Efficiency and Possibilities - JIRA Automation
JIRA, as the powerful tool that it is, brings efficiency and structure to every team. A wide variety of possibilities opens up with the already customizable features within JIRA.. but what if we take efficiency a step further?
This is where I would like to introduce automation processes for JIRA. Automation processes can make work easier, reduce workload and opens up more possibilities which you and your users can take advantage of.
What is JIRA Automation?
JIRA Automation is a way to make labor-intensive processes more efficient. It practically removes a large part of the labor-intensive process which allows for users to focus more on the job at hand, instead of clicking around or configuring the tooling. The great part about JIRA Automation, is that it has countless of possibilities due to the fact that is integrated with the powerful JQL (Jira Query Language) that you can use to flexibly search data in JIRA. You can also cover either a single project or multiple ones.. including permissions, according to your choice.
What types of Automation are available?
Generally, there are quite some types of Automation available; Through use-cases I will showcase the two most widely used types of Automation within JIRA;
- Jira Service Desk Automation (comes with Jira Service Desk)
- Automation for JIRA by CodeBarrel (add-on)
The first one will be for JIRA Service Desk projects, and the latter one will cover all JIRA project types.
Use case #1: Keep on top of SLA's (Jira Service Desk)
In this scenario we will be using the first type of automation that we spoke about; Jira Service Desk Automation. This comes standard with the Jira Service Desk product.
In this specific scenario, we want to be alerted when an SLA is about to expire, but only for issues that are in the status ''Open'' or in the status ''In Progress''.
We will have to define three steps; When, IF, Then.
When the SLA has 30 minutes remaining, and the issue matches a certain JQL.. then alert a certain user.
You can also define additional steps to take, ELSE IF steps.. should that be required for your process. You can do a lot with the Automation tool and I am certain that it will come in handy in most JIRA environments. This is a fairly easy way to stay on top of specific SLA's without needing to configure much. And obviously.. this is just one of many possibilities. There are a bunch of pre-defined rules ready to use.
For more detail into the Jira Service Desk automation.. and all of its possibilities; Automating your service desk - Documentation
Use case #2: Automatically set Component and Issue Type based on Summary and a custom field value (Automation for JIRA)
Automation for JIRA has a wider range of possibilities, and stretches beyond just Service Desk. You can use it for any type of JIRA project that you have. In this use case, we will try something a bit more advanced;
We have incoming mail, and based on the content of that mail we would like to automatically order the issue in JIRA. Based on the Summary, and based on a custom field in which we store the ''To E-mail Adress'' we would like to grant the ticket a certain Issue Type and a Component so it will land in the correct pre-defined queue for that project.
Here we will define the following steps;
When, Type of related issues, If, Then.
This type of automation is extremely suited for those who need to automate more than just Service Desk or just wish to have more advanced ways of automating. It does not come standard with JIRA, since it is an add-on, but it brings alot of new functionalities with it.
For more detail into the Automation for JIRA add-on, you can check out the Marketplace listing here; Automation for JIRA - Marketplace
Conclusion
JIRA Automation can provide a very efficient set of processes which would otherwise be time consuming for either end-users or admins. They allow people to spend more time on the task at hand, and ease the complication of certain aspects of the process.
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Jeremy Mooiman
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