Zenhub is the one mission administration device natively built-in into GitHub, giving groups the power to collaborate, plan, and execute initiatives from a well-known consumer interface and utility.
Although a distinct segment PM resolution, Zenhub continues to be one of the crucial affordably priced amongst trade opponents and presents a lot to think about for software program growth groups and initiatives.
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Assessment methodology
This evaluation is predicated on my expertise registering, utilizing, and contemplating Zenhub for a mission involving a three-month utility growth timeline with six sprints and over 20 core duties. I familiarized myself with Zenhub’s product documentation, demos, trade evaluations and recognition, and a comparative evaluation with different software program purposes. I ran a free trial of the Development plan to check this device.
Zenhub alternate options and opponents
What’s Zenhub?
Zenhub is a mission administration platform designed for software program growth groups utilizing the favored code host, GitHub. Whereas constructed for builders, the Zenhub platform is just like different PM instruments with boards, workflow automation, reporting, dash planning, and extra to optimize the software program growth lifecycle (SDLC).
SEE: Hiring package: Mission supervisor (TechRepublic Premium)
Launched in 2014 to handle frustrations with constructing software program in GitHub, Zenhub has grown into one of many main PM options for managing software program initiatives. The Vancouver-based firm makes a speciality of GitHub mission administration and its platform creates a layer of enhanced visibility and collaboration for shoppers.
With seed funding every of the final two years and a rising buyer base of 8,000 groups, Zenhub’s capabilities, and demand for developer-centric PM options level to continued success.
Why GitHub? The chief in code internet hosting and administration
Alongside the growth in cloud computing and software program growth instruments, GitHub has turn out to be the biggest host of supply code on the web. GitHub’s presence throughout the software program growth group is large, touting greater than 200 million repositories and a consumer base of over 83 million builders and 4 million organizations.
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Various internet hosting platforms like GitLab, Bitbucket by Atlassian, Sourceforge, AWS CodeCommit, and Google Cloud Supply Repositories supply a lot for software program growth groups, however none evaluate to GitHub’s trade authority. Zenhub’s success, as an extension and complementary device to the favored repository host, is only one testomony to GitHub’s dominance.
GitHub vs Zenhub: Separation of options
Zenhub enhances work on GitHub making a separation of options. As seen beneath, there are options the crew should management from the GitHub platform, and equally, options solely discovered on Zenhub.
Github:
- Basic Concern information
- Concern Templates
- Assignees
- Labels
- GitHub Initiatives
- Milestones
- Switch this difficulty
- Lock dialog
- Delete Concern
- Notifications
- Repositories and repo information
Zenhub:
- Workspaces
- Pipeline title
- Sprints
- Estimates
- Launch experiences
- Epics
- Transfer Concern button
- Dependencies
- Initiatives on the Roadmap
- Workflows
Current model change: ZenHub to Zenhub
Final month Zenhub introduced in a weblog publish the corporate would shift its model title from ZenHub to Zenhub, eradicating the upper-case H. Whereas the previous title continues to be being offboarded all through the platform and documentation, this text will use the PM platform’s new brand and title.
Determine A
Zenhub overview
Zenhub is offered as a 14-day free trial, free plan, or SaaS subscription for groups trying to enhance productiveness and collaboration between stakeholders that handle software program growth processes.
Begin with the Zenhub platform and browser extension
From the Zenhub homepage, customers can register for the platform with a enterprise e-mail and password or by way of Google SSO. Upon submission, new customers transfer via prompts for meant use, position, group, and workspace title.
Not like different PM platforms, Zenhub is offered as a browser extension via Firefox or the Google Chrome Net Retailer (Determine B), however not as a cellular or desktop utility. For builders already working in GitHub inside their browser, Zenhub seamlessly integrates into the code internet hosting interface.
Determine B
For brand new GitHub customers
For this mission I created a brand new GitHub account to supply information to be used with my Zenhub account. Upon creation of the GitHub account, I might want to add and join code repositories earlier than Zenhub will get to work.
Hook up with GitHub
Previous to connecting to GitHub, the Zenhub platform was pretty naked with prompts on every web page to hook up with GitHub. Customers are redirected to the authorization web page (Determine C) the place they’ll enable Zenhub to entry a GitHub account, private and non-private repositories, and an figuring out e-mail.
Determine C
Upon authorization, customers soar again to Zenhub the place the platform will immediate the consumer to authorize Zenhub by way of their GitHub account. Fortunately, Zenhub presents a brief video tutorial on the platform homepage (Determine D) to information customers via the connection course of. Inside a corporation on GitHub, customers can navigate to their settings and third-party entry configurations.
In my GitHub account, I eliminated the restriction on all third-party utility entry and was shortly linked.
