Teams working on a project either follow the waterfall or the agile model to manage their work. Some teams may require the traditional and other teams require an iterative model to deliver the tasks. Teams can better manage their project by integrating these two methodologies. Our Zoho Projects and Zoho Sprints integration helps teams optimize their processes based on dual methodologies. 

Use case

Zylker software solutions uses both Zoho Projects and Zoho Sprints to manage their projects. Some of the teams, such as Design and Development, want to use agile methodology while the others prefer traditional waterfall methodology. The management at Zylker wants to view the data added on both the platforms in one place. We at Zoho provided an integration of Zoho Projects and Zoho Sprints that would enable this hybrid working model. Now, the management can view all the data from within Zoho Projects while the teams can continue to work on their desired platforms.

 

In the below screenshot, you can view the sprint that is created from within the Zoho Projects. You can alsoupdate the sprint details directly in Zoho Projects, which will get updated in the Zoho Sprints app as well. 

Configure Zoho Sprints Integration

1. Click   in the upper-right corner of the top navigation band.
2. Navigate to Marketplace > Zoho Apps > Zoho Sprints. 
   
3. Click Configure. 
   
4. Select your Zoho Sprints portal from the drop-down and click Map Portal.
   

Zoho One users should ensure that both the portals are part of the same org.
Teams added in Zoho Projects will automatically be created in Zoho Sprints and vice-versa.

Sync Project Template with Zoho Sprints

1. Click Projects in the left navigation panel. 
   
2. From the project type selector, choose Project Templates.
   
3. Click New Project Template.
   
4. Select the Project Layout that you want to apply to the template. If you haven't created any project layouts, Standard Layout will be listed in the drop-down. Learn more about creating a Project Layout. 
   
5. Enter the Project Template Name and select the project that you want to make as a template in Choose from Projects drop-down.
   
1. If the source project is already integrated with a project in Zoho Sprints, a template will be created in Zoho Sprints using the integrated project in Sprints. Backlogs and upcoming sprints will be added to the template in Sprints.
   
2. If the source project is not integrated with Zoho Sprints, a blank template will be created in Sprints.
   
6. Check the Add template to Zoho Sprints option.
   
7. Check the Add closed tasks as open tasks in the project template option if required. Closed tasks in the selected projects will be added as open tasks in the template.
   
8. Enter other details.
   
9. Click Add Project Template.
   
   

Sync a new project with Zoho Sprints

1. Navigate to your portal.
   
2. Click on Projects in the left navigation panel.
   
3. Click New Project.
   
4. Enter the project details.
   
5. Check the Add project to Zoho Sprints option.
   
6. Click Add.
   

• Title, description, owner, users, start & end dates, and status fields alone will sync with Zoho Sprints.
  
• You cannot enable roll-up if you add the project to Zoho Sprints and vice-versa.
  
• Updating project owner when you edit a project will not sync with Zoho Sprints.
  
• When you create a project using a project template, the users will sync with Zoho Sprints. However, tasks in the project template will not sync automatically.
  

Sync an Existing Project with Zoho Sprints

1. Navigate to a project.
   
2. Click on Dashboard on the top navigation panel.
   
3. Click on in the top right corner.
   
4. Select Edit Project.
   
   
5. Click on the Sprints icon in the right navigation and click the Add project to Zoho Sprints option.
   
   
6. Map the Task and Issue status to complete the mapping.
   

Projects with roll-up option enabled cannot be added to Zoho Sprints.

View Sprint Details From Dashboard

1. Navigate to a project.
   
2. Click on Dashboard on the top navigation panel.
   
3. View sprint progress and work item count from the dashboard.
   
4. Click Sprints dashboard to go to your sprints portal dashboard. 
   
   

Sync Tasks with Zoho Sprints

1. Navigate to a project and access the Task module.
   
2. Click on Add Task.
   
3. Enter the task details and click Save and add to Other Apps.
   
4. Toggle the Add to Zoho Sprints option.
   
5. Enter the Estimation Point.
   
6. Select Item Type.
   
7. Select an Epic.
   This will be set to None if there are no Epics in the Sprints project.
   
8. Select a Sprint Name. If you don't select a sprint, the task will be added to the backlog.
   
9. Enter details in the mandatory custom fields.
   
10. Click Add.
    
11. Navigate to task details page and click on the sprints icon to view the work item. Click on the work item to view the item detail in Zoho Sprints.
    
12. Scroll to the Sprint Details section to view sprint name, item type, Epic, and item status and estimation points.
    
    

• Task title, description, attachments, owner, start & end date, comments, log hours, priority and task activities will sync with Zoho Sprints.
  
• Task custom field values can be viewed in Zoho Sprints.
  
