Many companies rely on multiple software solutions and tools to manage their workflows and processes, and integrating the tools they use daily can significantly improve efficiency and productivity. Jira and ServiceNow are two widely used platforms for project management and IT service management, respectively.
In this blog post, I will explore how to implement a
Before we dive into the integration process, let's briefly discuss what Jira and ServiceNow are and why they are essential for businesses.
Understanding Jira And ServiceNow
Jira
Jira, developed by Atlassian, is a project management and issue-tracking tool used by software development teams worldwide. It allows teams to plan, track, and manage their work in a highly customizable and agile manner. It offers various features like issue tracking, agile boards, custom workflows, and robust reporting capabilities.
ServiceNow
ServiceNow is a leading cloud-based IT service management (ITSM) platform that helps organizations manage their IT operations, service requests, and incidents efficiently. It offers a wide range of capabilities, including incident management, problem management, change management, and asset management. ServiceNow helps organizations automate IT service delivery and improve overall operational efficiency.
Why Integrate Jira And ServiceNow?
Organizations often use both Jira and ServiceNow to manage different aspects of their operations. Jira excels in managing software development projects, while ServiceNow is perfect for IT service management. However, the lack of integration between these two tools can lead to siloed information, duplicated efforts, and a breakdown in communication.
Here are some common scenarios where integrating Jira and ServiceNow can bring significant benefits:
Efficient Incident Management
When an incident is reported in ServiceNow, it often requires the attention of the development team using Jira. Integrating the two systems allows for an automated incident escalation and resolution process.
Change Management
Integrating Jira with ServiceNow can help automate the change management process. When changes are approved in ServiceNow, they can automatically trigger actionable tasks or issues in Jira.
Real-time Collaboration
Integrating Jira and ServiceNow enables real-time collaboration between development and IT operations teams, leading to faster issue resolution and improved service delivery.
Enhanced Reporting
A unified view of data from both systems can lead to better reporting and analytics, providing insights into areas that need improvement.
Now that we understand the importance of integrating Jira and ServiceNow, let’s look at how organizations approach this integration.
Exploring Approaches to Connect Jira and ServiceNow
For the scenarios we discussed above, you can always
Another option is to use built-in Jira ServiceNow integration capabilities like IntegrationHub’s Jira spoke.
While IntegrationHub and its Jira spoke offer many advantages, it's essential to be aware of
- It has a higher complexity and learning curve, especially for users not familiar with Jira and ServiceNow. Learning to configure and set up the integration properly may require training and expertise.
- It can be costly, especially for smaller organizations.
- It provides essential integration capabilities, but you may encounter limitations or require substantial development effort when synchronizing complex workflows or custom fields.
- It might trap you in a vendor lock-in situation, tying you to a specific technology stack. This can be a disadvantage if you ever want to migrate to a different tool or platform in the future, as it may require significant effort and cost.
Despite these potential disadvantages, IntegrationHub's Jira spoke remains a popular tool for integrating Jira and ServiceNow.
What if we present a better, more economical, and robust approach to implementing a Jira ServiceNow integration? An approach that takes into consideration your organizational needs and limitations and plans your integration strategy accordingly to maximize the benefits while mitigating potential drawbacks.
Introducing Exalate: A Versatile Jira ServiceNow Integration Solution
The tool offers unique advantages:
- It supports a decentralized integration approach. You can configure your integration and sync requirements at your end independently without worrying about how it’ll affect the destination.
- It’s based on a distributed architecture. So, systems are inherently loosely coupled. This avoids a single point of failure and increases the scalability and maintainability of your integration.
- It provides a single-tenant architecture. The required isolation of process, file, and application systems ensures enhanced security.
- It has an advanced Groovy-based scripting engine that allows you to implement even the most complex integration use cases. It brings the power of low-code scripts to implement the trickiest intra-company or cross-company scenarios.
- It gives you granular control over your sync triggers.
Exalate is an excellent choice if you want to leverage the full potential of your Jira ServiceNow integration while maintaining it within your budget.
How to Implement a ServiceNow Jira Integration in 6 Steps
Since Exalate supports decentralized integration, you need to install it as a dedicated app both on Jira and ServiceNow. You can start from either side, so I will start with my Jira instance.
Step 1: Install Exalate on Jira
Exalate for Jira is available to install on
We’ll discuss how to install it on Jira cloud in this section.
To install Exalate for Jira, visit the
In the top navigation menu, click “Apps” > “Find new apps”.
Type Exalate in the search field and click “Exalate Jira Issue Sync & more”.
Click the “Try it Free” button and then “Start free trial”.
You’re all set! Wait for a few minutes while the app installs in the background. Once done, head over to install Exalate on ServiceNow.
Step 2: Install Exalate on ServiceNow
You need to install Exalate on ServiceNow by visiting the
Fill in this form with some basic information and click “Submit”.
