Notes:
This page describes the Jira integration and includes the following sections:
Jira is a flexible software development tool, developed by Atlassian and used primarily by software and services teams for managing product life cycles and support-related issues.
The AdaptiveWork integration with Jira has been developed to support a variety of use cases to allow AdaptiveWork customers to configure the integration between the two systems in a way that better fits their business needs.
AdaptiveWork supports integration between a single AdaptiveWork account and multiple instances (up-to ten) of Jira. The integration supports both on-demand and on-premise versions of Jira and all previously supported use cases.
One of the main use cases is to support the ability to manage cross-functional projects, where the detailed R&D part of the project is managed by developers in Jira, and the effort and status updates are synchronized back into AdaptiveWork. Project managers, executives or any other stakeholders are provided with a clear view of the entire product launch, regardless of whether part of it follows Agile methodologies (the R&D part), or the traditional ‘waterfall’ practices.
AdaptiveWork’s Jira integration comes out of the box with best practice mappings and events so you can hit the ground running. The AdaptiveWork integration with Jira has been developed to support a variety of use cases to allow AdaptiveWork customers configure the integration between the two systems in a way that better fits their business needs.
For more information on the Jira Integration, please review the webinar that describes the value drivers and technical aspects of the integration.
* Getting started PS package required
Additional changes to Best Practices, though easy, should be done carefully. It’s recommended you contact your AdaptiveWork Customer Success Manager if you wish to update or create your own mappings.
AdaptiveWork is integrating with Jira using AdaptiveWork’s iHub integration platform which establishes a connection to Jira by calling Jira's API.
During the initial one-time setup process, the iHub performs a handshake between the two systems in a secure manner.
After the integration is established, the synchronization process can be triggered from both JIRA or AdaptiveWork based on configured triggering events, or scheduled to run on a daily basis.
Triggered synchronization
Scheduled synchronization
AdaptiveWork supports a daily synchronization process using iHub in 2 separate cycles (Jira to AdaptiveWork and AdaptiveWork to Jira). Once initiated, the scheduled process iterates on all records that are mapped in the iHub sync registry (e.g. AdaptiveWork task to Jira Issue), and executes a sync using both systems' APIs.
In each scenario, an active connection or network route must be opened, enabling iHub to access the Jira server's internal API from an external network.
If your organization employs multiple Jira instances, for example, separate instances of Jira per customer, you can now integrate each Jira instance with your AdaptiveWork account. You can also work with a mix of on-premise and online instances of Jira.
AdaptiveWork supports up to 10 Jira instances, however this can be expanded if needed. The integration supports both on-demand and on-premise versions of Jira and all previously supported use cases.
Each JIRA integration has its own set of mappings and events, which can be configured independently. You can switch between integrations using a list of Jira organization names in the iHub application.
Note: You must have administrative privileges for both Jira and AdaptiveWork to enable and configure each integration.
Using Multiple Instances
You can add another Jira instance in the Authentication tab in iHub. Each Jira instance will be identified by its unique name.
After adding additional instances, you will be able to switch between instances by clicking on the Jira instance selector.
For each instance, you can configure events/mappings and check the sync.
Important Note: Avoid creating identical events (same conditions) for different Jira instances, because iHub does not support a one-to-many (one Work Item to multiple Jira issues) sync process, however it does not block it.
A best practice is to create a custom field in AdaptiveWork, which will identify the target Jira instance, and then add it to the event’s conditions. This is to ensure that an event is triggered in only one Jira instance. This way the automatic (event-based or scheduled) sync will work properly.
When invoking the Sync to Jira action for a particular item in AdaptiveWork for the first time, you will be asked to specify a mapping as well as the target Jira instance. This info will be logged in the sync registry, and this way iHub will know the target Jira instance to sync with for any consecutive syncs.
AdaptiveWork supports integration with the cloud and on-premise versions of Jira (and Jira Agile) version 6.1 or later.
Consider the following before starting the integration:
To configure a basic integration of AdaptiveWork with Jira, follow these steps:
As part of the integration configuration, you must map objects and events in AdaptiveWork with objects and events in Jira.
