Automating Jira Service Desk

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A lightning pace of changes taking place in technology is reflecting on all industries, including IT and ITSM. Such technologies as machine learning, artificial intelligence and automation may become a challenge if we won’t go outside of our comfort zone and embrace them. To do this, we need to work with experts in specialized fields that were created in response to technological changes and provide comprehensive training for our employees. Most importantly, we need to use the tools that help us successfully and seamlessly apply them in our processes. It turned out pretty well in IT by the look of how, for example, continuous integration and continuous deployment are working out. However, it’s still quite a new aspect for ITSM. 

The meaning of ITSM

It may seem like ITSM is only all about resolving requests, though in reality, we owe it even more. Currently, it’s responsible for reducing manual errors, accelerating development and improvements, as well as boosting operational efficiency and employee productivity. That’s why IT service management plays a crucial role in key digital transformations in over 57% of companies, and it became vital for 56% of corporations in their cloud computing and big data initiatives. These companies probably rely on advanced ITSM, which includes not only self-service and usability of IT resources but also automated operations which are tied to analytics, like continuous improvement or quality of service.

Just like in case of software development, marketing or sales, automation of the processes can also be of help for service desk teams. In ITSM, as in any other area, artificial intelligence and automation is the key to accelerate the whole customer support process and narrow or even close the gaps which we’re unable to bridge. There’s probably no ITSM software that doesn’t support automating workflows or at least some of the actions. For example, Jira Service Desk gives us the possibility to use a set of rules to automate some parts of our processes. We can extend them with advanced automation rules from apps dedicated to Jira Service Desk to, i.e. auto-assign tickets, automate integrations between platforms, or even monitor the communication.

Options to automate Jira Service Desk

Native automation 

When it comes to the ITSM approach, Jira Service Desk offers us quite advanced setup. By default, the software includes self-service which enables our customers to solve their issues without help from a support agent. They need to simply type in what they’re looking for, and the search engine suggests knowledge base articles available on the Confluence space. Also, as already mentioned above, Jira Service Desk offers a set of rules we can use to automate our workflows. Thanks to them, we can, for example, automate common tasks, auto-triage requests submitted via email or escalate urgent SLAs. Even though these rules are very basic because they still need an agent to execute the actions in some cases, they make the support team’s work much easier, enabling them to focus on their work, and not spend half of their time refreshing tickets assigned to them and checking if something has changed.

Native automation, even though quite basic, gives us a lot of opportunities to make support team’s work easier

More automation with Actions for Jira Service Desk

If native automation is enough for us, though we look for a few more rules to extend it, we can try Actions for Jira Service Desk. The app mostly focuses on advanced workflow actions that our users can make on the Request Detail View without involving an assigned agent, as well as adds two more conditions and a couple of actions to the default automation rules. These enable us to, for example, auto-assign agents or set a priority to the created issues based on the reporter’s language or what the reporter’s email contains. By setting up these rules, we don’t need to worry about wasting time on doing some basic actions and edits to the requests, and can take care of more important things like finding the best solution for the customer’s issue.

Actions for Jira Service Desk Server provides a couple of additional conditions and actions to the native automation rules

High-level automation with Automation for Jira

Automation for Jira is another tool that extends native automation rules, though it’s more advanced than Actions for Jira Service Desk. It offers a variety of triggers, conditions, actions, and even rules for related issues depending on their type, covering a number of use cases which include even sending a text message for high priority issues. Moreover, the app adds a dedicated rule configuration screen where we can set up automation not only globally but also per service desk project, as well as use pre-defined templates. What’s more, this app is also available in Lite version – it excludes the possibility for Jira project admins to create rules, as well as some other features.

Automation for Jira is yet another tool with which we can create custom rules, though it’s automation is more advanced

Making the most out of Jira Service Desk

Implementing technology in our ITSM processes isn’t just a requirement to keep up with the needs of the customers, but also to increase our rank on the market and remain competitive. This also calls for providing the employees with the essential training, thus broadening their set of skills to match the pace of changes. It may seem as costly and time-consuming action, but it will pay off. Suitably experienced service desk agents make their work seamless and trouble-free. Add automation to that, the whole support process will accelerate because agents will gain more control over what’s going on and will be able to focus on more complex tasks and building relationships with customers. Thus, there’s a lower chance for manual errors than if agents had to take care of every little action regarding requests. But most importantly, by paying particular attention to customer relations and creative output, we become more transparent and reliable for the clients. However, automation can be a tricky thing and sticking to the best practices presented by the experts is something we always need to remember about.

If you’d like to learn more about Actions for Jira Service Desk, read more about the app on the Community:

• 3 simple actions to extend Jira Service Desk workflow
• Improve your customer’s journey through Jira Service Desk Server, pt. 3: Request Detail View
• How to enable self-service in Jira Service Desk