Determine D
Zenhub options and capabilities
Importing repositories to create a Board
Workspaces could be a assortment of repositories organized to be used inside Zenhub. In Determine E, customers can see the checklist of repositories I chosen loading on the Zenhub tab from the GitHub repository. With the Development plan, I’m in a position to import a limiteless variety of private and non-private repositories to be used within the mission.
Determine E
Boards
The default view for customers is the Kanban-style Board view (Determine F) that divides points into lanes with drag-and-drop performance for transferring playing cards horizontally between lanes and vertically inside a lane. Groups can mix a number of GitHub repos right into a single board for real-time collaboration and visibility throughout mission duties.
Determine F
Create points, epics, releases, and sprints
On the left-hand aspect menu (Determine G), Zenhub customers have the choice to pick “Create” and select from constructing a problem, epic, launch, or dash for workload planning over time.
Determine G
Points vs. epics vs. releases on Zenhub
A part of the preliminary studying curve for Zenhub is studying terminology variations between GitHub and different Agile methodologies. Agile practitioners know epics, consumer tales, and sub-tasks, which in GitHub and ZenHub characterize epics, points, and checklists.
- Epics manage and observe points for wider mission and portfolio visibility.
- Points observe particular duties and workloads held by crew members throughout a dash.
- Checklists act as sub-tasks to a problem to finish the problem.
On this article, we are going to use points to explain discrete duties the crew creates inside a mission—to not be confused with the GitHub Points product, which is the inner GitHub mission administration and work group device.
The opposite two objects featured in Determine G are Releases and Sprints. Releases cowl a number of epics, long-term enterprise, and exterior commitments, whereas sprints could be intervals of any size—though generally weekly or bi-weekly intervals—for finishing a restricted variety of mission targets.
Create a brand new difficulty
The primary motion merchandise when creating a brand new software program growth mission to trace in Zenhub is to generate points. For builders and groups, points on GitHub are the commonest solution to cite duties, log extra particulars, and hold pertinent crew members up to date.
Customers with an current repository and points can join the repo to Zenhub or create a problem throughout the PM software program (Determine H). This window permits customers to create a brand new difficulty throughout the GitHub repo together with a reputation, description, labels, assignees, sprints, and extra.
In Determine H, I added a problem with a short description, assigned it to myself, set it to the present dash, and labeled it underneath “documentation.” Platform points are perfect for growing visibility into sorts of points and their complexities and speaking mission particulars and duties.
Determine H
Construct and alter sprints
For Agile growth groups, and a rising variety of non-software groups, sprints have turn out to be the de facto commonplace for finishing work over a set time period. In Determine I, I opened the “Create sprints” window and constructed a 2-week dash for my mission. The dash engine permits customers to set the vary of the dash, allow the dash to repeat, and transfer unfinished objects to future sprints.
A helpful function for any crew right here is robotically constructing new sprints from the backlog. For groups managing software program over an prolonged interval just like the CI/CD pipeline, toggling this could guarantee duties are set and resolved in a future dash.
With out having to parse via limitless information or keep in mind missed objects – which could be time-consuming and is susceptible to human error – Zenhub’s dash engine holds groups accountable to addressing backlog duties.
Determine I
Roadmaps
Like different PM instruments, Zenhub presents groups alternative routes to view information together with a Roadmap device. Recognized on different platforms as a timeline or Gantt chart, the Roadmap is a central platform web page providing duties and workloads on a timescale. With comparable performance to Board view, customers can drag-and-drop points the place wanted, open difficulty particulars, and replace crew information immediately.
Determine J
Automation
The Zenhub Workflow Automation device is offered via the “Workflows” tab and can assist facilitate the motion of points via a pipeline.
The automation engine offers customers choices to configure set off and vacation spot pipelines to cut back handbook duties and pointless efforts by crew members. Any points are positioned in set off pipelines they movement to vacation spot pipelines representing the handoff of duties, standing check-ins, and extra.
Determine Okay
Different Zenhub options
Potential prospects can see Zenhub’s full platform capabilities right here, which embrace instruments like planning poker for producing sprints and reporting for mission evaluation and enterprise intelligence.
Planning poker
Whereas groups might use a third-party planning poker device to ease dash planning, Zenhub presents a built-in utility to use estimated level values to points and create sprints so groups can concentrate on code.
Mission managers can request estimates from crew members who can vote independently to resolve difficulty questions earlier than sprints kick off. Most PM instruments don’t supply a built-in scrum poker, so I’m glad to see it simply out there.
Reporting progress and
The Studies device is right for analyzing mission information together with progress, processes, and workloads with 5 agile report sorts:
- Cumulative flows
- Management charts
- Burndown experiences
- Velocity monitoring
- Launch experiences (Determine L)
Determine L
Change between workspaces
For corporations managing a number of utility growth groups, switching between workspaces is barely a pair clicks away.
