How to track SLA performance continuously for All assignees in All Jira Projects

Managing SLAs in Jira Software can become a complicated affair, especially when multiple teams work across different boards or involve external collaborators. You might have workflows involving non-agents, external teams, or tickets that bounce across different boards and the biggest pain points is ensuring continuous SLA tracking for non-agents assignees or external teams. Another frequent issue arises when teams clone issues across projects like Jira Service Management (JSM) and Jira Software, which inadvertently causes SLA data to be lost.1_hpXuTKflzHKoZMtvlleKDA.png

If you’re finding that these transitions are disrupting your SLA tracking, you’re not alone. Many teams experience gaps in their SLA metrics when tasks are transferred between teams or escalated to external collaborators, causing delays, inconsistencies, and breached SLAs. But there is a solution that ensures non-stop SLA tracking across your entire Jira environment, regardless of who the issue is assigned to or where it is moved. Let’s explore how the SLA Time and Report add-on can help with these challenges and improve your SLA tracking processes.

Why Do SLAs Stop Tracking in Jira?

By default, Jira Servise Managment SLAs are designed for agents within Jira Service Management, which is great if you’re working strictly within that environment. But what happens when your project spans across Jira Software boards, or you need to assign tasks to non-agents or even external teams? The SLA timers stop tracking when the issue moves outside of Jira Service Management or the clock is ticking without the possibility for teams without agent licenses to solve the issue

This limitation is frustrating because it leads to inaccurate tracking, missed deadlines and disrupts your workflow. Teams often struggle to maintain consistent SLA metrics in complex, cross-functional environments where multiple roles are involved in resolving a single issue.

The Solution:

If you’re experiencing this issue, you may want to try the SLA Time and Report add-on as your SLA monitoring tool. It’s designed to ensure SLA time managment across Jira Software and JSM, even when tickets are moved between projects or assigned to non-agents and other teams.

Here’s how SLA Time and Report can help you track SLAs across cloned issues and complex workflows, no matter how many teams, assignees, or project boards are involved:

1. Track SLAs for Non-Agents and External Teams

Tracking SLAs becomes tricky when tickets are assigned to non-agents (e.g., developers who don’t have JSM agent licenses) or external teams. With Jira’s default setup, SLA tracking stops when the issue is moved outside JSM. However, SLA Time and Report will start the new SLA clock regardless of who the ticket is assigned to.

Why this matters:

  • For teams that rely on cross-functional collaboration, SLA tracking remains intact even if issues are handed off to developers, contractors, or other external teams.
  • You maintain a clear picture of the issue’s lifecycle, ensuring that no SLA data is lost due to task reassignment.

Example:

A ticket assigned to a non-agent developer in Jira Software will still have its SLA tracked, ensuring the team can monitor performance, regardless of who is handling the task.

Jira Service Management  vs  SLA Time and Report - 54.png

2. Handle Cross-Project SLAs with Multi-Project Setup

When an issue is moved from Jira Service Management to Jira Software, the SLA timer is not ticking, but the SLA conditions can either remain the same or be customized for the new project. You can use Multi-Project SLAs from SLA Time and Report, which allows you to track SLAs in JSM, and once the issue is moved to Jira Software, a new SLA timer will start for the Jira Software project. When issues are cloned across projects, a new SLA timer can start with potentially the same or different conditions. The original SLA tracking doesn’t carry over, and a new SLA based on the target project’s conditions begins.

How it works:

With Multi-Project SLAs, the same SLA conditions can apply across multiple projects, but a new timer starts in each target project. Alternatively, you can configure different SLA conditions per project. For example, JSM may track Time to First Response, while Jira Software may track Time to Resolution.

Why this matters:

This allows teams to set different SLA goals to match the specific objectives of each team. Support teams can focus on initial response time, while development teams focus on problem resolution.

Example:

A customer support issue logged in Jira Service Management may have an SLA tracking Time to First Response. Once the issue is acknowledged, it’s moved to Jira Software for resolution, where a new SLA tracking Time to Resolution starts.SLA_-5.jpg

3. Use Multi-Cycle SLAs for Complex Workflows

Ever had a ticket that needs to be escalated, reassigned, or cycled through several teams? Multi-cycle workflows can help on complex SLA tracking.

Ever had a ticket that needs to be escalated, reassigned, or cycled through several teams?

Enter SLA Time and Report’s multi-cycle SLAs. This feature allows the SLA timer to reset or continue when an issue goes through different statuses or assignees. When you choose Multi-Cycle, the SLA timer runs every time the start condition is met. As a result, you will get SLA time as the cumulative sum of all cycles' durations between origin and end statuses. Each phase of the issue’s journey is captured, providing you with an accurate, end-to-end view of the SLA performance.

Why this matters:

  • For tickets that go through multiple phases, such as escalations or reassignments, multi-cycle SLAs ensure every step is tracked.
  • You can track how long each team takes to handle an issue without losing overall SLA visibility.

Example: A customer support issue gets escalated to the engineering team for troubleshooting. The SLA timer doesn’t just pause—it continues or resets based on your configuration, ensuring no time is lost in tracking.Jira Service Management  vs  SLA Time and Report - 50.png

4. Real-Time SLA Monitoring with Dashboards and Gadgets

Having real-time access to your SLA metrics is crucial for staying on top of performance. SLA Time and Report provides customizable SLA reports, and charts that you can add to your Jira dashboard to monitor SLAs across projects, teams, and issues.

Key Feature:

  • SLA Dashboards and Gadgets: Use gadgets to visualize SLA performance in real-time, tracking metrics like Met, In Progress, and Exceeded. These gadgets offer instant insights into how your team is performing.

Example: You can add a Met vs Exceeded chart to your Jira dashboard, allowing you to see how well your team is adhering to SLAs at a glance.Jira Service Management  vs  SLA Time and Report - 46.png

5. Automate SLA Alerts and Actions for Non-Standard Assignees

Another benefit of SLA Time and Report is its ability to set up automated actions. You can set up alerts to notify the relevant person when an SLA is breached or nearly breached—even if the ticket has been reassigned to a non-agent or an external team. Set up ticket reasigning to non-agets if needed or change status or priority.

Why this matters:

  • You no longer have to worry about missing deadlines just because the ticket changed hands. Automated alerts will notify you in comments or Slack before an SLA breach happens.
  • This is particularly useful for project managers or team leads who need to keep an eye on complex, multi-assignee tickets.

Example: A ticket assigned to a contractor is nearing its SLA breach, but an automated alert sent via Slack or email notifies the team, ensuring action is taken before the breach occurs, if the breach occurs, assignee and prioroty changed.automated actions.jpg

Track SLA Performance everywhere with SLA Time and Report

The SLA Time and Report add-on transforms how you manage SLAs in Jira, ensuring continuous tracking across all assignees, boards, and teams. With features like multi-cycle SLAs and automated alerts, your team can stay on top of every deadline, no matter how complex the workflow becomes.

Whether you’re dealing with external contractors, cross-functional teams, or tickets that move across various boards, SLA Time and Report ensures that your SLAs stay intact and visible from start to finish.

So, why not give it a try? Discover how SLA Time and Report can improve the way your team manages SLAs and keeps projects on track.

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