Forward planning in JIRA
Asked by Kevin Pollard:

Can I use JIRA to "Forward Plan" the time required to complete a Project.

In Excel I can use staffing levels, a median and number of Epics to help determine a completion date. Is there a way of doing this in JIRA / Confluence please?

I want to move away from using spreadsheets to publish my reports


Answers:
author: Jean-Th?o _Adaptavist_
body: Hello [@Kevin Pollard](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/2172110)

The only way that would be possible in a vanilla instance would be by using a field with a date, but that would not give you a visual representation.

I would suggest you to explore one of the multiple plugins that can allow you to have an overview on you project(s).

The three plugins that would best answer you needs would be either :

1 - Structure for JIRA (Allows you to create a hierarchy using JIRA issue links) and you can view a rollup progress of your issues, a count of epics completed or not in a project...

[https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/34717/structure-for-jira-projects-at-scale?hosting=server\&tab=overview](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/34717/structure-for-jira-projects-at-scale?hosting=server&tab=overview)

![A structure can include important tasks and milestones from all projects in the company, and provide overview of the progress for management ? in Jira or in an Excel report](https://marketplace-cdn.atlassian.com/files/images/523913f5-54f8-4d55-af3c-821f3012c45c.png)

2 - BigPicture : It is pretty close to an MS Project inside of your instance with extra agile functionalities

[https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1212259/bigpicture-project-management-ppm?hosting=cloud\&tab=overview](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1212259/bigpicture-project-management-ppm?hosting=cloud&tab=overview)

![Organize your program into tasks and milestones. Use Work Breakdown Structure with any number of sub-tasks at any level. Present tasks, links and structure and where they are. Export to excel.](https://marketplace-cdn.atlassian.com/files/images/4ca48170-fa18-458f-a17e-cd257086070c.png)

3 - Portfolio : Atlassian's agile roadmap tool

<https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/portfolio>

![Scenario planning](https://wac-cdn.atlassian.com/dam/jcr:669f1ae9-c88a-4bb7-b417-66a70b4bb148/scenario-planning.png?cdnVersion=lc)

Hope this is what you are looking for,

JT

comments: author: Dave Rosenlund _Trundl_
body: Hi, [@Kevin Pollard](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/2172110). To add to what [@Jean-Th?o _Adaptavist_](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/2342864) had to say, [Structure for Jira](http://alm.works/structure) has a couple of extensions. One of them is a Gantt extension called [Structure](http://alm.works/gantt).[Gantt](http://alm.works/gantt). Together with Structure, it provides the most powerful planning combination offered by ALM Works.

Structure.Gantt is free for Structure customers.

(Full disclosure, I work for ALM Works.)

Portfolio and BigPicture are good options as well. Of course, each of these has its strengths and weaknesses.

One of the biggest advantages Structure for Jira offers is that it will work with your existing agile practices --- it is not prescriptive and does not force you and your teams to adapt to the tool to achieve the benefits you seek. Rather, it can be easily adapted to the way you and your teams do things today.

Our support team will be [happy to help you](http://alm.works/support) with any questions you may have should you decide to evaluate Structure.

Hope this helps,

-dave \[ALM Works\]


author: Kevin Pollard
body: JT, Dave

Thank you. All of the suggestions look excellent which means I will need to try them all.

Thank you for your time and kind support.

Kind regards

Kevin


author: Marek Vejrosta
body: Hello [@Kevin Pollard](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/2172110),

I have heard a similar question many times as an Atlassian consultant.

It resulted in our own solution, which our company prepared. I recommend to try [Amethyst Project](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1219883/amethyst-project?hosting=server&tab=overview).

I'm sending a small sample of the plan in this tool.

![2019-03-20_11-55-21.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/49158iF5239B9620DECC07/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "2019-03-20_11-55-21.png")

If you have any questions, just write me or we can make a call.


Tags: jira