From the Zenhub platform or a GitHub workspace, customers can choose the button (Determine M) within the high proper nook with the alternating arrows icon. This opens the left-hand aspect menu with choices to view the statuses of various ongoing initiatives, groups, and repositories.
Determine M
Zenhub use instances and viewers
As a extra area of interest mission administration platform, Zenhub’s use instances and consumer base is smaller than different PM instruments advertising and marketing to groups and initiatives in a large number of industries.
The developer-focused extension boasts over 8,000 groups and 54,000 customers throughout 150 international locations. Zenhub’s consumer base embrace notable prospects like Adobe, Comcast, Docker, Grafana, Microsoft, NASA, and VMware.
Use instances
- Plan, manage, and automate dash schedules.
- Handle and distribute crew member workloads.
- Observe mission information via graphic charts and visualizations
- Add a number of private and non-private repos to a mission for cross-project visibility.
- Configure and automate workflows of GitHub points.
- Visualize mission timeline in opposition to GitHub progress.
Purchasers and customers
Whereas elements of Zenhub like monitoring experiences shall be helpful for non-software builders, the platform as a complete doesn’t draw back from its concentrate on builders. Zenhub’s capabilities are perfect for groups using agile and scrum mission administration philosophies.
As most groups are acquainted if not actively utilizing GitHub, Zenhub’s clientele and customers covers the spectrum of software program growth groups and firms.
Zenhub pricing and plans
After a free trial, customers can proceed to make use of a lot of Zenhub with the limitless free plan – which covers limitless public repositories and all options underneath reporting, productiveness, and mission administration capabilities. Potential prospects can see on the platform pricing web page, there are just a few extra advantages supplied to Development and Enterprise shoppers.
For companies, the Development plan consists of the essential variation of limitless personal repositories and license administration, whereas the Enterprise plan’s attributes are a Devoted Buyer Success Supervisor and the choice of an on-premises resolution.
| Plan | Month-to-month | Annual | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | Perpetually |
| Development | $10/month | $8.33/month | 14 days |
| Enterprise | Quote | Quote | 30 days |
Whereas testing the platform, the Enterprise plan initially displayed as $12.45 and has since been changed with “Contact Gross sales.” It is a frequent immediate for enterprise plans, however my hope is the fee stays low contemplating the sunshine differentiation between Development and Enterprise plans. As a maturing platform, it’s attainable this too will change quickly.
Zenhub vs GitHub Points
GitHub groups contemplating mission administration instruments will naturally come throughout the platform’s current PM software program, GitHub Points. Whereas the options in GitHub’s resolution which can be typically out there are promising and can instantly compete with a few of Zenhub’s options, many capabilities are nonetheless in an open beta.
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Until GitHub intends on buying Zenhub, I’m curious of the developer extension’s future when GitHub Points turns into broadly out there. Current Zenhub prospects are greatest off staying put, but when GitHub Points beneficial properties steam or diminishes Zenhub’s posture because the native integration, newer groups and prospects sooner or later might really feel assured managing all of their mission work in GitHub.
Execs & cons of Zenhub
Zenhub benefits and advantages
- Tailor-made to software program growth groups utilizing GitHub for main repos.
- Extremely clear interface in comparison with different mission administration software program instruments.
- In depth documentation and walk-through gifs for troubleshooting options.
- Extra inexpensive than Jira Software program and most normal PM platforms.
- The one natively built-in PM device on GitHub.
Zenhub disadvantages
- Restricted to groups engaged on GitHub.
- Not excellent for normal mission managers unfamiliar with GitHub or the SDLC.
- Particular studying curve for terminology, options, and software program utilization.
- Lagging with loading web page views at instances.
- No cellular utility or desktop utility for extra entry.
Conclusion
- Area of interest mission administration device concentrating on software program growth groups utilizing GitHub.
- Supply groups a stack of PM instruments for managing the SDLC and GitHub initiatives.
- Seamless integration into GitHub and inexpensive plans for the subscription worth.
My expertise utilizing Zenhub tells me developer-focused mission managers and groups may have a lot to understand with this useful extension. Groups have the flexibleness to make use of Zenhub on its platform or inside GitHub with one of the crucial strong integrations between two purposes I’ve ever seen.
A part of maximizing a Zenhub subscription can also be having familiarity with GitHub – the way it works and what it does and doesn’t do. Giant software program growth groups and firms already dedicated to GitHub via one in all their premium plans (Group or Enterprise) can’t go flawed attempting Zenhub’s free trial. Word, as soon as ended, customers will solely have entry to public repositories on GitHub.
A essential query for potential prospects is: Does a specialised platform like Zenhub match and exceed normal PM instruments for software program growth mission administration? For groups engaged on GitHub looking for probably the most built-in workflow, that reply is sure. I discovered Zenhub excels in decreasing context switching, duplicating work, and facilitating smoother mission administration for software program growth groups.
