System Assets

A System Asset is a core business object in Digital.ai Agility. Assets represent work items, planning units, and team members. This topic helps you understand how different assets relate to each other and when to use each type.

Who works with system assets

All members interact with various assets based on their role:

• Team members: Stories, defects, tasks, tests, retrospectives
• Product owners: Stories, epics, portfolio items, releases, roadmaps
• Scrum masters: Sprints, retrospectives, issues, teams
• Administrators: All assets plus system configuration (members, teams, projects, programs)

Permission note: Your ability to create, edit, or delete assets depends on your assigned project role. Some assets (like budgets, strategic themes) require administrator permissions.

Understand Asset Relationships

Assets in Digital.ai Agility flow from input to planning to execution. Understanding these relationships helps you choose the right asset type for your situation.

Common Workflows

Capturing External Input

• Ideas: Feature suggestions from customers or stakeholders that need evaluation before committing to development
• Requests: New features or potential defects from external sources that require review and approval

Planning Work

• Portfolio Items: High-level features or initiatives that break down into multiple stories
• Stories or Backlog Items: Individual features or requirements ready for development
• Defects: Bugs identified in completed features that need fixes

Executing Work

• Sprints or Iterations: Time-boxed periods where teams complete planned work
• Tasks: Breakdown of stories into manageable development units
• Acceptance Tests: Criteria that verify stories and defects work as expected

When to Generate Assets from Ideas and Requests

From Ideas:

• Generate a Story or Portfolio Item when the idea represents a new feature to develop
• Generate a Request when the idea needs formal review and approval before committing resources

From Requests:

• Generate a Story or Portfolio Item when the request is for a new feature
• Generate a Defect when the request is determined to result from a defect in the system
• Generate an Issue when the request identifies an impediment for the team

note

Defects identify discrepancies between expected and actual behavior of completed features. Generate a Defect from a Request only when the request results from a defect in the system, not for new feature requests.

Review Asset Relationship

The diagram below shows how assets relate to each other throughout the development lifecycle. Not all paths apply to every situation — your workflow determines which relationships you use.

Understand Asset Relationships Assets in Digital.ai Agility flow from input to planning to execution. Understanding these relationships helps you choose the right asset type for your situation.

The table below describes each asset type in Digital.ai Agility. Refer to the related articles at the end of this topic for detailed information about working with specific assets.

