Executive Summary
Enterprise agile planning software connects portfolio strategy and funding to the backlogs of many agile teams. Choose it by the scaling framework you run and the delivery tools your teams already use.
Enterprise agile planning (EAP) software is the planning layer above team boards. It holds strategic themes, portfolio budgets, epics and the dependencies between teams, and it rolls progress up from the tools where teams work. Two questions narrow the shortlist: which scaling framework you run or plan to run, and which tool holds team-level work today: Jira, another team tool, or the planning tool itself.
The eight tools in this guide take seven approaches. Some are planners that sit over the team tools developers already use. Some are agile modules inside a portfolio, value stream or IT workflow platform. Two are team tools with portfolio features, sold per user at published prices.
This guide sets out what SAFe, LeSS and the other scaling frameworks ask of a tool, from their owners’ own pages. It then compares what each vendor’s own pages state about framework support and integrations, lists what to test, and explains how pricing works.
What Do SAFe, LeSS and Other Scaling Frameworks Ask of the Software?
Each framework below is described from its owner’s own pages. They ask different things of a tool.
SAFe. Scaled Agile defines the Agile Release Train (ART) as a long-lived team of Agile teams that incrementally develops, delivers, and often operates one or more solutions in a development value stream. Scaled Agile states that ARTs are generally made up of 50 to 125 people. Scaled Agile describes PI Planning as typically a 2-day event for the entire ART that takes place every 8 to 12 weeks. Scaled Agile states that PI Planning outputs include committed PI objectives from the Agile Teams and an ART planning board that reflects feature delivery dates and dependencies. A tool that supports SAFe has to hold those objectives, that board and the dependencies between teams.
Portfolio funding in SAFe. Scaled Agile defines Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) as aligning strategy and execution by applying Lean and systems thinking approaches to strategy and investment funding, Agile portfolio operations, and governance. Scaled Agile defines Lean Budgets as a financial governance approach that funds value streams instead of projects. In SAFe, WSJF is estimated as the relative cost of delay divided by the relative job duration. Ask each vendor how its tool records a value stream, the budget attached to it, and the economic ranking of the epics it funds.
LeSS. The LeSS site describes LeSS as Scrum applied to many teams working together on one product. LeSS calls for one Product Backlog, one Product Owner, one shippable product and one Sprint, regardless of whether there are 3 or 33 teams. Large-Scale Scrum has two frameworks: LeSS for 2 to 8 teams and LeSS Huge for 8 or more teams. A LeSS organization needs one backlog shared by many teams more than it needs portfolio layers.
Scrum@Scale and Disciplined Agile. Scrum@Scale states that Scrum, as originally outlined in the Scrum Guide, is a framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products by a single team. The Scrum@Scale guide is open source and released under the CC4-BY-SA license. PMI describes Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) as a people-first, learning-oriented hybrid agile approach to IT solution delivery.
Many enterprises run a mix: SAFe in some business units, Scrum or Kanban in others, and waterfall projects alongside both. Ask each vendor to configure your own mix in the demo, not a reference model of one framework.
How Do Enterprise Agile Planning Tools Compare on Framework Support and Integrations?
The comparison below covers only what each vendor’s own pages state about scaling frameworks and the delivery tools they connect to.
SAFe support in planning tools. Digital.ai states that Agility supports the agile practices outlined in SAFe: Portfolio, Development Value Stream, Program, and Team. ServiceNow states that customers can track all agile release train and scrum program features and epics in a single view. ServiceNow states that preconfigured dashboards show trends, status, and work details for scrum and SAFe teams. Planview states that AgilePlace provides teams and teams of teams with a way to visualize, plan (PI Planning or Quarterly Planning) and deliver organizational initiatives.
SAFe in team tools. Microsoft states that Azure Boards supports SAFe practices through its autonomous teams, backlogs, boards, reports, and metrics. Microsoft states that in Azure Boards value streams can be tracked using tags or custom fields. Microsoft states that in Azure Boards lean budget information can be captured in custom fields and rolled up to the Feature and Epic levels. Microsoft states that Azure Boards plan views are limited to a maximum of 20 teams or backlogs. GitLab states that large organizations can scale with SAFe, LeSS, and Disciplined Agile using integrated governance. GitLab states that epics with child epics are available in GitLab Ultimate only.
Planning over other team tools. Atlassian states that, as teams continue to work in Jira and Azure DevOps, integrations allow Align to be used to coordinate and plan at the program, portfolio, and enterprise layers. Digital.ai states that Agility has bi-directional integrations with Jira, Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, and other enterprise solutions. Broadcom states that Rally integrates with Jira, CI/CD pipelines, ITSM and collaboration tools, and SPM platforms such as Clarity or ServiceNow. Planview states that its Hub connects Jira, Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, GitHub, GitLab and other tools.
