Autotask integration

[Jason Butler]

Hi Braintrust.

My org is using JSM Standard.  I want to be able to enable integration with Autotask which is used by one of our vendors.

I have read many articles and they appear to offer contradicting advice.  One says to enable 2 way communication between the 2 systems you need to have JSM Premium.  Another says you can just set up and gives no hint that there is a tier requirement.

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-service-management-cloud/docs/integrate-with-autotask/

Use AppLinks to link to Atlassian products | Atlassian Support

I wish to have the ability to use vendors with other systems too, not just Autotask.

What do I need to get 2 way integration?

Thanks in advance.

[Walter Buggenhout · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jason Butler and welcome to the Community!

The information you linked may seem contradictory, but it is not. The articles you shared are talking about entirely different types of integrations.

The first one is a very specific email based integration specifically to Autotask, while the second one is a solution to connect Atlassian core products to each other.

Your question is about integrating tools owned by different third parties (you and a vendor). As long as the systems on both ends support some structured way of exchanging data (usually through API calls, since that gives you more control about the format of the data, proper authentication mechanisms and so on), applications can (theoretically at least) connect.

Apart from the technical solution, you'll have to be clear about what that integration means. E.g.:

• Will you just 'throw a ticket over the fence' ...
• Or are you looking to also exchange additional information after that, such as:
  • status updates
  • comments
  • attachments
  • ...

You also need to come to an agreement with your third party on how this will work. You will need to have the right level of access to their system to send data across, as well as the other way around.

Then you can start looking at tools (e.g. for synchronisation or 3rd party connectors) that may take some of the heavy lifting off your hands. Tools like Scriptrunner Connect or Exalate (both built by Atlassian partners) may be options, as well as more generic solutions like e.g. Zapier etc.

Hope this helps!

[Jason Butler]

Awesome.  Many thanks.  At this point I am just doing my homework/due diligence while we build our system, but it will need to happen quite soon, so thanks again for the tips.