Checking project status by release

You can use various BIRT reports to check the status of a project at the release level.

When developing software, it is important to know if a release is on schedule to be completed on time, when it will be completed, and whether or not it is completed when the deadlines comes. To answer these questions, you need to know how much remaining work there is, what the trajectory is for completing that work, and if all the work is complete.

Release Burndown

This report answers the question of how much remaining work there is in the release, as captured in story points, and what the trajectory is for completing that work. This report is a line graph that indicates the number of total story points remaining for the release, one data point for each iteration, measured at the start of that iteration.

A sample graph of a release burndown with remaining work decreasing later in the timeline

This report visualizes the remaining story points at the beginning of each iteration in a release. Each dot represents the start of one iteration, and the height of the line represents the total of all story points in open story work items.

Note: Each dot includes work items planned for any of the iterations, not just the iteration that is beginning, so the value represents the amount of work remaining in the release, not just that remaining in a single iteration.

Story points remaining

This report answers the question of how much remaining work there is in the iteration, as captured in story points.

A sample graph of story points remaining

This report visualizes the points associated with story work items. Each story specifies a point value which indicates its magnitude relative to other stories. The chart in this report plots the trend of story points which are "remaining" (i.e., associated with work items that are not yet closed) over time. As an iteration progresses, expect to see the remaining points converge on zero.

Note: As an iteration comes to a close, a large backlog of remaining story points may indicate that the iteration targets are at risk.

Note: As an iteration progresses, an increasing total number of story points indicates extra points being allocated to an iteration after it has started, which may indicate planning issues and make it difficult for the team to achieve its goals.