⛓️ Beyond Limits: Advanced SLA Automation

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Anyone reading this article has likely encountered SLA Automation in JSM (Jira Service Management) or considered using it. JSM offers basic automation for SLAs, but it has limitations, especially for complex workflows or multiple SLA requirements.

Therefore, for teams that require greater flexibility and control, SLA Time and Report for Jira bridges these gaps by offering advanced features for tracking, customization, and SLA workflow automation. This article compares JSM’s automation with SLA Time and Report to help users address the critical gaps and challenges they encounter in SLA automation.

What is Automation in SLA Management?

Automation in SLA (Service Level Agreement) management is a process that enables teams to streamline their workflows by removing the need for manual intervention in repetitive tasks. With automation, you can define custom rules and triggers that automatically manage SLA-related tasks – simple reminders or complex actions involving multiple steps and conditions.

There are three key elements in automation rules. Let’s break down these core components to understand their roles and how they interact to streamline SLA management:

⚙️⏯️ Triggers

A trigger initiates the rule and begins its execution based on specific events, such as creating an issue, a status change, or an SLA nearing its breach time. 

 🎯🔍 Conditions

Conditions refine the rule by setting criteria that must be met for the rule to proceed. They limit the scope of automation to ensure it only applies to relevant issues. If the condition is not met, the rule stops, preventing unnecessary actions.

🚀🛠️ Actions

Actions carry out the specific tasks defined in the rule, executing the automation’s purpose. They cover many functions, from sending notifications and editing issue fields to assigning tasks.

JSM automation limits

While JSM’s automation tools are useful for handling basic workflows, they present several limitations, particularly when managing complex SLA requirements. Below are some common challenges users encounter with JSM automation, especially for teams with advanced needs.

Limited customization for complex SLA scenarios

JSM’s automation rules are designed to handle standard tasks but fall short when SLAs require advanced configurations. For instance, when SLAs vary by organization, priority, or custom fields, JSM struggles to manage these variations effectively.

Inconsistent performance with custom fields and unique workflows

Custom fields and specific workflow requirements often lead to inconsistent automation performance in JSM. Usually, users may experience issues where triggers fail to recognize certain events or conditions.

Difficulty handling multiple SLA configurations within a single project

Managing multiple projects is challenging for teams that serve various clients or departments with distinct SLA terms. JSM’s automation tools don’t easily support layered SLAs with different conditions and notifications, leading to incorrect alerts, missed deadlines, and potential SLA breaches.

How to get around these limits?

So to get around some of the limits and limitations we can offer an advanced solution with our SLA Time and Report tool for Jira.

Our add-on is designed to provide enhanced automation options for SLA management, addressing the limitations some teams may encounter with native automation. 

#1. Easy-to-Use interface

The app features an intuitive and user-friendly interface that simplifies the setup and management of SLAs. 

#2. Advanced customization options

With support for custom fields like organization, label, or else, teams can tailor SLAs to meet specific requirements for each client or projec.

#3. Comprehensive reporting and insights

The add-on provides detailed analytics and SLA performance reports, allowing teams to track compliance rates, identify bottlenecks, and optimize processes. 

#4. Automated actions for SLA breaches

SLA Time and Report introduces advanced automated actions triggered by SLA breaches. Users can configure the system to notify specific users or groups directly within issue comments or via Slack integration; reassign issues to designated team members; adjust issue priorities or statuses automatically.

#5. Integration with Slack for real-time notifications

This integration lets teams receive immediate alerts on impending SLA breaches or status changes. 

#6. Advanced Notification Scheduling

SLA Time and Report offers advanced scheduling options, allowing users to set up reminders at specific intervals before an SLA breach, such as 2 hours prior, to manage deadlines proactively. 

⚖️ Advantages of SLA Time and Report vs JSM

We’ve had clients approach us with the problem of notifications in JSM not always working as expected, leading to significant challenges in SLA management. They wanted to solve this problem and found a solution for us.

In JSM, you can set up notifications via automation, but it struggles with overlapping or complex conditions, such as if an SLA has multiple conditions, like different organizations or priorities.

Additionally, JSM lacks the flexibility, that SLA Time and Report add-on offer, when it comes to configuring pre-breached notifications or context-sensitive notifications. For example: sending a reminder 2 hours before an SLA breach for a specific organization or task type. With  SLA Time and Report add-o you can effectively inform your manager before the issue will be exceeded

Also SLA Time and Report handle custom fields or specific workflows effectively, which are not in the JSM.  

So, what are the advantages in automation of SLA Time and Report? 

• ✅Notify the team 2 hours before an SLA breach for high-priority tasks associated with a specific organization, ensuring proactive action.

• ✅Configure notifications based on task status, team, custom fields, or other conditions to provide relevant updates.

• ✅ Automatically adjust the task’s priority or reassign it to another team member when the deadline approaches, keeping workflows efficient and timely.

• ✅ Use fields like "Client Type," "Request Category," or "Organization" to define SLAs that align with specific business requirements.

• ✅ Monitor SLA performance based on unique criteria to gain deeper insights and ensure compliance with service agreements.

• ✅ Create distinct SLAs for different clients, priorities, or task types within a single project without duplicating automation rules.

• ✅ Enable real-time notifications and updates directly in Slack channels to keep your team informed and responsive.

How to setting up this features with SLA Time and Report?

First of all, you need to install the SLA Time and Report add-on for Jira, then go to SLA Manager to create an SLA Configuration. Then select what type of SLA Goal you want to use for a new SLA config, it can be Time limit based or Negotiated date. After that, you can configure other parameters for the new SLA configuration.

Then you need to find SLA goals setting menu, where you can specify SLA goals and choose the Automate action for exceeded issues:

• notification;

• changing reporter;

• changing priority;

• changing status.

You can choose an option to notify users separately or/and a group of users in comments about exceeded issues.

And in case you want to notify users about exceeded issues via Slack:

If you wish to change the text for notifications and create your own — use the Template editor

Also, you can set an automatic notification (reminders) 2 hours before the SLA breach. You need to set up sending the notifications in “SLA time goals setting”:

If you want the notifications to be sent only 2 hours before the SLA breach, choose the option “Notify user in comment” only near the “6h” SLA time goal.

And, you can keep control of the SLA status of your Jira issue and notify your manager some time before it will be exceeded.

For example, if your SLA time goal is 5 hours and you want to inform the manager 1 hour before this situation, here are the steps you need to take:

1. Create a new SLA Configuration with a Custom field. 

2. Select a project, working schedule, and time measurement conditions.

3. Define SLA time goals. Main Goal will be 5 hours. And the second goal must be 4 hours (which is 1 hour before the SLA will be breached), when your manager will get a notification that in 1 hour the task will be exceeded.

4. Add Custom fields:

• CF 5h Goal (our main time goal) - we’ll record statuses in this field. 

• CF 1h before exceeded.
  
  

5. Then activate these Custom fields via the SLA Manager.

6. Create Managers group. We need this group to select managers who will get the notifications.

7. After that, go to the automation section of Jira.

   • Projects > Choose a project > Project settings > Automation > Create a new rule with the “Field value changed” trigger and “Send email” action, applying the information shown below:

You can explore these and many other features in our documentation, where everything is clearly and comprehensively explained.

So, if you feel that our solution might be the right fit for you, I recommend trying the 30-day free trial of the add-on. This will allow you to explore the full range of features and determine if the app truly meets your needs.

We’d also love to hear if you use automation and whether you’ve encountered any challenges with it. Share your experiences in the comments 👇