Jira Project vs Epics vs Categories

Question

Hi I am bit confused with the term project. Right now i am working as a project Manager in a startup firm where we have one prime client with a full time dedicated work and our product is an online event management website. This website is a huge product in itself and spans across multiple components/modules like search, payments, profiles etc. So now i have just started using Jira and i want to know should i consider each component/module as an individual project? Or there should be one project and those modules should be considered as an epic. Another point to consider here is that many of those modules are already build and tasks/features keep coming into them. So should I consider them as components in JIRA? If I consider them as Epic then there might be a situation where I won't be able to close that epic ever. But the plus side I can manage it from my single project. And can I say this hierarchy is correct?

Product-->Project-->Epics-->Story

And can we have a single backlog for multiple projects if we opt for that option? Please help me I am very confused.

Answer 1

So I see a mashup of terms from traditional and Agile worlds. The answer below assumes you are using Scrum.

Product = Project For your project, create a project in JIRA. Everything related to your project will live here. The developers will be given access to this project, you will create workflows for the different issue types, etc. You should have only one product backlog, which will include the 'desirements' (high-level requirements) for your project. In this context, your project will result in your product.

Epics Epics are created for features that are quite large and would take multiple iterations/sprints to complete fully.

Components You can use this to represent the architectural elements of your solution.

Remarks You don't have to use epics, components, labels or other JIRA features. I suggest you start by reading up on Scrum and JIRA Agile. Grasp the basic understanding of the framework. Many of the best agile teams don't use any tools like JIRA. Be wary that the tool doesn't influence how you work.

So create a project, add the stories and just follow the Scrum rules and ceremonies, creating the necessary artefacts.

Answer 2

Hierarchy in your question is correct.

You should use it the way it best suits you.

Theres nothing wrong with being unable to close an epic.

Ive always seen Jira as a Agile work tool however like you I have also used it for traditional project management.

Trial an error will help you find your feet. Dont let anyone tell you there is prescribed way.

Caution Jira can be a maze and you will quickly learn its not hard to mess up a setup or lose data.

Sorry I have no specific answers.