Best Practices: Integrating Jira Data Center & Outlook (M365)

[MidnightExe]

Hi Community,

We are currently exploring the best ways to integrate Outlook (M365) with our Jira Data Center instance. I'm looking for some best practices and real-world examples from other companies.

Our main questions are:

1. Quick Linking: What are the fastest and simplest methods for a user to link an Outlook email to a Jira issue (or create a new issue from an email)? Are there specific Marketplace Add-ins you would recommend for this?

2. Link vs. Copy: Is it possible to generate a permanent web link to a specific Outlook email that can be pasted into a Jira issue? Or is the general best practice to always attach the email as a static copy (e.g., as a .msg or .eml file)?

3. Automation (e.g., Power Automate): What automation possibilities have you implemented? We are considering using tools like Microsoft Power Automate. A key use case for us is: "When an email is moved to a specific Outlook folder, automatically create a Jira issue and either attach the email or include a link to it."

I'm very interested in learning about your solutions and any "best practices" you've established.

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[John Funk]

Hi Exe

1. Jira has a built in process for creating issues from an email: 

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/creating-issues-and-comments-from-email-938847641.html

2. Not sure what you are trying to accomplish with this - but typically it would be to put it in a comment on the issue. 

3. I have not done a situation for that use case (an email moved to an Outlook folder as the trigger). 

In general, I would say take a look at this app in the Atlassian Marketplace: 

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1213138/microsoft-365-for-jira-outlook-email-teams-calendar?hosting=datacenter&tab=overview

[Britta Neugebauer _yasoon_]

Thank you @John Funk for your recommendation of Microsoft 365 for Jira :) My name is Britta and I work at yasoon, the Atlassian Marketplace vendor developing the Microsoft <-> Jira integration

@MidnightExe , we do have some experiences when it comes to integrating Outlook with Jira Data Center. You can work with an Outlook add-in that lets users create or link Jira work items directly from their inbox. Including attachments and email context without switching tools. All subsequent email replies are tracked in Jira, and a built-in backup feature can archive the entire conversation for documentation / audit purposes.

Here's the documentation on how to work with Outlook Email and Jira DC: 
Emails: Work with Outlook emails in Jira

In our experience, for most teams, the built-in Outlook–Jira link covers the day-to-day workflow without needing extra scripting. You can use the Outlook add-in for linking emails and work items and extend with automation when you need custom routing.

The Outlook Email integration is just one feature set of the solution; Microsoft 365 for Jira also connects Jira with Microsoft Teams, Outlook Calendar, and Microsoft To Do, enabling broader collaboration and workflow automation across tools. If you feel like diving deeper, feel free to book a demo with us :)