To create a consistent user experience and unify its tools, Atlassian has integrated a handful of its products into Jira Software, which has resulted in numerous name changes. Now, we’ve got 99 problems and they’re all named Jira.
The journey from Jira Advanced Roadmaps to Plans
If you are anything like us, Atlassian’s rebrands and integrations have been confusing, to say the least. What happened to Advanced Roadmaps? What exactly is the new name? Does the tool still work the same?
In this article, we break it all down for you, providing you with a clear roadmap (pun intended) that lays out the evolution of Advanced Roadmaps to Plans in Jira.
What happened to Advanced Roadmaps?
Advanced Roadmaps hasn’t technically gone away; rather, it has been incorporated into Jira Software Premium and Enterprise plans.
Let's back it up a bit. Originally called Portfolio for Jira, this marketplace add-on was a game-changer for organizations managing multiple projects and teams. It brought all aspects of planning together into a centralized and manageable space.
As with all great tools, evolution was inevitable, and Portfolio for Jira became Advanced Roadmaps. This wasn’t just a name change—it marked the beginning of deeper integration with Jira Software. Advanced Roadmaps became more aligned with the Jira ecosystem and offered an improved user experience.
Fast-forward to early 2021, when Advanced Roadmaps became a core feature of Jira Software Premium and Enterprise plans. All of the powerful planning capabilities we love were built directly into Jira. No more add-ons or separate installations; everything is ready to go, out of the box.
This integration wasn’t just about convenience. It brought Advanced Roadmaps into the heart of Jira, creating a more consistent user experience and better synchronization with Jira issues. Atlassian continued to improve Advanced Roadmaps with enhanced dependency reporting, supporting multiple views per plan, and natively integrated the tool with Confluence. With these changes, a new name emerged: Plans. The name might differ, but the mission remains the same: to help us plan, track, and manage work across multiple projects and teams.
Why did Advanced Roadmaps change names?
Atlassian is going back to where it all started–Jira. They changed the name to keep things consistent when discussing the timeline and roadmapping features in Jira and other Atlassian tools. It was important to clarify how their tools connect and how work seamlessly moves between them, creating a cohesive place to manage and track work.
What is Plans in Jira?
Think of Plans as Advanced Roadmaps, but better. Plans has advanced planning capabilities, allowing multiple teams to coordinate and monitor cross-functional projects, like programs or initiatives. With a plan, you can schedule tasks, manage team capacity, map out dependencies, and explore different scenarios in one centralized location.
Plans provides teams with a space to track progress and report updates across multiple goals and projects. This gives teams better visibility into their work, enabling them to collaborate effectively and adapt quickly when plans change.
Plans brings together various issues sources and multiple teams into a shared view, ensuring everyone understands how their tasks fit into the bigger picture. It allows teams to visualize timelines and forecast project outcomes based on real-time reporting.
What is advanced planning in Jira?
Advanced planning refers to a set of capabilities offered within a feature called Plans in Jira. Jira’s advanced planning capabilities are designed to enhance every aspect of project management, from high-level roadmapping and resource management to real-time reporting. These features empower teams to plan effectively, collaborate efficiently, and deliver projects successfully.
How do Plans’ roadmapping capabilities differ from those in Jira Product Discovery?
Plans is for planning and tracking product delivery. It’s designed for project managers and team leads who need to map out every task, manage team capacities, and track dependencies across multiple projects.
Jira Product Discovery is made for product managers who need help with product discovery. The tool serves as a place to capture ideas, gather insights, and create custom roadmaps about the overall direction of the product. Instead of diving into the nitty-gritty details like Plans, Jira Product Discovery helps you prioritize the most impactful ideas and features, aligning them with business objectives and stakeholder feedback.
For instance, someone wants to propose a new idea for a product feature. It’s submitted via Jira Product Discovery, progresses through various workflow stages, and eventually reaches approval and prioritization.
Once the idea gets approved, it moves into Jira Software for work execution. Plans in Jira is where teams develop a roadmap to outline timelines, dependencies, and key milestones for product development. This process ensures a seamless transition from discovery to execution to delivery, maintaining consistency throughout the product development lifecycle.
What happened to Jira Work Management?
While this article focuses on the evolution of Advanced Roadmaps to Plans in Jira, we might as well talk about Jira Work Management while we’re on the topic of name changes. In May 2024, Atlassian announced they would combine Jira Work Management and Jira Software to create a unified Jira platform where all teams can manage and complete work.
Now, everyone can use Jira’s powerful tools for planning and tracking their projects, whether they're writing code or managing campaigns. It's all about bringing teams together under one roof to collaborate better and get things done more efficiently.
The journey isn’t over yet
The evolution from Advanced Roadmaps to Plans in Jira has been a wild (but exciting) adventure. But guess what? It’s not over. It never is when it comes to technology.
Integrating Advanced Roadmaps into Jira is a testament to Atlassian’s commitment to creating a more cohesive user experience. Without a doubt, we can continue to expect Atlassian to keep us on our toes as they take bold steps toward simplifying work management and making it easier for teams everywhere to get work done more efficiently.
Praecipio is here if you need someone to guide you through this journey. As an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner for 15+ years, we make your Atlassian tools work for your business, not the other way around.
Contact our team about driving your business forward with the Atlassian Platform.
