Jira is very sensitive to the configuration you build for it, and the hardware it is running on. The full configuration for Jira would make an Encyclopedia look small. Get that wrong (as many places do), and it is hard to use and dead-dog slow, at the best of times. But if you have a real Jira wizard who can configure things correctly, then it can easily be the fastest and easiest way to organize your development and operational support tasks.

I’ve seen both good and bad Jira configurations. And I’ve seen them run on both good and bad hardware solutions.

There is a reason why Atlassian is getting rid of Enterprise Jira, because it’s really hard to build a good hardware solution for running Jira properly.

I submit that anyone who hates Jira probably has not seen a good Jira configuration. And anyone who loves Jira probably has seen a good configuration and doesn’t understand what everyone else is complaining about.

Jira is a real Jekyll vs. Hyde type of tool. In my experience, how you feel about Jira says much more about the type of configuration you’ve seen than anything else.