AdaptiveWork provides a predefined set of mappings (best practices) which are installed by default.
The best practice package contains AdaptiveWork configurations (workflows, custom fields, etc.) and integration hub (iHub) mappings and events to help you with the configuration.
Note: The best practices package is not counted against the usage quota.
To better understand what objects and events you need to configure, consult the Use Cases for AdaptiveWork and Jira Integration topic.
While the best practices include mappings for most of the scenarios, you may find it necessary to create additional mappings, or modify the existing ones.
For more information about how to create or modify mappings, refer to Mappings and Events.
Once you have identified and configured mappings and events required for your integration, you must enable them.
To enable mappings and events:
Configure synchronization options to specify when data synchronization happens between the two systems. For instructions on how to perform this task, refer to the Synchronization Options topic.
Manage cross-functional projects, where the detailed Research and Development part of the project is managed by the development team in Jira , while the effort and status updates are synchronized back into AdaptiveWork, so that project managers, executives or any other stakeholders are provided with a clear view of the entire product launch, regardless of whether part of it follows Agile methodologies (the R&D part), or the traditional ‘waterfall’ practices.
In Jira, a project can contain multiple issues, where each issue can be a different type field. An issue in Jira can be a bug, new feature, documentation subtask, etc. An out-of-the-box mapping for Jira issue types and AdaptiveWork cases is available, but a AdaptiveWork administrator can change the mapping and events at any time. During the sync between JIRA issue types and AdaptiveWork cases, the cases are automatically related to a AdaptiveWork parent project.
Benefit: Since Jira issue types may be mapped differently than issues in AdaptiveWork cases, you can customize the mapping to sync cases in a way that makes sense for your organization.
Note: Bugs should be enabled in your AdaptiveWork account. To enable bugs, go to Settings > Profiles > Cases (under Item Types) > Turn Bugs On.
You can link issues or tasks in AdaptiveWork to separate Jira issues without having to sync the project. For example, two tasks from the same project in AdaptiveWork can be connected to issues in Jira under different projects.
To link a specific issue / task in AdaptiveWork to an issue in Jira without syncing to a project, follow these steps:
See also Using the Unlinked Indication for Work Items and triggering workflows
Since each issue holds projects for a different purpose, you can manage the object where a new issue is created in Jira-based on the AdaptiveWork task it is linked to.
See also Using the Unlinked Indication for Work Items and triggering workflows
If a support team member creates a case in AdaptiveWork, such as a customer request or bug, it is not related to any particular AdaptiveWork Project. However, in Jira, issues must have a parent project. Therefore during the integration setup, a project for support tickets needs to be created in Jira to ensure these customer cases are synced and addressed in a specific JIRA project.
If a support ticket is created in Jira (by support or a third-party application like Zendesk), it is replicated in AdaptiveWork as a task, issue, or request in AdaptiveWork.
Note: Bugs should be enabled in your AdaptiveWork account. To enable bugs, go to Settings > Profiles > Cases (under Item Types) > Turn Bugs On.
Software developers report time worked in specific Jira issues, which are synced with the corresponding tasks in AdaptiveWork, providing project managers transparency across systems when approving reported times.
Note: Timesheets for periods over 24 hours may cause the sync to fail.
Syncing Jira and AdaptiveWork social communications promotes purposeful collaboration between different teams (Software Development, Sales, QA, Marketing, etc.). For example, R&D may comment on a JIRA issue while a project manager posts a reply from a AdaptiveWork task. Social posts and comments are synced between AdaptiveWork and Jira issues every 60 minutes.
All file attachments are accessible from both systems via an external web link. Files can be attached to JIRA issues or AdaptiveWork tasks. When files are synced between the two systems, a file object link is created in AdaptiveWork and a download link is created in Jira .
Note: To avoid file management issues, only links to the files are synced.
This topic assumes that you have an existing project in AdaptiveWork, if not, create the project first. The user specified as the Project Manager for the project will become the Project Lead in JIRA.
This topic assumes that a tasks exists in AdaptiveWork, if not, create the tasks first.