Finding Integrated Tracking and Version Control Tools
Up until the past couple of weeks, I have essentially been a one-man development shop, making the task of tracking requests, bugs, issues, etc…and managing version control relatively simple. Business is growing rapidly for us, requiring more development resources to be brought on board to support the resulting projects, requiring a new set of processes and tools for managing our new, multi-developer application development lifecycle.
For my one developer team, I have had to find tools for the job that are freely available. I have been using Axosoft’s OnTime tools with a free single-user license for several years, even prior to starting with my current employer, and have been very happy with the application. OnTime gives a straight forward toolset, delivered via several different application interfaces including web, Windows desktop and iPhone clients. While this works great for me, the development requests have been feed to me through an Access database (I know, not my idea…) which is completely isolated from the OnTime database, requiring me to manually enter the data into OnTime. Given the typical amount of requests, this has not been a problem; increase the volume of requests as well as the number of developers on the team, this option gets pulled off the table.
The biggest challenge is finding an application lifecycle management (ALM) toolset that is not inherently complex, is simple and intuitive to use and is configurable enough to adapt to our processes. In the past, I had a hard requirement that it not be web based due to restrictions in our broader enterprise environment, however even though I have found a way around them, I would still prefer at least the option of a Windows desktop client for accessing the system.
Over the coming days and weeks, I will be posting updates on my search and experiences with identifying and/or using the different options that are available. I would also welcome and greatly appreciate any comments about your experiences with the myriad of tools that are available, what you like or dislike about them, what type of environment you have and any other thoughts on the subject.
