4 min lecture • Guide 283 of 877
Project Management for SaaS Development Teams
SaaS development requires balancing new features, bug fixes, customer requests, and technical debt in a continuous delivery environment. GitScrum's board structure handles these parallel workstreams with priority labels, customer tagging, and release coordination that keeps SaaS teams shipping consistently.
SaaS Development Challenges
Unique SaaS Pressures
SAAS DEVELOPMENT COMPLEXITY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WHAT SAAS TEAMS JUGGLE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ PARALLEL WORKSTREAMS: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ • New features (roadmap-driven) ││
│ │ • Bug fixes (user-reported) ││
│ │ • Customer requests (sales-driven) ││
│ │ • Technical debt (engineering-driven) ││
│ │ • Infrastructure (ops-driven) ││
│ │ All competing for same developer time ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ CONTINUOUS DELIVERY: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ • Multiple deploys per day/week ││
│ │ • Feature flags for gradual rollout ││
│ │ • Rollback planning ││
│ │ • Zero downtime requirements ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ CUSTOMER PRESSURE: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ • Enterprise customers want features ││
│ │ • Churn risk from unfixed bugs ││
│ │ • Competitor feature parity ││
│ │ • Support escalations ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Board Structure for SaaS
Recommended Columns
| Column | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Inbox | New requests, bugs, ideas |
| Backlog | Prioritized, not scheduled |
| Sprint | Current sprint commitment |
| In Progress | Active development |
| Review | Code review + testing |
| Staging | Pre-production testing |
| Released | Deployed to production |
Label System
SaaS-Specific Labels
SAAS PROJECT LABELS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ORGANIZING WORKSTREAMS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ WORKSTREAM LABELS: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ stream:feature ││
│ │ stream:bugfix ││
│ │ stream:customer-request ││
│ │ stream:tech-debt ││
│ │ stream:infrastructure ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ CUSTOMER LABELS: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ customer:enterprise ││
│ │ customer:acme-corp (specific customer) ││
│ │ customer:churning (at risk) ││
│ │ customer:internal ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ RELEASE LABELS: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ release:2024-Q1 ││
│ │ release:next-sprint ││
│ │ feature-flag:enabled ││
│ │ breaking-change ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ PRIORITY LABELS: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ priority:p1-critical (production down) ││
│ │ priority:p2-high (major impact) ││
│ │ priority:p3-medium (normal priority) ││
│ │ priority:p4-low (nice to have) ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Sprint Planning for SaaS
Balanced Sprint Composition
| Work Type | Sprint % |
|---|---|
| Features | 50-60% |
| Bug fixes | 20-25% |
| Tech debt | 15-20% |
| Buffer | 5-10% |
Customer Request Tracking
From Request to Release
CUSTOMER REQUEST FLOW:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TRACKING CUSTOMER REQUESTS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 1. REQUEST RECEIVED: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ • Create task in Inbox column ││
│ │ • Add customer label ││
│ │ • Link to support ticket ││
│ │ • Tag requesting customer ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ 2. PRIORITIZATION: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ • Evaluate impact vs effort ││
│ │ • Consider customer value (MRR) ││
│ │ • Check for similar requests ││
│ │ • Assign priority label ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ 3. COMMUNICATION: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ • Update customer on timeline ││
│ │ • Add release target label ││
│ │ • Move to Backlog ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
│ 4. DELIVERY: │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│ │ • Complete development ││
│ │ • Notify customer when released ││
│ │ • Link to release notes ││
│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