Agile and traditional work in one portfolio. ServiceNow states that agile and traditional workstreams can be managed in a single system of record. IBM states that with IBM Targetprocess work can be executed in agile, hybrid or traditional ways while staying connected to enterprise priorities and funding decisions.
A connector named on a product page shows that the connector exists. It does not show which fields sync, in which direction, or how often. Test it on your own team projects before you sign.
| If you run | The tool must hold | Ask the vendor to show |
|---|---|---|
| SAFe with several release trains | Release trains, PI objectives, a program board and cross-team dependencies | One of your PI Planning events planned and tracked in the tool |
| SAFe portfolio with Lean Budgets | Value streams, portfolio epics and a budget per value stream | A value stream budget changed mid-year, and the epics it affects |
| LeSS | One product backlog shared by many teams | Several teams pulling from one backlog without copies |
| Your own or a hybrid model | Your own levels above the team, with agile and waterfall work in one view | Your hierarchy configured without vendor services |
| Teams on Jira or another team tool | Two-way sync of status and hierarchy | A status change in the team tool arriving in the portfolio view |
What Should Enterprise Agile Planning Software Do?
Without the framework terms, the software does five jobs. It links strategy to team work. It plans capacity across teams. It tracks dependencies. It reports progress and spending to the people who fund the work. It keeps that data in step with the tools where teams work.
Funding. Broadcom states that ValueOps lets customers manage funding at a value stream level. Planview lists shifting funding from projects to persistent products, lines of business or value streams. IBM states that IBM Targetprocess connects labor and investment costs to strategy with budgets and funding visibility. Broadcom states that the Rally reporting engine captures actuals automatically and builds a trail for CapEx, OpEx and regulatory needs. Bring your finance team and your capitalization policy to that demo.
Objectives. Digital.ai states that Agility aligns strategy with execution through OKRs. Ask how each key result is measured: typed in by hand, or computed from work and data the tool already holds.
Delivery metrics. DORA has identified five software delivery performance metrics. DORA lists setting metrics as a goal among the pitfalls to watch out for when adopting its software delivery metrics. Ask whether a tool computes delivery metrics from your pipelines or from fields people update by hand.
| Capability | What it covers | How to test it |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy to team work | Themes, objectives and epics linked to team backlogs | Trace one live objective down to the stories behind it, and back up |
| Capacity planning | Team capacity against planned work across many teams | Plan the next increment for three teams with real capacity data |
| Dependencies | Links between teams and the dates they affect | Move one dependent item and see what the tool flags |
| Portfolio funding | Budgets per value stream, product or project | Change a budget and see which epics and teams it affects |
| Integrations | Sync with team tools and CI/CD pipelines | Change a status in the team tool and time its arrival |
| Reporting | Progress, flow and spending for executives | Build next quarter’s portfolio review from live data |
| Mixed methods | Agile and waterfall work in one portfolio | Load one waterfall project beside two agile teams |
Vendors in Enterprise Agile Planning Software (EAP)
Representative vendors include Atlassian Align (Jira Align), Azure DevOps Boards (Azure Boards), Broadcom Rally, Digital.ai Agility, GitLab, IBM Targetprocess, Planview and ServiceNow SPM (Strategic Portfolio Management). The list is alphabetical, is not a ranking, and is not for sale. How we choose vendors
The approaches below follow two questions: what the planning layer is sold with, and where team-level work lives.
A scaled-agile planner sold with strategy apps. Atlassian states that Align is an app in the Atlassian Strategy Collection. Atlassian states that Strategy Collection includes three apps: Focus for strategic planning and portfolio decisions, Talent for human and AI capital management, and Align for enterprise portfolio execution. Atlassian states that existing Jira Align customers can add Focus and Talent by contacting their Atlassian account team.
A dedicated enterprise agile planning tool, with its own team boards and integrations to other team tools. Digital.ai states that it was formed by providers of agile planning, DevOps, and application security technologies.
Agile management inside a value stream platform. Broadcom states that Rally is part of the ValueOps Platform, which integrates Clarity, Rally, ConnectALL, and Insights. Broadcom states that Rally is available on-premise or in the cloud.
A portfolio suite with Kanban boards and an integration hub. Planview states that Planview AgilePlace, formerly Planview LeanKit, enables organizations and teams to use enterprise Kanban boards to visually track and manage the flow of work from strategy to delivery. Planview states that it acquired Tasktop, combining Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) and Value Stream Management (VSM) solutions.
Portfolio and agile planning tied to IT financials. IBM announced on Aug. 10, 2023 that it had completed its acquisition of Apptio Inc. IBM stated that the close brought together Apptio's FinOps offerings, including ApptioOne, Cloudability and Targetprocess, and IBM's automation portfolio.
Agile planning inside an IT workflow platform. ServiceNow states that Agile Development is available with Strategic Portfolio Management.
