monitoring, 
• intuitive resource management. 

Cons: 

• no overview of multiple project or the entire company, 
• lack of advanced or customized reporting, 
• lack of finances, 
• limited collaboration features. 

Still not sure which tool to choose? 

Give Primetric a chance - you can see it up close during a free presentation! 

Just book a demo with one of ur advisor and let us show you the potential of our tool and its project portfolio management capabilities.