Asset	Description
Acceptance Test	An Acceptance Test (also called a Test) is a system asset that defines acceptance criteria to ensure that a story or backlog item or defect fix works as defined.
Backlog Goal or Objective	A Backlog Goal or Objective is a system asset that contains groups of stories or backlog items that drive the direction of the project team.
Backlog Group	A Backlog Group is a system asset that allows you to group similar items that can span projects and sprints or iterations (e.g., security, reporting, integration, user interface, payment processing).
Budget	A Budget is a system asset that can be allocated across strategic themes so spending guidelines can be aligned with strategic priorities.
Community	A Community is a system asset that allows organizations to create a secure, centralized place where team members can collect and share knowledge.
Conversation	A Conversation is a system asset that allows team members, stakeholders, and others to actively collaborate about anything related to a work item.
Defect	A Defect is a system asset that identifies discrepancies between the expected and actual behavior of a completed feature. Defects can be scheduled into sprints or iterations the same way stories or backlog items are or, they can be tracked as a separate work queue outside of a sprint.
Defect Template	A Defect Template is an asset that contains predefined defect data. It can be reused in cases where you routinely create the same types defects or if you want to create several at once.
Environment	An Environment is a system asset that defines the technical setup used for running tests, such as operating system, client, database, etc.
Idea	An Idea is a system asset that contains feature suggestions or process improvement requests submitted through the Ideas add-on application. Ideas can be converted into Stories, Portfolio Items, or Requests for a formal approval workflow. Teams can manage Ideas in the Digital.ai Agility Enterprise edition and incorporate them into their product lifecycle if desired.
Issue	An Issue is a system asset used to highlight items that require project-wide visibility. Issues can represent anything impeding the project team's delivery.
Key Result	A Key Result is a system asset that defines measurable outcomes for objectives. Key Results track progress toward strategic goals and provide quantifiable metrics to evaluate success. They are typically used as part of the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework to align team efforts with organizational priorities.
Member	The Member system asset represents a user in the system. It contains member profile, login, system access information. To learn more, see Member Administration.
Portfolio Item	The Portfolio Item (previously called an Epic) system asset is a high-level feature or initiative that has business value. During planning activities, a portfolio item can be further broken down into individual stories for scheduling and tracking.
Project	A Project is a system asset that represents a release, a sprint or iteration, a program, and a program increment at any level of the organizational hierarchy.
Program	A Program is a system asset that contains a collection of cross-hierarchical projects that can span the project hierarchy and is used for filtering and rollup reporting.
Request	A Request is a system asset submitted from an external source for consideration. Requests can represent new features (which generate Stories or Portfolio Items) or potential defects (which generate Defects when determined to result from a defect in the system). Requests require review and approval before being converted into development work items.
Retrospective	A Retrospective is a system asset that captures important details discussed in retrospective meetings, such as agendas, discussion notes, and areas for improvement.
Regression Test	A Regression Test is a system asset that serves as a template for testing an existing feature on a repeated basis after it has been delivered. This ensures that new feature development has not broken the previous functionality. Also see the Regression Planning asset model diagram.
Regression Plan	A Regression Plan is a system asset that contains a coordinated set of testing activities focused on ensuring that existing functionality still works properly. A regression plan contains multiple regression suites.
Regression Suite	A Regression Suite is a system asset that contains a set of related Regression Tests that, together, ensure that the feature is properly working within a given aspect of a system.
Release	A Release is a system asset that represents a specific version or delivery of a product. Releases contain stories, defects, and other work items planned for delivery and provide a mechanism for tracking progress toward launch milestones. Releases can be organized within a value stream to visualize the flow of value delivery across multiple releases.
Roadmap	A Roadmap is a system asset that represents a high level plan used to communicate direction of a product, suite, organization or company.
Sprint or Iteration	A Sprint or Iteration is a system asset that represents a series of short, incremental delivery cycles (typically 1- 6 weeks). Backlog may be scheduled to Iteration so the team can work on them.
Sprint Schedule	A Sprint Schedule is a system asset that contains sequential collection of sprints assigned to one or more projects and releases. The Sprint Schedule may be created for each project and release in the tree or the schedule can be inherited from a project at a higher level in the project tree.
Strategic Theme	A Strategic Theme is an asset in the Portfolio Tree that supports top-tier strategic planning activities at the company or organizational level.
Story or Backlog Item	A Story or Backlog Item is a system asset that generally represents a requirement, feature, or unit of business value that can be estimated and tested, but may also encompass non-functional requirements and defects.
Story or Backlog Item Template	A story template is an asset that contains pre-defined story data. It can be reused if you routinely create the same types stories or if you want to create several at once. Allows for quick creation of standard stories by pre-filling specific fields as well as tasks and tests. Create new stories from a template using the Add New dropdown in the Sidebar (formerly called the Asset Tray) or use add tasks or tests from a template to a story using the Plan Story view.
Task	A Task is a system asset that can be used to break down a story into manageable units to be worked by the development team.
Team	A Team is a system asset that contains a group of cross-functional members who work together within a project to deliver a set of features.
Test Set	A Test Set is a system asset that contains a set of acceptance tests that match the Regression Tests in a Regression Suite.
Topic	A Topic is a system asset that contains article content within a Community.
Value Stream	A Value Stream is a system asset that represents the end-to-end flow of value delivery from concept to customer. Value Streams organize releases and initiatives to visualize dependencies, optimize flow, and align work with strategic objectives. They provide a high-level view of how work progresses through the organization to deliver customer value.

Ideas: Feature suggestions from customers or stakeholders that need evaluation before committing to development Requests: New features or potential defects from external sources that require review and approval Planning Work

Portfolio Items: High-level features or initiatives that break down into multiple stories Stories or Backlog Items: Individual features or requirements ready for development Defects: Bugs identified in completed features that need fixes Executing Work

Sprints or Iterations: Time-boxed periods where teams complete planned work Tasks: Breakdown of stories into manageable development units Acceptance Tests: Criteria that verify stories and defects work as expected When to Generate Assets from Ideas and Requests From Ideas:

Generate a Story or Portfolio Item when the idea represents a new feature to develop Generate a Request when the idea needs formal review and approval before committing resources From Requests:

Generate a Story or Portfolio Item when the request is for a new feature Generate a Defect when the request is determined to result from a defect in the system Generate an Issue when the request identifies an impediment for the team

Defects identify discrepancies between expected and actual behavior of completed features. Generate a Defect from a Request only when the request results from a defect in the system, not for new feature requests. :::

Review Asset Relationship The diagram below shows how assets relate to each other throughout the development lifecycle. Not all paths apply to every situation — your workflow determines which relationships you use.

Diagram that shows how ideas and requests can lead to requests, stories or portfolio items, defects, and issues across the Digital.ai Agility development lifecycle.

Asset Descriptions The table below describes each asset type in Digital.ai Agility. Refer to the related articles at the end of this topic for detailed information about working with specific assets.