• Subtasks will be added as a new item in Zoho Sprints. Subtasks will not be mapped as a sub-item.
  
• Existing tasks can also be added to Zoho Sprints. Open the task details page and click  and then click Add to Zoho Sprints.
  
• You can bulk add upto 25 tasks to Zoho Sprints. Navigate to task Classic or Plain view and click Add To Sprints among the bulk update options.
  

Sync Issues with Zoho Sprints

• An issue's due date in Zoho Projects will be mapped as End Date in Zoho Sprints.
  
• Issue name, Assignee, Description, and Due date are the mandatory custom fields which will be synced in Zoho Sprints.
  
• When the user archives in Zoho Projects: The sync will remain.
  
• In Zoho Projects, when the user trashes a project, the sync will be broken but when the project is recovered from the trash, the sync will be restored.
  
• In Zoho Sprints, when the user moves a project to recycle bin, the sync will be lost and cannot be recovered.
  
• If a Business rule is updated in Zoho Projects, it will automatically get updated in Zoho Sprints for the fields that are synced.
  
• You can bulk add upto 25 Issues to Zoho Sprints.

Sync Task/Issue Status with Zoho Sprints

1. Only the projects integrated with Zoho Sprints will be listed.
2. You can check the Sprint Details from the Task Details Page in Zoho Projects.
   
3. The sprint status in Zoho Sprints will be updated automatically if the Task/Issue status is changed in Zoho Projects.
   

Add a Sprint from Zoho Projects

Once you configure the integration, Zoho Sprints tab will appear on the left panel.

1. Click on the Zoho Sprints tab.
   
2. View sprints and backlogs from this screen.
   
3. Click on Create Sprint.
   
4. Enter sprint details and click Add.
   
5. Hover over a running sprint and click on View board. This will open the sprint board.
   

View Sprint Reports

You can view sprint reports from the Reports section in Zoho Projects.

1. Navigate to a project.
   
2. Click on Reports on the top navigation panel.
   
3. Click on Agile Reports tile.
   
4. View various sprint reports.
   

Sync Log Hours with Zoho Sprints

1. Navigate to a task in a synced project.
   
2. Click on the task to view task details.
   
3. Click on log hours tab.
   
4. Enter log hours and save.
   
5. View time logs from Zoho Sprints.
   

1. Time logs, billing status, owner, time log notes will be synced with Zoho Sprints. Only approved log hours will sync with Zoho Sprints.
   
2. Timers are independent in both the products. However, when a timer is stopped the time log will sync between Zoho Sprints and Zoho Projects.
   
3. If a task is assigned to a user in both Zoho Projects and Zoho Sprints, the user can start the timer in only one application.
   

Timesheet approval settings in Zoho Project and Zoho Sprints will affect the sync behavior as below:

Sync Users with Zoho Sprints

Users who are part of a synced project will be added to Zoho Sprints in a pending inactive state. The Zoho Sprints admin can activate users, but users have to accept the invite sent via email. All users, irrespective of their role in Zoho Projects, will be added as members in Zoho Sprints. Zoho Sprints admin can change their roles. Client users will also be synced as a member in Zoho Sprints. Users added in Zoho Sprints will not be added to Zoho Projects automatically.

Sync Teams with Zoho Sprints

1. Click   in the upper-right corner of the top navigation band.
   
2. Navigate to Manage Users > Teams.
   
3. Hover over any team and click  or right-click. 
   User groups added via Zoho Sprints will be listed along with Zoho Sprints logo.
4. Select Edit from the context menu.
   
5. Make the necessary changes and click Update.

Note: 

1. Existing teams will be synced automatically to the user groups in Zoho Sprints.
   
2. If you delete a team in Zoho Projects, it will also be deleted in Zoho Sprints and vice-versa.
   
3. Users from Zoho Sprints who are not a part of Zoho Projects portal will be added as deactivated users in Zoho Projects. 
   
4. Users who are a part of only one application may not have access to data in other application. E.g., if a user is in Zoho Projects and not in Zoho Sprints, Sprint information will not be visible/accessible from Zoho Projects.
   

Delete Integration

1. Click   in the upper-right corner of the top navigation band.
2. Navigate to Marketplace > Zoho Apps.
   
3. Hover over the Zoho Sprints app and then click Update.
   
4. Click Delete Integration in the upper-right corner.
   
   
5. Confirm the action and then click Delete.
   

Points to note before deleting this integration:

1. The deletion will remove the sync between Zoho Projects and Zoho Sprints and cannot be recovered.
   
2. The items already synced will be retained in both the applications.
   
3. After integrating Sprints and Projects again, user will have to manually sync the work items. This can lead to duplication of previously synced work items.