Azure Boards is a work tracking system provided by Microsoft as part of the Azure DevOps Services suite. It is designed to help teams plan, track, and discuss work across the entire development process. Azure Boards provides a range of features and tools to support agile project management and collaboration.
At its core, Azure Boards revolves around work items, which represent the units of work that need to be completed. Work items can be tasks, bugs, user stories, or any other type of work that fits the team's workflow. These work items can be created and managed within the Azure Boards platform.
Azure Boards allows teams to create and organize work items into a hierarchical structure called a backlog. The backlog represents the team's prioritized list of work items, with the most important ones at the top. Teams can then plan and schedule work by assigning work items to iterations or sprints, defining timelines and goals for each iteration.
Within Azure Boards, teams can track the progress of work items using various tools. Kanban boards provide a visual representation of the workflow, allowing team members to move work items across different stages (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done) as they are worked on. This provides real-time visibility into the status of work and helps team members collaborate effectively.
Azure Boards also includes features for tracking dependencies between work items, managing work item assignments and capacity, and capturing discussions and comments related to specific work items. Teams can use built-in reporting and analytics capabilities to gain insights into their work, track key performance indicators, and make data-driven decisions.
Integration with other Azure DevOps Services, such as Azure Repos for version control and Azure Pipelines for continuous integration and deployment, allows for seamless end-to-end application lifecycle management within Azure Boards.
In summary, Azure Boards is a comprehensive work tracking system that provides teams with the tools and features necessary to plan, track, and collaborate on work items throughout the development process. It supports agile project management methodologies and offers integration with other Azure DevOps Services for a seamless development experience.