Portfolio Management Tools for Jira: Comparing BigPicture and Advanced Roadmaps

In project management, portfolio management tools play a central role in efficiently planning, monitoring and successfully completing projects, programmes and portfolios. Two of the most established solutions for project portfolio management (PPM) in the Atlassian world are BigPicture and Advanced Roadmaps.

In this article, we compare BigPicture and Advanced Roadmaps to help you decide.
As Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner as well as partner of Appfire, we know both solutions inside out and empower organisations to successfully implement their PPM tool of choice through workshops and pilot projects.

Solution overview

BigPicture from Appfire is a comprehensive project and portfolio management tool that integrates seamlessly with Jira. It supports the planning and management of projects at all levels - from individual tasks to complex portfolios. BigPicture offers a variety of modules, including Gantt charts, resource management, risk analysis and more. This makes it a very flexible solution for teams that need detailed control over their projects.

Advanced Roadmaps (formerly known as Portfolio for Jira) is Atlassian's native portfolio management tool designed specifically for Jira. It provides an intuitive way to create and manage roadmaps for projects and portfolios. Advanced Roadmaps is ideal for teams that are already deeply integrated with Jira and are looking for an easy-to-use tool to manage their project roadmaps.

Main functions in comparison

1. Planning and roadmaps

BigPicture provides a visual Gantt chart that enables detailed planning and scheduling of tasks, projects and portfolios. You can drag and drop tasks, create dependencies and see the impact of changes in real time. The roadmaps in BigPicture are flexible and can be customized to the specific needs of your team.

Advanced Roadmaps offers a simple but powerful way to create project roadmaps. You can create roadmaps at different hierarchical levels, from epics to complete initiatives. The tool is particularly strong at visualizing projects across multiple teams and allows for agile planning and adjustment in real time.

2. Resource management

BigPicture has an extensive resource management module. This allows you to monitor the utilization of your team and to assign tasks based on the available resources. You can identify resource bottlenecks and adjust the distribution of tasks accordingly.

Advanced Roadmaps offers fundamental resource management features, such as visualizing the capacity of teams and scheduling tasks based on availability. However, for more in-depth resource planning, an additional integration or tool may be required.

3. Reporting and analyses

BigPicture offers extensive reporting features to help you monitor the progress of your project and identify potential risks early on. You can create customized reports tailored to the specific needs of your team, keeping an eye on metrics such as time, budget and resource consumption.

Advanced Roadmaps provides built-in reporting capabilities based on Jira data. The reports are intuitive and help you monitor progress at all levels of your project. However, for deeper insights and analyses, a combination with other Jira reporting tools can be useful.

User-friendliness and integration

BigPicture is a very powerful tool that integrates seamlessly with Jira. This multitude of functions and the extensive configuration options make it a flexible but also complex solution. Users who are less experienced with project management tools may find familiarizing themselves with BigPicture a little more challenging.

Advanced Roadmaps is intuitive and easy to learn – especially for teams that are already familiar with Jira. The user interface is clearly structured and the tight integration with Jira ensures a seamless user experience. It is well suited for teams looking for a simpler, yet effective tool.

Pricing

BigPicture is a paid app in the Atlassian Marketplace and offers different pricing plans depending on the number of users and features needed. It is generally more expensive than Advanced Roadmaps, but also offers a wider range of features.

Advanced Roadmaps is included in the Premium and Enterprise versions of Jira. For teams that already have a Jira Premium subscription, Advanced Roadmaps is more cost-effective as it can be used without additional fees.

Conclusion: Which tool is right for you?

The choice between BigPicture and Advanced Roadmaps depends on the specific needs of your team.

Choose BigPicture if:

• you need a comprehensive project and portfolio management tool with deep resource management and reporting capabilities.
• your team needs to manage projects at different hierarchical levels and wants detailed control over Gantt charts and resource allocation.
• you are willing to invest in a powerful tool with a steeper learning curve.

Choose Advanced Roadmaps if:

• you are looking for a user-friendly tool that integrates seamlessly with Jira and is optimized for agile teams.
• your focus is on agile planning and visualizing roadmaps across multiple teams.
• you are looking for a more cost-effective tool that is already included in your Jira Premium or Enterprise subscription.

Both tools offer strong portfolio management capabilities, and choosing the right tool depends on your specific needs and the level of control and flexibility you want.