Remedyforce Integration: Leveraging Remedyforce and JIRA integrations
By Bruce Morgan, Senior Consultant, Cloudaction
JIRA from Atlassian provides a rich environment for managing software development, from issue tracking to project management to work assignments. When coupled with Remedyforce’s world-class ITIL process management expertise, a robust system can be assembled for managing development projects from conceptualizing to guaranteeing end user satisfaction. Remedyforce’s and JIRA’s integration capabilities are the key to bringing the two together seamlessly.
JIRA’s integration capabilities are extended through the use of custom Java classes written to conform to JIRA’s interface standards. A Java developer can rapidly develop and deploy custom functionality for sending data from JIRA to Remedyforce, and from Remedyforce to JIRA. Data communication can be initiated by passive scheduling and active events occurring on both sides.
Sending data from Remedyforce to JIRA
Remedyforce uses triggers that can be invoked when data is modified in almost any of its objects, whether the object is part of its managed package or a custom object created by the Remedyforce administrator. Triggers are developed using Salesforce’s Apex programming language. Apex includes tools that allow Remedyforce to access web services over the Internet. Since JIRA exposes its own web services, the two systems are ready-made to communicate with each other.
Sending event data to Remedyforce from JIRA
JIRA’s events are similar to Remedyforce’s triggers. As with Remedyforce, any event that occurs in JIRA can initiate sending data to Remedyforce. JIRA Events can invoke custom Java classes that perform any actions the developer has implemented. An example would be an event initiated by a JIRA administrator assigning a developer to a project. JIRA might notify Remedyforce of the new assignment, where Remedyforce would automatically create a Service Request with a Task to assign the user a license for the required development environment software, and another Task to verify that the developer has executed the resource access agreements required by the customer.
Sending data to and from Remedyforce and JIRA
JIRA Services are processes that JIRA executes periodically. During the execution period, JIRA invokes actions defined in custom Java classes. A custom action can, for example, query the Remedyforce application for staff assigned to a public software developers group, and synchronize data in JIRA with what is retrieved from Remedyforce.
To further increase the utility of Remedyforce and JIRA integrations, it is possible to create a multi-tier arrangement when none of the available systems can accommodate the necessary additional functionality. For example, Remedyforce could communicate events to an intermediary web application hosted on a corporate server, which would perform actions on the Remedyforce data before sending it on to the JIRA web service. A very broad range of solutions can be created using this kind of topology.
At Cloudaction, our goal is to help you get maximum value from your Remedyforce experience. We welcome your comments and suggestions. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-844-2CLOUDA (1-844-225-6832) or via Ask Us NOW!, a complimentary service from Cloudaction to provide expert answers to your product capability, functionality, and implementation questions. We promise to respond to your inquiry or question within 24 hours.