In a while, you’ll receive your Exalate for ServiceNow node URL in your inbox based on the email address you provided while filling out the form.
Check the detailed procedure
You can also choose to install Exalate for ServiceNow as a
Note*: You can also get the ServiceNow connector for Jira on the Atlassian Marketplace.
Step 3: Connect Jira and ServiceNow
After installing it on both instances, you need to connect Jira and ServiceNow so they can start exchanging information.
To set up a connection, one side initiates it, and the other side accepts the invitation. You can start the connection from either end, it doesn’t matter because the Exalate UI remains the same.
So let’s start from the ServiceNow side.
Go to the “Connections” tab in the Exalate admin console and click “Initiate connection”. You’ll be able to see all your existing connections in this tab.
Enter the URL of the destination instance, Jira in our case.
After a quick check, you’ll be prompted to choose the mode of connection (aka configuration mode).
Exalate offers two types of
The Basic Mode
The Basic mode consists of predefined sync rules allowing you to sync incidents and issues.
You can only sync a few fields with this mode, like issue types, summaries, descriptions, comments, and attachments. You cannot change the sync rules but can set up automatic configuration triggers. This mode works well for simple use cases like syncing an incident when its urgency is high.
If you select the Basic mode in the product screen, you need to verify admin access to the destination instance, Jira.
Then, select the project in which you want the synced incidents to reside.
After that, you can either enter the ServiceNow incident number or the Jira issue key and see the status of your sync immediately.
The Script mode
Exalate’s unparalleled flexibility comes in the form of Script mode. This mode has low-code
You can sync practically every ServiceNow and Jira entity with this mode.
Select the “Script” mode on the product screen, and enter the connection details.
Copy the generated invitation code.
To do so, click the “Copy invitation code” button and head over to your Jira instance.
Now, this time, click the ‘Accept invitation’ button. Paste the code you’ve just copied and click “Next”.
Then, select the Jira project just like you did in the Basic mode.
A successful connection will look like this. The next step is to “Configure Sync”.
Step 4: Define Synchronization Rules
Sync rules define what information flows between Jira and ServiceNow and its mapping.
The “Configure Sync” button takes you to a screen with four tabs: Rules, Triggers, Statistics, and Info.
We’ll discuss the “Rules” tab in this section and “Triggers” in the next section.
The “Rules” tab consists of “Incoming sync” and “Outgoing sync”.
Outgoing sync in Jira decides what information must go from Jira to ServiceNow’s incoming sync and the kind of mapping that must exist.
Outgoing sync in ServiceNow decides what information must go from ServiceNow to Jira’s incoming sync and the kind of mapping that must exist.
Configuring sync rules is as simple as commenting or deleting a few lines or uncommenting a script template to sync new information.
You can also choose to toggle between the light and the dark mode, expand/ collapse the sync scripts, copy the scripts, code in a full screen, and much more.
There are ample
After setting up the sync “Rules” it’s time to start exchanging the information automatically. Before doing that, you can quickly do a manual sync to check if the connection is working properly or not.
Step 5: Set up Automatic Sync Triggers
Triggers enable you to automatically exchange information between Jira and ServiceNow based on specific conditions.
You can set the conditions based on the platform's native query language, for instance, JQL for Jira and ServiceNow advanced search syntax for ServiceNow.
Click the “Triggers” tab in the configuration screen and hit “Add Trigger”.
The “Add Trigger” screen allows you to set triggers for issues and other ServiceNow entities. Write the trigger query independently at both ends, depending on your requirements, and activate the trigger.
You can always edit the trigger later if required.
The “Triggers” screen will now display all the triggers that exist.
Don’t forget to “Publish” the changes you have made to the connection in steps 4 and 5.
Step 6: Sync, Customize, Fine-Tune, and Repeat
It doesn’t end here. Your sync will work fine after following steps 1 to 5.
But, as requirements change, you must customize your connection and fine-tune your triggers. Test and validate the connection along the way so issues don’t creep into production. Repeat if required.
Since advanced integrations are our bread and butter, I thought of sharing a few Jira ServiceNow integration use cases with you.
Advanced Jira ServiceNow Use Cases With Exalate
Here are a few interesting use cases we implemented:
- Sync
SLA information from a ServiceNow incident to a Jira issue. - Sync
Jira issue fields as work notes in ServiceNow. - Sync
ServiceNow Customer Case to a Jira Epic . - Sync
time-related information between Jira and ServiceNow.
If you have a use case you’d like to discuss with us, go ahead and book a free session with one of our integration engineers. We’re happy to help!
Conclusion
Effective integration is not just a technological solution; it's a strategic move that can transform how your teams work together and deliver value to your customers. Embrace the power of Exalate to achieve a tailor-made Jira ServiceNow integration and cater it to your business needs.
This article was written by Teja Bhutada, a senior IT copywriter at Exalate.