ZenTao Blog

ZenTao once again stands out from the crowd as the most common test management tool in the industry. This is the eighth year in a row that ZenTao has been the winner of "Common Test Management Tools"!

Before we dig down on to consider migration from Jira to ZenTao, let’s start with the basics, for business positions, who might be new to this. We’ll briefly introduce you to Jira, it’s the most popular alternative — ZenTao, and then touch base on the most common reasons, why businesses decided to move from Jira to ZenTao.

This article explores the current state of automated testing amid the accelerated software development driven by Agile and DevOps. It notes that automated testing has evolved from a "nice-to-have" to an essential tool, with expanding application scope across enterprises of all sizes. Tools like ZenTao, which integrate with frameworks such as Selenium and JMeter, boost efficiency by unifying test lifecycle management, aiding tasks like regression and cross-platform testing. While challenges like high script maintenance exist, they are addressable. Automated testing complements (not replaces) manual testing, and AI integration and expanded use in fields like IoT signal its intelligent, efficient future.

This article argues that proactive customer follow-up, not passive waiting, is key to business success, countering the misleading idea that "customers will come naturally." It highlights Philip Kotler’s view that marketing requires initiative, notes that fears of follow-up stem from misconceptions (e.g., seeing it as undignified), and emphasizes ZenTao Project Management Software as a tool to enable systematic, value-driven follow-up—helping enterprises convey product value, trigger customer desire, and stand out in competition.

This article first explains that enterprises using IPD focus on long-term multi-business development via the Boston Matrix, noting TDTs (as IPD’s "hidden experts") are key for technical planning. It then details TDTs’ three characteristics, which are cross-functionality, high-quality control, and product strategy support, along with their role in removing technical obstacles and their mini-IPD-aligned process, emphasizing TDTs’ importance for solid product R&D.

This article first presents two real cases of remote project delays caused by "lack of awareness" (e.g., neglected technical debt, cross-time zone information gaps), noting managers often misattribute the issue to team responsibility or trust. It then proposes ZenTao’s high-awareness project management model via dashboards (macro-awareness), visual toolchains (micro-traceability), and automation/integration to solve the problem, concluding with ZenTao’s mission to enable seamless collaboration for growing enterprises.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, R&D teams struggle with poor cross-team collaboration, project delays, and applying Agile frameworks (e.g., Scrum) from theory to practice. ZenTao Community’s "ZenTao China Tour" offers an "Agile-Driven R&D" workshop, using painting to co-create a "Crazy Zoo" project. It forms random teams, integrates Agile games, and simulates Scrum lifecycles. The workshop helps participants master Scrum, adopt user-centric thinking, boost collaboration/leadership, and apply Scrum via gamification. With 16 years of experience, ZenTao’s practical-focused workshop acts as a catalyst for enterprises’ Agile transformation.

This article addresses proactive prevention in quality and security management amid rising global cyberattacks, noting outdated post-development security is obsolete. It introduces "Shift Left Security" and details ZenTao’s practices: clear coding/test/submission standards (tool-enforced), technical tool integration, rigid R&D processes, and improved planning meetings, aiming to control risks early.

This article highlights that traditional experience-driven software project management fails to address pain points like chaotic requirements, delayed progress, and quality-progress imbalance. It introduces ZenTao, a Chinese localized tool, which solves these issues via full-process closed-loop management (covering requirements, progress, quality) and balances professionalism with usability, enabling efficient, data-backed project delivery.

This article emphasizes the critical role of leadership for project managers, highlighting that many managers in daily work demand high standards from subordinates but fail to meet them themselves. It clarifies that "leading by example"—the core and most cost-effective management approach—includes three dimensions: behavioral demonstration, value transmission, and responsibility. Additionally, it provides four practical tips (constant self-awareness, starting with small things, avoiding evasion/shirking, proactive feedback) to practice this leadership, noting that true leadership comes from charisma and example, not just position.

This article addresses the profitability challenges faced by Chinese software companies, which are rooted in "non-standardized work in a non-standardized market." It proposes five practical solutions: strictly controlling company size (replacing labor with efficiency via tools like ZenTao), streamlining management hierarchies to enable faster communication, balancing flexible and controlled processes, emphasizing engineering practices to turn code into assets, and building an open, team-respecting culture. ZenTao, a project management tool, is highlighted throughout as a key enabler for implementing these strategies, helping companies cut costs and boost profitability.

This article states that IT project managers (PMs), as core leaders, oversee project quality, schedule, cost and risks via full-lifecycle management. It covers PMs’ basic requirements (e.g., aligning with company goals, team management), 10 core lifecycle tasks, and key capabilities in quality, schedule, cost and risk management, stressing integrated professionalism and collaboration for efficient delivery.