Reflecting on 2021 reveals an exciting year jam-packed with significant developments even amidst pandemic disruption. We’ve seen the acceleration of the digital economy, a surge of interest in Cloud technology, and even increased importance of data analytics for project management.
As we usher in a new year, so too do we embrace the uncertainties to come. On the horizon, it appears that Atlassian is making strides towards becoming a cloud-first company, while Ricksoft finds itself ready to deliver more cutting-edge project management solutions.
In this article, you’ll discover a rundown of the most important developments that happened this year and what can be expected in the year to come.
2021 in Review
Despite the onslaught of a global pandemic, both Atlassian and Ricksoft have managed to forge onward, developing existing products, releasing new apps, and making pivotal moves.
Atlassian
Here are some of the most significant developments involving Atlassian:
Retiring Servers
Sitting as the most impactful change of 2020, Atlassian is continuing its objective of retiring the Atlassian server by 2024. In its place, the cloud will offer users a more streamlined, scalable, and secure platform with the goal of transforming “how… teams collaborate.”
But prior to that, make sure you properly plan for the coming migration by understanding what makes cloud products unique, constructing a transition plan, and experimenting with their free cloud migration trial.
Cloud Enterprise
In line with the move towards the cloud, Atlassian aims to assist financial services customers in their transition by doubling down on security measures via further development of the Cloud Enterprise.
Cloud Enterprise products help customers worry less about security and compliance, as it’s all been covered by Atlassian. Currently, Cloud Enterprise complies with the EBA, BaFin, and GDPR.
Jira Work Management
The release of Jira Work Management earlier in 2021 has made life easier for those in business teams such as legal, marketing, finance, and HR.
Providing users with a new way to harness Jira’s power – though scrum features like sprints and backlogs are absent – Jira Work Management is instead optimized to deliver a tailored, straightforward experience to non-technical teams with form builders, project templates, and more.
Ricksoft
Ricksoft has also been hard at work this year. Here’s a breakdown of what’s happened:
Excel-like Bulk Issue Editor for Jira
The Excel-like Bulk Issue Editor for Jira has seen two updates. First, a new feature was added in October to the Cloud version. Now, right-clicking any issue, accessing its context menu, and viewing issues from there will display the selected issue within the app itself as opposed to opening a new tab.
And second, The Ultimate Guide to Jira Backlog Grooming was released! Users struggling to plan their sprints and keep their backlog in check can now learn how to resolve their issues in one fell swoop.
Excel-like Tables for Jira
Excel-like Tables for Jira, released on Cloud just earlier this year, has delivered the power of Excel spreadsheets to Jira issues. Recently, improvements were made in terms of UI/UX (i.e., further rows/columns can be added if the source range has more rows/columns than the target range) and users can now import issues into a specialized sheet via the Jira Issues Sheet.
You can learn more about why you should consider using the app and how you can get started here.
Excel-like Tables for Confluence
Excel-like Tables for Confluence was also released on Cloud earlier this year and is much like its sibling product in bringing the Excel experience to Confluence.
After the latest updates, users will now get a smoother loading experience and can also read up on how to take full advantage of the app together with Excel-like Tables for Jira in the handy The Power of Excel, Now in Jira and Confluence e-book.
WBS Gantt-Chart for Jira
WBS Gantt-Chart for Jira has been further fine-tuned to deliver a better experience. Users can now set lag/lead time for dependencies and find full Japanese support.
Coupled with this, three refreshed related resources have also been published, targeted at PMs looking to utilize Gantt charts: The Ultimate Guide to Jira Gantt Charts, Pro Guide to Managing Multiple Projects, and Complete Guide to Using Gantt Charts in Agile Project Management. Additionally, PMs can also check out the Jira Project Monitoring and Control: A Comprehensive Guide e-book and guide to take their monitoring and controlling abilities to the next level with the help of the app!
Space Sync for Confluence
Space Sync for Confluence was released in October and has proven invaluable in saving swathes of time for users by syncing multiple pages over different spaces. Its sync functionality includes not just a page’s written content, but its tables, titles, and attachments.
The app is free to use, comes with detailed instructions, and can help admins keep their spaces organized.
Secure Custom Fields for Jira
Secure Custom Fields for Jira hit the Atlassian Marketplace in September. Designed to add an additional layer of security to secure field types, Jira admins, in particular, will find this free app useful.
Essentially, they’ll be able to control who can edit and view field values, configure various custom fields, and rest easy knowing that all data is encrypted by the app to keep everyone but those permitted outside.
Gantt Chart Planner for Confluence
Released just weeks ago, the Gantt Chart Planner for Confluence delivers an easy-to-use Gantt chart creation function to Confluence. Its features include a work breakdown structure, dependency creation, and critical paths.
PMs who use Confluence will find this feature helpful, especially as it offers a far more straightforward method to create Gantt charts in Confluence. As of now, it’s totally free, so go ahead and give it a try!
What’s in Store for 2022
With 2022 on the horizon, both Atlassian and Ricksoft users should brace themselves for another engaging year.
Atlassian
Atlassian will continue paving the way to a Cloud-like future and gradually place more emphasis on events as the impact of the pandemic subsides.
Team Tour ‘22
Key leaders in both government and tech will be participating in the digital event in March next year. With the event being free to attend for both the speeches and networking sessions, there’s no reason why anyone shouldn’t tune in!
Atlassian Team ‘22
Atlassian’s pinnacle conference is set to happen in April 2022. As of now, the list of speakers and sponsors is still being finalized along with other major details, so stick around to find out more.
Cloud Enterprise
Users can expect Atlassian to continue their development of the Atlassian Cloud Enterprise like clockwork. In early 2022, the compliance framework will be expanded to include Australian and US regulatory standards.
Ricksoft
Ricksoft will continue developing their products, releasing new apps, and will even be participating in Atlassian events this year.
Excel-like Tables for Confluence
Excel-like Tables for Confluence is scheduled for a full-scale rollout in 2022. This means that (unfortunately), it won’t be free to use anymore. That said, they’re offering a $0 pricing option if your team is made out of 1-10 users!
Though it’s shifting away from a free-to-use model, in its place, a vast arsenal of new features is scheduled to be introduced. This includes over 40+ bug fixes, an easier-to-use interface, and integration with Google Sheets.
For a full list of changes, stay tuned for a future update where the app’s capabilities will be elaborated on in full.
Participation in Atlassian Team 2022
Ricksoft will be participating in Atlassian Team 2022! Keep an eye out for further details.
To the Future
2022 looks to be a promising year for Ricksoft, Atlassian, and users all around. Nevertheless, with so many uncertainties, it can be a little unnerving to keep everything in check.
To give you some peace of mind, why not try Ricksoft’s products to see how they can help you stay in tune with your work needs?
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