Jack and the JSM Challenge Part Three: How Asset Reservation in JSM Saved the Day with Raley Bookman

[Vladimir Horev _RaleyApps_]

There have been some big changes since the last JSM Challenge. You're in a new role at a new organization with some impressive facilities that just went through a major renovation. You still use Atlassian Jira Service Management to handle a busy workflow and provide great features and functionality to your organization. But in addition to employee users, this organization has users outside the organization — including customers, volunteers and even members of the public. 

It's an exciting time for you and your career and you've already implemented new Jira processes for email notifications and procurement. But you realize you'll need some new tricks to make everything run smoothly here — and that starts with figuring out a solution for asset booking management in Jira. 

Can I Book a Room?

"Jack, any ideas for the new facilities bookings?" It's your new boss, Jane. The newly renovated building has facilities available for use by customers, volunteers and the public. Your organization wanted spaces that could meet the needs of lots of different types of users, so small rooms, large rooms, classrooms and a boardroom were all included in the remodel. There are even two event spaces. 

These new facilities have been a hit with everyone so far. Your organization hosts monthly events for customers in the event spaces and trains volunteers in the classrooms. Local students are using the smaller rooms to study, either alone or with one or two friends. Community groups have started meeting in the boardroom to plan fundraisers, cookouts and more. There's even a gaming group that meets in the building every weekend to play Dungeons & Dragons. However, the team is dealing with a few issues managing the bookings for all these new facility assets. 

Right now, the organization's asset management process is inefficient. Bookings are managed with a clipboard kept at the front desk. Sometimes the clipboard gets misplaced and no one knows if a room is already booked or when it might be available. That can lead to mix-ups where a room gets double-booked. 

Can We Book Online? 

"I wish we had a way to book online. We had another mix-up with the clipboard this week." It's Jeff, one of the employees who works at the front desk. He says it's happened a couple of times recently, with two different groups showing up to use the same room at the same time. 

Booking a room can also be inconvenient. Facility users have to stop by in person to sign up or call in. Either way, they have to get an employee to help them sign up. Then, if their first choice isn't available, it can be frustrating on both sides as the user and employee go back and forth about the different types of rooms and their availability on the schedule. 

Then, there's the data issue. There's not an easy way for the organization to track how all these newly renovated public facilities are being used. Your boss Jane says the organization's board, trustees and donors want to know how their planning, fundraising and investment is paying off. But when it comes to facilities metrics, that data is lacking. 

Jira for Asset Management?

You know you have lots of options for asset management. To start, there are a number of standalone applications out there that could be configured for booking rooms. However, choosing the right one comes with the usual challenges: 

1. Define the organizational needs, goals and budget
2. Get the technical requirements right (from the beginning). 
3. Sort through dozens of options and narrow them down to a shortlist.
4. Go through the process with sales calls, demos and trials. 
5. Do proper due diligence and vetting of the top vendors. 
6. Implement and maintain another separate long-term software solution. 

But, since the organization has already made the investment, you wonder if you could do it in Jira. You think for a second and realize you could. 

Both Jira work items and JSM Assets could be configured to serve as assets identifying each bookable facilities space. Here's an real-life example, how this would look:

JSM Portal could serve as the user-side "front door" that makes self-serve bookings available for users even outside the organization. And that would be free of charge, no matter how many customers you have… 

Even so, you still feel that this is kind of re-inventing a wheel and don't want to do this all by yourself, hire a specialized Jira consultant or worry about compatibility with future releases. You think, "There's got to be a better way to do these bookings..."

What About Raley Bookman?

You check the Atlassian Marketplace and Raley Apps has just the sort of solution you're looking for. Raley Bookman is designed specifically to allow users to book assets from JSM Portal — just like you need to do. 

This new Bookman app features: 

1. Bookings via JSM portal — no need for a Jira license!
2. Support for assets from Jira work items
3. Support for assets from JSM Assets
4. JQL/AQL fine-tuning of assets eligible for bookings
5. Prevention of double-bookings
6. CRON-based booking schedule
7. Custom booking intervals from 1 minute to 1 month
8. Calendar and List views of existing bookings for an asset or asset type
9. Asset availability Calendar view from the Jira work item screen
10. Full self-service for making new reservations and cancellation of booking requests

With your past positive experience with Raley's Email Notifications and Purchase Orders apps and the Raley team's extensive experience in commercial software and Atlassian product support, you know this would be a great option to try. 

Like other Raley apps, Bookman comes with excellent support and thorough documentation, so getting up to speed is fast and easy. You share your idea with Jane and the rest of the team and it's a hit. 

"The best part is that, since we already use Jira and JSM, so we can get up and running quickly." You explain how Raley Bookman makes it so you can move bookings fully online and the user friendly interface won't require any special training for facilities users to book a space. 

"Users will be able to see and choose available rooms and times and only for the times we're open — plus, they won't be able to double-book. Then the cherry on the cake - visual Resource Timeline, that makes identifying the available room and booking it a breeze" 

"Well, this will definitely solve our clipboard mix-ups," says Jeff. 

You explain how there are other benefits, too, such as seeing actual asset utilization and monitoring usage with the apps asset view. "Plus, besides booking rooms, the documentation gave me ideas for how we could allow bookings for special equipment like our golf cart, one-on-one appointments with our organization's experts and more!" 

With Raley Bookman's capabilities and the team's enthusiasm, it looks like you can call Part Three of the "JSM Challenge" a complete success! 

Give Raley Bookman for Jira a try at your organization and streamline your asset management! Free for the first 30 days!