Asset Description Acceptance Test An Acceptance Test (also called a Test) is a system asset that defines acceptance criteria to ensure that a story or backlog item or defect fix works as defined. Backlog Goal or Objective A Backlog Goal or Objective is a system asset that contains groups of stories or backlog items that drive the direction of the project team. Backlog Group A Backlog Group is a system asset that allows you to group similar items that can span projects and sprints or iterations (e.g., security, reporting, integration, user interface, payment processing). Budget A Budget is a system asset that can be allocated across strategic themes so spending guidelines can be aligned with strategic priorities. Community A Community is a system asset that allows organizations to create a secure, centralized place where team members can collect and share knowledge. Conversation A Conversation is a system asset that allows team members, stakeholders, and others to actively collaborate about anything related to a work item. Defect A Defect is a system asset that identifies discrepancies between the expected and actual behavior of a completed feature. Defects can be scheduled into sprints or iterations the same way stories or backlog items are or, they can be tracked as a separate work queue outside of a sprint. Defect Template A Defect Template is an asset that contains predefined defect data. It can be reused in cases where you routinely create the same types defects or if you want to create several at once. Environment An Environment is a system asset that defines the technical setup used for running tests, such as operating system, client, database, etc. Idea An Idea is a system asset that contains feature suggestions or process improvement requests submitted through the Ideas add-on application. Ideas can be converted into Stories, Portfolio Items, or Requests for a formal approval workflow. Teams can manage Ideas in the Digital.ai Agility Enterprise edition and incorporate them into their product lifecycle if desired. Issue An Issue is a system asset used to highlight items that require project-wide visibility. Issues can represent anything impeding the project team's delivery. Key Result A Key Result is a system asset that defines measurable outcomes for objectives. Key Results track progress toward strategic goals and provide quantifiable metrics to evaluate success. They are typically used as part of the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework to align team efforts with organizational priorities. Member The Member system asset represents a user in the system. It contains member profile, login, system access information. To learn more, see Member Administration. Portfolio Item The Portfolio Item (previously called an Epic) system asset is a high-level feature or initiative that has business value. During planning activities, a portfolio item can be further broken down into individual stories for scheduling and tracking. Project A Project is a system asset that represents a release, a sprint or iteration, a program, and a program increment at any level of the organizational hierarchy. Program A Program is a system asset that contains a collection of cross-hierarchical projects that can span the project hierarchy and is used for filtering and rollup reporting. Request A Request is a system asset submitted from an external source for consideration. Requests can represent new features (which generate Stories or Portfolio Items) or potential defects (which generate Defects when determined to result from a defect in the system). Requests require review and approval before being converted into development work items. Retrospective A Retrospective is a system asset that captures important details discussed in retrospective meetings, such as agendas, discussion notes, and areas for improvement. Regression Test A Regression Test is a system asset that serves as a template for testing an existing feature on a repeated basis after it has been delivered. This ensures that new feature development has not broken the previous functionality. Also see the Regression Planning asset model diagram. Regression Plan A Regression Plan is a system asset that contains a coordinated set of testing activities focused on ensuring that existing functionality still works properly. A regression plan contains multiple regression suites. Regression Suite A Regression Suite is a system asset that contains a set of related Regression Tests that, together, ensure that the feature is properly working within a given aspect of a system. Release A Release is a system asset that represents a specific version or delivery of a product. Releases contain stories, defects, and other work items planned for delivery and provide a mechanism for tracking progress toward launch milestones. Releases can be organized within a value stream to visualize the flow of value delivery across multiple releases. Roadmap A Roadmap is a system asset that represents a high level plan used to communicate direction of a product, suite, organization or company. Sprint or Iteration A Sprint or Iteration is a system asset that represents a series of short, incremental delivery cycles (typically 1- 6 weeks). Backlog may be scheduled to Iteration so the team can work on them. Sprint Schedule A Sprint Schedule is a system asset that contains sequential collection of sprints assigned to one or more projects and releases. The Sprint Schedule may be created for each project and release in the tree or the schedule can be inherited from a project at a higher level in the project tree. Strategic Theme A Strategic Theme is an asset in the Portfolio Tree that supports top-tier strategic planning activities at the company or organizational level. Story or Backlog Item A Story or Backlog Item is a system asset that generally represents a requirement, feature, or unit of business value that can be estimated and tested, but may also encompass non-functional requirements and defects. Story or Backlog Item Template A story template is an asset that contains pre-defined story data. It can be reused if you routinely create the same types stories or if you want to create several at once. Allows for quick creation of standard stories by pre-filling specific fields as well as tasks and tests. Create new stories from a template using the Add New dropdown in the Sidebar (formerly called the Asset Tray) or use add tasks or tests from a template to a story using the Plan Story view. Task A Task is a system asset that can be used to break down a story into manageable units to be worked by the development team. Team A Team is a system asset that contains a group of cross-functional members who work together within a project to deliver a set of features. Test Set A Test Set is a system asset that contains a set of acceptance tests that match the Regression Tests in a Regression Suite. Topic A Topic is a system asset that contains article content within a Community. Value Stream A Value Stream is a system asset that represents the end-to-end flow of value delivery from concept to customer. Value Streams organize releases and initiatives to visualize dependencies, optimize flow, and align work with strategic objectives. They provide a high-level view of how work progresses through the organization to deliver customer value. |

Related Topics

• Work Item Actions - Common work item procedures including adding links and attaching files
• Programs - Group and filter projects across hierarchies