Azure Boards? Here's WHY!
Tags: azure, devops, azureboards, workmanagement
Published: 2023-07-05 04:01:45

Do you need a tool to help you organize your work and don’t know which one to use? Or are you thinking of using Azure Boards but you’re not quite convinced yet? Let me tell you why you should start using Azure Boards right now. Even if you are not hosting your code in Azure DevOps!

### Video

As usual, if you are a __visual learner__, or simply prefer to watch and listen instead of reading, here you have __the video with the whole explanation and demo__.

{% youtube T3_UNAA8onw %}

[Link to the video: https://youtu.be/T3_UNAA8onw](https://youtu.be/T3_UNAA8onw)

If you rather prefer reading, well... let's just continue :)

### Intro to Azure Boards

Azure Boards is a __standalone__ service within the Azure DevOps suite that helps teams plan, track, and discuss work across the entire software development process. It provides a __flexible, customizable platform for managing work__ items, such as user stories, bugs, tasks, and issues, so you can track your work item's progress throughout the development lifecycle.

![Azure Boards](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6d6sqvbgxj5vyotmvrtk.png)

Azure Boards __supports agile methodologies__, including Scrum and Kanban, and provides a range of features and integrations to help teams collaborate and stay organized with dashboards, reports, and notifications.

![Dashboard Example in Azure DevOps](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ydb5yi3uzk93r5kyihqm.png)

Last but not least, Azure Boards __doesn’t require you to have your code in Azure Repos__ or use Azure Pipelines for CI/CD… even tho of course it works even better if you do :)

### 11 Reasons to Start Using Azure Boards

Now that we have a basic understanding of what Azure Boards is and does, why should you use it?


#### Reason 1: Start Simply, Scale as you grow

First of all, it is __very easy to start__ with it and allows you to scale as you grow.

Azure Boards offers predefined work item types for tracking features, user stories, bugs, and tasks, making it easy to start using your product backlog or Kanban board. 

![Azure Boards Backlog](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/fnb8ffng6fkz0d6t2ach.png)

As mentioned before, it supports different __Agile__ methods, so you can implement the one which suits you best. 

![Agile support in Azure Boards](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qv9qpt29d22epcqkpe83.png)

Additionally, you can add __teams__ as your organization grows to give them the autonomy to track their work as they see fit.


#### Reason 2: Use visual, interactive tools

Next reason is that Azure Boards has plenty of visual tools to help teams quickly __see and share progress__. As we have seen, you can use Kanban boards, which provide an intuitive and visual way to manage your projects, track work items, and collaborate with your team effectively, and product backlogs, which correspond to your project plan, the roadmap for what your team plans to deliver and include users stories, requirements and backlog items.

![Kanban in Azure Boards](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/sp6ghwhme5wmzbumul1t.png)

You can also use the built-in scrum boards and planning tools, and finally __delivery plans__, which allow to review the schedule of stories or features that your teams plan to deliver by showing the scheduled work items by sprint (iteration path) of selected teams against a calendar view.


#### Reason 3: Customize easily

Third reason to start using Azure Boards is that it is very easily to __configure and customize__ all its parts through the user interface. 

You can make your own versions of Kanban boards, taskboards, and delivery plans , as well as add custom fields, work item types, and portfolio backlogs. 

![Custom Work Item Field](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2dr9pljy9sm5ibbc5vtj.png)

This will make sure __the tool adapts to your needs and processes__, and won’t instead require you to adapt to the tool.


#### Reason 4: Use built-in social tools and communication

Another reason, the fourth, is the __ease of communication__. 

Work item forms provide built-in discussions that you can use to __capture questions, notes, and communication__ as they occur. 

![Communication in Azure Boards](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vh346gx7ty7vzq66qtu5.png)

With this feature, you can maintain a __history__ of what a team decides on any particular work item. An dyou can quickly bring a team member or an entire team into the conversation by using `@name` mentions.


#### Reason 5: Capture information, generous cloud storage

Fifth reason on my list to use Azure Boards is something we take for granted but in fact it’s not always the case: information and storage.

As I’ve mentioned before, work items are designed to __track all the information__ you need to track. And this doesn’t stop to text. You can in fact edit in rich text, drag and drop inline images, and add larger attachments. You can add attachments up to 60 MB and as many as 100 attachments.

