How to set up a Jira Salesforce integration with Exalate

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How to set up a Jira Salesforce integration with Exalate

Want to set up a Jira Salesforce integration? You’re in the right place. This type of data synchronization can connect teams both internally and externally.

Here is a common scenario.

When you connect your sales and product teams, the salespeople using Salesforce will get updates from developers using Jira regarding customer requests, problems, queries, etc.

By setting up a Jira Service Management integration with Salesforce, the sales team can also pass customer cases to support agents in Jira to increase customer satisfaction and visibility.

There are apps available in the Atlassian Marketplace and AppExchange that integrate Jira and Salesforce. However, it’s important to note that most apps lack the ability to perform advanced integrations between Jira and Salesforce. I’ll discuss a couple of use cases in a while to elaborate on this point.

Here are four simple steps to integrate Jira and Salesforce using Exalate.

Step 1: Install Exalate on Jira and Salesforce

Head over to their marketplaces to install Exalate on Jira or Salesforce, or go to our integrations page.

You can install Exalate for Jira on Jira cloud, Jira on-premise, or on Jira Service Management. You can also install it via Docker on both Jira and Salesforce.

Alternatively, our YouTube channel has loads of installation videos, so if you’re more of a visual learner, that might be the right direction for you.

Step 2: Connect Jira to Salesforce

 You can start on either side here; the process is mostly the same.

To set up the connection, you’ll need to choose the project in Jira to sync issues.

Head over to either the Jira or Salesforce instance and click the ‘Initiate connection’ button in the Connections tab of the Exalate admin console. Follow the step-by-step wizard after that.

Once you’ve initiated it on one side, head to the other Exalate console and, this time, click the ‘Accept invitation’ button.

You can use Exalate in either Basic or Script mode. The Basic mode is simple, without scripts, coding, or customization. You can sync only Salesforce cases and Jira issues in this mode.

Script mode uses Groovy scripting for advanced configurations. It also gives you access to the AI Assist chatbot, which converts your prompts to scripts for entity and field mapping.

We’ve got a detailed configuration guide if you’d like to explore how to map your connections in depth.

Step 3: Set the sync rules

Using Groovy scripts, you can easily configure how your sync works, back and forth, completely autonomously.

You can create rules for uni- and bidirectional syncs while integrating custom fields, statuses, priorities, assignees, reporters, and more.

Outgoing sync determines what goes over to the other side, while Incoming sync decides what, where, and how information comes back through.

  

For instance, to send custom fields from Jira to Salesforce, use the following code snippet in Jira’s outgoing sync: replica.customFields."SF Contact" = issue.customFields."SF Contact". Here, “SF Contact” is the display name of the Jira custom field.

In Salesforce's incoming sync, you can choose to display the custom fields coming from Jira in any field of your choice.

Instead of manually writing the scripts, you can use AI Assist to generate them faster.

The AI Assist feature appears as a chat window in both the incoming and outgoing sync rules tabs.

To generate scripts, enter your sync requirements into the chat box, and AI Assist will generate the necessary scripts based on your input, existing configurations, and Exalate’s scripting API.

However, keep in mind that AI Assist, like any AI, can make mistakes. So it’s essential to be clear and detailed with your prompts.

Let’s say you want to sync work item statuses from Salesforce with issue statuses in Jira. In the AI chat box, you can type something like this:

Give it a moment to generate the script.

The system will highlight changes: red lines indicate deletions, while green lines show new additions. You can accept or reject the suggestions and refine your prompt if needed.

Once you are satisfied with the result, remember to publish your changes.

Step 4: Automate your sync: Triggers

Triggers control how your sync functions. Once you’ve set them and their conditions up, every time that set of conditions is met, they’ll sync the entities you configured automatically.

You can set up triggers in the Exalate left-hand panel or by editing the connection and selecting the Triggers button.

The Add trigger screen looks like this.

Triggers are platform-specific. So, to set triggers in Jira, use the Jira Query Language (JQL) syntax. To set them in your Salesforce instance, use the Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL) syntax.

For Salesforce, you can also select your trigger conditions through a visual interface.

Some common Jira triggers:

• project = PROJA AND labels = sync
• Issuetype = Bug AND assignee in (mia)

• reporter in (alana) order by lastViewed DESC

• Issuetype = Task AND status = Done

Some common Salesforce triggers:

• Sync any newly created Salesforce contacts to Jira from today
• Sync any Salesforce account object whose details were modified in the last 7 days
• Sync any case created within this week
• Sync any case belonging to a particular supplied company
• Sync any opportunity that was modified in the last 30 days
• Sync any leads created this month

Advanced Jira Salesforce Integration Use Cases

Products, cases, opportunities, accounts, tasks, and contacts are some common Salesforce objects that are synced. Besides that, you can sync almost any default or custom Salesforce object and its fields using Exalate’s scripting engine.

In Jira, you can sync any default and custom issue fields. You can also sync sprints, epics, work logs, third-party app data, and much more.

Some common Jira Salesforce integration scenarios are:

• Update Salesforce account details via a Jira custom field.
• Sync date and time fields between Jira and Salesforce, irrespective of their native formats.
• Sync multiple-related Salesforce objects to Jira bidirectionally. For instance, a case linked to an account and contact is synced to Jira with the required details.
• Sync comment threads and user mentions between Salesforce and Jira.
• Sync any Salesforce entity available via REST APIs.  

And voila! You’ve set up your first sync using Exalate, with automation and beyond!

If you’d like to learn more, we can discuss your use case further.