Azure Boards: An Overview

Your guide to agile planning and work tracking with Azure DevOps

What is Azure Boards?

Azure Boards is a highly flexible and powerful service that allows you to plan, track, and discuss work across your teams. Whether you're using Scrum, Kanban, or a custom process, Azure Boards provides the tools you need to manage your software development lifecycle effectively.

It integrates seamlessly with other Azure DevOps services like Azure Repos, Azure Pipelines, Azure Test Plans, and Azure Artifacts, creating a comprehensive solution for end-to-end DevOps.

Key Features

Backlogs

Visualize your project's requirements, features, and epics. Prioritize and organize your work items to build a clear roadmap.

Kanban Boards

Implement Kanban methodologies with customizable boards. Visualize workflow, identify bottlenecks, and limit work in progress (WIP) for continuous flow.

Scrum Boards

Support your Scrum sprints with task boards, backlog grooming, and sprint capacity planning. Track progress and manage your sprint backlog efficiently.

Queries

Create powerful queries to find specific work items. Filter, sort, and group work items based on various criteria to gain insights.

Dashboards

Create customizable dashboards with widgets to monitor project health, team progress, and key metrics. Get a real-time view of your project's status.

Integrations

Connect Azure Boards with Git repositories, CI/CD pipelines, and other tools to automate workflows and streamline development.

Getting Started with Azure Boards

Azure Boards is part of Azure DevOps Services. To get started, you'll need an Azure DevOps organization.

  1. Create or Sign In: Visit Azure DevOps and sign in or create a new organization.
  2. Create a Project: Within your organization, create a new project. Choose your preferred process template (Agile, Scrum, CMMI, or Basic).
  3. Explore Boards: Navigate to the "Boards" section in your project. You'll find options for Backlogs, Sprints, Boards, and Queries.
  4. Add Work Items: Start adding your project's requirements, user stories, tasks, and bugs.

Example: Creating a User Story

Here's a basic structure for a user story:

As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>.

In Azure Boards, you can create a 'User Story' work item type and fill in the details.

Next Steps

Once you've got the basics down, explore these advanced features:

Explore Azure Boards Documentation