Team tools with portfolio features. Their framework support is covered above and their prices in the pricing section below.
| Vendor | Approach | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| ServiceNow SPM (Strategic Portfolio Management) | Agile inside an IT workflow platform | Agile Development available with SPM; release train and SAFe team views |
| Broadcom Rally | Agile management in a value stream platform | Part of ValueOps with Clarity; on-premise or cloud; CapEx and OpEx reporting |
| Digital.ai Agility | Dedicated enterprise agile planning tool | SAFe from portfolio to team; OKRs; two-way sync with Jira, Azure DevOps and ServiceNow |
| IBM Targetprocess | Portfolio planning tied to IT financials | Came with IBM’s Apptio acquisition in 2023; agile, hybrid or traditional work; free trial |
| Planview | Portfolio suite with Kanban and an integration hub | AgilePlace, formerly LeanKit; Hub connectors; acquired Tasktop |
| Atlassian Align (Jira Align) | Scaled-agile planner with strategy apps | App in the Strategy Collection; Jira Cloud Premium required; plans over Jira and Azure DevOps |
| Azure DevOps Boards (Azure Boards) | Team tool with portfolio features | SAFe guidance; plan views up to 20 teams; Basic plan $6 per user per month after 5 free users |
| GitLab | Team tool with portfolio features | Child epics in Ultimate only; Premium $29 per user per month; planning seats $15 |
Eight tools across seven approaches; Azure DevOps Boards and GitLab share one. The approaches were chosen first, and the eight tools are the ones the previous edition of this guide evaluated. A row in this table is not for sale. The roster check for this edition also covered Kendis, Easy Agile, Tempo, Smartsheet and Wrike, and any of them can make its own case in the Spotlight below.
How Is Enterprise Agile Planning Software Priced?
Two of the eight publish a per-user list price on their own pages. Microsoft lists the Azure DevOps Basic plan with the first 5 users free, then $6 per user per month. GitLab lists Premium at $29 per user per month, billed annually. GitLab sells Ultimate at custom pricing and lists Strategic Portfolio Management and Value Stream Management among its features. GitLab lists Enterprise Agile Planning seats at $15 per user per month for PMs and non-technical stakeholders, available for Ultimate. Microsoft states that GitHub Enterprise Cloud customers who manage users with Entra ID can access Azure DevOps without additional cost.
One vendor sells its planner only in a bundle. Atlassian states that standalone licenses for Focus, Talent, or Align are not available. Atlassian states that Jira Cloud Premium is the minimum requirement for Strategy Collection. If your teams are on a lower Jira plan, price the upgrade together with the collection.
IBM invites readers to start a free trial of IBM Targetprocess. For the other planners, ask for a quote built from your user mix: full users, contributors who update only their own work, and viewers.
Add integration, framework configuration, training and coaching to the license when you compare three-year cost.
| Model | You are charged for | Grows with | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per user, by plan | Each user on a plan tier | Headcount on the tool | Viewers and occasional contributors bought as full users |
| Collection or bundle | A set of apps sold together | Seats across the whole bundle | Paying for apps you do not use, plus a required upgrade of the team tool |
| Role-based seats | Lower-priced seats for planners and stakeholders | Non-developer headcount | Seat rules that change at renewal |
| Enterprise quote | Users, modules and deployment | Modules and scale | Modules bought at signing and never switched on |
| Services | Implementation, integration and coaching | Teams and tools connected | Integrations that need rework when a team changes its board |
How long does implementation take for Enterprise Agile Planning Software (EAP)?
Prove that one portfolio traces from objective to running work before you configure the rest. A narrow rollout that people keep updated is worth more than a complete framework model that nobody maintains.
Decide how you fund work (projects, products or value streams) and which framework each part of the organization runs. Shortlist by approach, then ask each finalist to trace one of your live objectives to real work in your own delivery tools.
Define the levels above the team, the fields that carry budgets and value streams, and the two-way sync with each team tool. Connect identity, finance and HR data for capacity.
Run one value stream or portfolio live through a full planning cycle, including dependencies and a funding change. Check that progress rolls up without anyone retyping it.
Add portfolios in waves, train planners and stakeholders by role, and retire the spreadsheets and status decks the tool replaces. Review integration health and user counts before each renewal.
What should you ask vendors about Enterprise Agile Planning Software (EAP)?
Ask each finalist to answer in writing and to show each answer with your data.
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Do all your teams work in one delivery tool?Yes Price that tool’s own portfolio features first, then a planner that sits over it.No Shortlist planners with two-way sync to every team tool you run.
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Do you run SAFe across several release trains?Yes Weight PI Planning, program boards and Lean Budgets, and test one of your own PI Planning events.No Weight flexible hierarchy and one shared backlog over framework templates.
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Does finance need agile spending against budgets?Yes Shortlist tools that tie funding and labor cost to the portfolio, and bring finance to the demo.No Keep funding in your existing portfolio tool and connect it.