![Linking work items in Azure Boards](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1sqrzrtf1cflnuy778f3.png)

Also, you can __link work items__ within a hierarchy or by simple related links. Each work item maintains a history of changes, so you can review what changed, who made the change, and when.


#### Reason 6: Find what you need quickly and get notified of changes

Sixth reason to start using the service is that Azure Boards provides easy-to-use tools to help you quickly __find specific work items__ as your project grows. 

![Follow a work item](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/6xp0jxy0p4erj9ylndok.png)

You can __follow__ work items to monitor updates and changes, use pivot views to show work items assigned to you, use the __query engine__ to filter work items based on any field, and use ad-hoc search with quick inline filters. 

![Azure Boards Queries](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lv1alcpi98jizk3roi7o.png)

You can also personalize your alerts for work items that are assigned to you or have been changed.


#### Reason 7:  Monitor status and progress with built-in dashboards and analytics

Seventh, with Azure Boards you gain access to many tools to __generate reports__ and to support __tracking__ status and trends. 

By using configurable dashboards, you can add one or more widgets to display the information and data you want, such as the bug burndown widget. Along with dashboards, you have access to the Analytics service. This service is optimized for fast read-access and server-based aggregations. 

![Azure Boards configurable dashboards](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/fndhkbshgs6v8ydcolty.png)

By using __Analytics views and Power BI__, you can create highly sophisticated reports on the project data of interest.


#### Reason 8: Integrate with Office

And if that wasn’t enough, eighth reason, Project managers who want to use familiar tools can __import and export work__ item queries to and from Microsoft Office Excel or import and export work items using .csv files. 

![Azure Boards Excel integration](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/85ckb3ymja1vn5hxyyrk.png)

Excel supports adding work items, updating existing work items, adding links and attachments to multiple work items, and more. You can also use native Excel features to support other actions, such as summing a column, copy-and-paste rows, fill down data into cells, and more.


#### Reason 9: Extend functionality

You can gain even greater functionality by adding Marketplace __extensions__, many of which are free, and this is my reason number 9. 

An extension is an installable plugin that adds capabilities to Azure DevOps and of course Azure Boards. You can find extensions within these products or in the Visual Studio Marketplace, under the Azure DevOps tab. 

![Azure DevOps Extensions](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pgrebkutpmgtxui99zzq.png)

Also, by using the REST API, you can __create your own extensions or tools__ to integrate with Azure DevOps Services.


#### Reason 10: Get updates via a mobile browser

Ok all good… but “_Dave_”, I hear you say, “I_’m often working in mobility…. I need something I can use everywhere, perhaps even on my phone_”! Well, it’s your lucky day 😄 Tenth on my list is the mobile support. 

![Azure Boards on Mobile](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bw10zxe7h6a8qfym6pnl.png)

With Azure Boards, it's easy to stay on top of changes as they occur! 

With the __mobile browser__ and work item form, you gain on-the-go features to stay on top of the latest updates made to work tracking. When you click any work item link on your mobile device, it will open a __mobile-friendly version of the work item__. From there, you can update the work item or access all work items assigned to you or that you're following.


#### Reason 11: Start for free

Ok, what more after all we have seen? Well, last (_but definitely not for importance_) reason for me to use Azure Boards is that… well… __you can start absolutely for free__! And if your team is up to 5 users.. well, you can keep it for __free forever__.

Also, anybody in your team with a Visual Studio subscription gains free access to Azure Boards as well. And finally, you can add unlimited stakeholder users to it. 

![Azure Boards and Azure DevOps pricing](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4x6ub2u16s7sjvzzg9qj.png)

If you want to know more about the stakeholder users in Azure DevOps check out the [video I made about this subject](https://youtu.be/B3VCpM9n3Do).

### Conclusions

Alright, those were my 11 reasons to start using Azure Boards. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below if you going to use Azure Boards, or at least you want to give it a try. Also, in case you won’t, let me know why and if there is any feature you think it’s missing from my list.

Also, check out [this video](https://youtu.be/Ft1JESBVFX8), in which I show [some of the features of Azure Boards in action](https://youtu.be/Ft1JESBVFX8)

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{% youtube T3_UNAA8onw %}