Building a (sub)task workflow on top of a Service Request

[Dirk Ronsmans]

Hi,

Over the years I've worked in a lot of IT (support) environments with several tools (who shall remain nameless :)).

On thing that i've noticed is a consistent struggle on how to task different teams/departments when it comes to a Service Request (or even a Change Request).

When a customer requests a service from IT, often multiple steps need to be taken to fulfill this request and more than likely these steps will be performed by more than one team/user in a specific order (this can even contain some automated tasks).

Most of the tools that I've seen come and go have adopted some kind of workflow based system which is not all to far from an orchestration flow. These workflows would sit on top of the Service Request workflow and are often only triggered when the Request has reached a certain stage (mainly the "In Progress" stage).

While JIRA Service Desk has the notion of (sub)tasks to divide and conquer there is no structural flow behind it causing timing issues and more than often unnecessary tasks behind distributed to teams because they are part of a general template. These tasks would then need to be validated and cancelled/rejected based on their need.

So that is my use-case and my problem.

Now the question is how does JIRA tackle this? As far as I can see there is currently no way to create such a flow (let alone sequential tasks). 

• How do you handle this within your organization/JIRA SD instance?
• Would you like to see such a thing come in to existence as a new feature? 
• Is this even a need within your organization? 
• Is there a app that does this that I'm not aware of? (in an easy manner without scripting the entire process)

Let's discuss!

[Meck]

Hi Dirk,

It's a good question. First of all, thank you for take time and share your needs here. I'll do my best to honor your time replying you as best I know about Jira Service Desk.

How do you handle this within your organization/JIRA SD instance?  

I used to solve this by Automation for Jira. You can automate the creation of other tools based in an action (create issue, transition, etc). So you can do stuffs as:

Everytime I create a Onboarding Issue, I'd like to create linked task to IT Team setup the laptop also create a linked task to Training Team help the first steps of the new employee.

(!) The bad news is the add-on is not available anymore and it's gonna be incorporate in Jira. And that feature above is gonna be available just in Premium license.

Would you like to see such a thing come in to existence as a new feature? 

Automation for Jira gonna provide in the premium license.

Is this even a need within your organization? 

Not in my organization, but my customers are using it.

Is there a app that does this that I'm not aware of? (in an easy manner without scripting the entire process)

So far, I just know how to deal with that using automation for Jira. If you are using a Server License, you'll still be able to use it.

.:: More info about automation for Jira merge to Jira ::.

Hi,
As you might know already, Atlassian recently acquired the app Automation for Jira from the Atlassian Marketplace.. We're excited to let you know that in the coming months, automation will be available natively to all Jira Cloud customers!

As a current Automation for Jira customer, there are some changes for you to consider. There is a lot of important information to cover so please do grab a coffee and take a few minutes to read on.

What's happening to the Automation for Jira app?
Once automation is available natively in all Jira Cloud products, the Automation for Jira app will no longer be available for purchase from the Atlassian Marketplace. Automation features will be available in Jira Software Cloud and Jira Service Desk Cloud across all editions (Free, Standard, and Premium). There will be restrictions across Free and Standard, which we will cover in detail below.

You'll still find all of your automation rules in the same area and all existing rules will continue to function as normal.

When is this happening?
It will be in the next couple of months though we can’t give an exact date just yet. We will notify you once these product changes have been implemented.

What does this mean for me?
On the day automation becomes available natively, all monthly Automation for Jira customers will be moved to an extended trial of Jira Software Premium for 90 days. For customers with Jira Service Desk, you will also move to an extended trial of Jira Service Desk Premium for 90 days. During this time, your monthly bill will remain the same but you will have full access to all of the great things that we offer in our Premium plans – including unlimited automation rule executions.

All annual customers will have access to the Premium plans for Jira Software and/or Jira Service Desk for the remainder of their annual subscription, or for at least 90 days if you have less than 90 days remaining in your subscription term.

Do I need to do anything?
It depends. After the 90-day extended trial period or the completion of the remainder of your current subscription term, as applicable, you will remain on the Premium plan unless you choose to downgrade to the standard edition.

How will this affect my bill?
After the 90-day extended trial or the completion of your current subscription term, as applicable, you will no longer be charged for the app Automation for Jira. Instead, you will see a charge for Jira Software Premium and/or Jira Service Desk Premium, unless you choose not to continue your subscription or downgrade to the Standard edition.
Restrictions / comparisons between editions

There are different limits and restrictions for the automation engine across the three Jira editions which you will need to consider.

• Jira Software Free* – 300 monthly rule executions / no multi-project, global rule functionality (*and Jira Service Desk Free)

• Jira Software Standard – 2000 monthly rule executions / no multi-project, global rule functionality (*Jira Service Desk Standard has 5000 monthly rule executions)

• Jira Software Premium* – unlimited monthly rule executions / full multi-project, global rule functionality (*and Jira Service Desk Premium)

You can choose to upgrade or downgrade.

What about my existing multi-project & global rules?
In Jira Software and Jira Service Desk Premium, you can continue to create and use global rules.
If you downgrade, your existing multi-project/global rules will no longer function unless you either convert them to run on single project or upgrade to premium again.

[Dirk Ronsmans]

Hi @Meck ,

Thank you for your lengthy reply!

From what I  can gather you use the addon (soon to be part of JIRA) to fire subtasks to teams that need to do something.

However it seems that with Automation for JIRA you still use "one-shot" rules. (but more defined than with the regular automation)

On Trigger, If A then B

There still is no way to keep a full picture view on a process flow for that Onboarding.

You mention in your example, you send a task to IT and to Training, I'm guessing this is mainly predefined in 2 rules then for a

On Creation of Customer Type x then do task 1 and do task 2 (perhaps with some custom field filtering added to only allow creation of the tasks if a flag is set (e.g. phone subscription).

What I'm looking for is a visual way to represent this such as a "BPMN" flow, this would allow us to visualize the entire process that might happen and also include decision points.

Let's say we have a Request for Software Purchase. There we could add a approval step based on a price limit ( > xxx $) or depending on the software category maybe include a Security team, .. etc..

Something visuals like below (random image, do not worry about the content)