When comparing Google Drive vs Pivotal Tracker, the Slant community recommends Pivotal Tracker for most people. In the question“What are the best feature tracking/planning tools for small development teams?” Pivotal Tracker is ranked 5th while Google Drive is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose Pivotal Tracker is:
While not perfect kanban, Pivotal is somewhat flexible in that you can mark sections of stories. So rather than (or in addition to) a normal sprint, you can put a marker in to define all cards above that point as part of something, for example a release. Further, you can override the auto tracker and define how many points in a sprint. So there is some degree of flexibility which sometimes you don’t find in “purist” agile or scrum tools.
Specs
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Pros
Pro File sharing & collaborative editing
Google account holders and non-holders can be set to access and/or collaborate on files/folders in real-time. Additionally, you can find files you've shared not only by filename but by person you've shared the files with.
Pro 15GB free
This space is shared across Drive, Gmail & Google Photos.
Pro Built-in office suite
Includes tools for writing, presentations and spreadsheets.
Pro Integrates with other Google services
For example, you can use search to search through both Drive and Gmail.
Pro Extended functionality via apps
Third party Drive applications running in Chrome or Android can add functionality such as image/video editing, project management, flowchart creation, etc.
Pro Mobile integration
You can work from any device, especially mobile.
Pro Save files to drive directly from Gmail
Drive lets you save any file from your email.
Pro Cheap for extra storage
$1.99 per 100GB, for up to 16TB.
Pro Revision control
By clicking Ctrl + Alt + G in Windows or Command + Alt + Shift + G is OS X you can access previous version of the file.
Pro Indexes images
You can search images by object, place, or face when they've been added to your google photos collection. Google Assistant also helps you find screenshots that could be archived, images that aren't in the correct orientation and pictures that would work well as animations or albums.
Pro Flexible
While not perfect kanban, Pivotal is somewhat flexible in that you can mark sections of stories. So rather than (or in addition to) a normal sprint, you can put a marker in to define all cards above that point as part of something, for example a release. Further, you can override the auto tracker and define how many points in a sprint. So there is some degree of flexibility which sometimes you don’t find in “purist” agile or scrum tools.
Pro Great software to use in conjunction with a disciplined agile/scrum development philosophy
Pivotal Tracker has a Kanban feel to it, but takes a more opinionated “Agile” approach to feature management: It encourages items in the flow to be user stories with effort points associated to them to allow Pivotal to calculate your team’s velocity.
If you agree with the workflow, Pivotal offers a ton of functionality not provided by more generic tools like Trello. You can see your team’s velocity over time, organic smaller Stories into “Epics” (huge features) etc.
Pro Stories can contain media files
Easy to create features/bugs/chores with embedded files (screenshots, docs, videos).
Cons
Con No official client for Linux
Google as of yet has a client for Linux, leaving many who use the service forced to use third party apps or the webpage.
Con Data privacy not guaranteed
Data privacy is widely known as one of Google's weaknesses. Data shared through Google is most likely matched up with the user's profile inside other Alphabet inc. subsidiaries, and, due to the business model, used commercially.
Con Terms and Conditions allow Google to own anything on Google Drive
They can create derivative works, they can perform it, they can modify it, and they can publish it at will. There are many other specific rights they take over your product. Read the Terms carefully and compare with ANY others.
Con Very unreliable
Desktop client constantly crashes.
Con No WebDAV, FTP or SFTP
It supports none of these common protocols used for access to network storage, which severely limits OS integration. You are forced to use the browser or a standalone client, which isn't possible on all systems.
Con Low bandwidth
Can't even upload all my files to this
Con Low sync speed
Con No universal Windows app
Con Doesn't integrate well with OS
Con No Kanban-board
To get a good overview often Kanban boards are used. You can somehow imitate a board, but it is not comparable to a real Kanban-board.
Con Limited Work Flow & Process
Few story states. If your process involves some sort of QA and sign off, forget it - you get started, deliver, accept/reject, and finished. No way to customize this to your process. Sad miss for an easy fix/configuration.
Con Non-Editable Default Templates
Templates for defining stories and bugs save time. Pivotal has a default for story and bug. However you can’t edit these. So when you go to add your own, the titles can be confusing to users. Maybe title like “Our User Story” and “Our Bug”? Users will see all templates in the drop down and it’s confusing, so you end up with peope using the wrong templates which adds to process problems.
Con No Saved & Shared Views
Everything is in a column. Aside from destroying Kanban, it also gets confusing. The real downside here is that there’s no way to save a set of columns and pin for others to quickly see. Everyone on the team is usually looking at a completely different set of work. This is literally the definition of not being on the same page.
Con Not usable for multiple projects
If you want / need to have an overview of all the tasks going on over different projects and if you have these organized in different projects, there is no way to get an overview beside reporting. Just take a look at the screenshot and you see what you can expect.