Earlier this week, project management organizer application and service Trello announced that it was being acquired by specialist collaboration software business, Atlassian, although the terms have not been disclosed. Trello was originally launched at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference back in 2012 on the premise of converting a note, which might be stuck onto the wall, into an online application, platform and service. Trello’s blog confirms that the service and application will continue to run on as it has for the last five years but with the advantage of Atlassian’s financial investment into the business. Michael Pryor explained on the Trello blog: “Our team will be able to focus on improving the core experience of Trello for all users.” He also goes on to write that the Trello team are sure that Atlassian “understands the unique and novel reasons why Trello is so successful and well-loved.” In other words, if you currently use the Trello application, nothing is expected to change anytime soon apart from perhaps quicker inclusion of new features as the Trello team are able to tap into Atlassian’s resources. Trello may also experience an uptick in users now that Atlassian have encouraged its users to check out the Trello application.
Trello’s original design team built the system to be as easy and intuitive to use as possible. It’s built around boards, which may have content added or amended by authorized users. It’s a simple idea based on converting a real-world system to an electronic environment, keeping the original idea intact and therefore simple, easy to use and accessible especially for those customers not so accomplished with technology, but under the skin the application utilizes modern collaboration systems and tools. In five years the service has grown to 19 million users including big and small companies through to massively scaled organizations such as the United Nations and the Red Cross, and even governments. The application and service is designed to be easy to use and manage from a smartphone, as Trello recognized back in 2012 how the smartphone was rapidly becoming a ubiquitous tool for both consumers and businesses.
Looking forwards, Atlassian and Trello will be keen to roll out deeper integrations between their respective software platforms. Trello already integrates with many different tools and services around the Internet and Pryor comments that we can “look forward to some great integrations with HipChat, Confluence and JIRA” in the future. At this juncture, we don’t have a timeframe for the next set of improvements.