This guide is a must-read for any team using Jira as its issue tracking platform and Salesforce as its CRM system. Learn how you can enhance the potential of the two tools simply by integrating them!
By enabling Salesforce and Jira integration, you get automated data flow that allows different teams to make better business decisions, as they can effectively share ideas, data, and expertise:
- Close the gap between sales and other teams: engineering, product, and marketing to get a complete view of the customer life cycle.
- Strategically plan and track progress on the big picture across multiple teams.
- Reduce manual updates through automatic, real-time synchronization.
- Prioritize and fast solve customer issues.
This guide will walk you through the entire process of achieving this integration. Here’s what we cover in this article:
Table of contents:
- Jira key features
- Salesforce key features
- 5 Reasons to use cloud Salesforce and Jira connector
- How to connect Jira to Salesforce using a third-party tool
- Use Exalate to integrate Jira and Salesforce
- Integration of Jira to Salesforce using API
- Use Skyvia to integrate Jira and Salesforce in the cloud
- Conclusion
Jira Key Features
Jira is a well-known project management tool operated by software development, DevOps, product management, test management, etc. It’s widely used in agile projects in companies of all sizes.
With Jira’s powerful dashboards, it’s easy to stay on track with business goals, follow the most critical tasks, and grasp bugs and issues. Jira is full of features, and it helps you stay on top of what you need to get done.
Jira key features
- Data updates in real-time.
- Integrated bug-tracking system.
- Extended integration with 3000+ services and applications.
- Support of the Scrum, Kanban, and Scrumban (hybrid of Kanban and Scrum) methodology.
- Customization of software suit to fit specific team’s needs.
Jira additional resources
- YouTube playlist: Jira software demos
- Documentation
- Jira Community
- Atlassian University: training and certification
Salesforce Key Features
Salesforce is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software tool that helps companies maintain and manage customer relationships and interactions. With this data, it’s possible to make better marketing decisions, as it includes data about contacts, opportunities, accounts, leads, and sales.
As well as providing cloud-based tools, Salesforce also provides data analytics and IoT products. Altogether, by collecting data on customers and providing valuable insights to businesses, Salesforce is one of the most beneficial services in the tech stack of any business.
Salesforce key features
- Customer relationship management. Access customer data, the details of past and present interactions, and any updates or changes that could affect future interactions.
- Dashboard functionality. Access interactive dashboards to analyze how sales and customer support issues impact business and get comprehensive data about the company’s performance.
- Managing opportunities. An outstanding Salesforce feature offers a detailed view of customers, their history, buying patterns, etc. to provide powerful insights.
- Support for email integration. Allows synchronizing calendars and schedules with various email applications, such as Microsoft Outlook and Gmail.
Salesforce additional resources
5 Reasons to Use Cloud Salesforce and Jira Connector
Business is becoming increasingly complex, and the traditional approaches to working on projects fail to keep up. It’s more important than ever to have tools that can automate the sharing of critical business information between teams and reduce costly errors.
Why is it crucial to get a Jira connection to Salesforce and vice versa?
- Teams need to have excellent communication and collaborate bi-directionally, automatically, in real-time, and without leaving the platform, they’re currently operating.
- Each team can control what data from the different systems is shared or received.
- Developers can quickly respond to new user requests, customer issues, and feedback.
- Advanced reports can be created by merging data to gain a deeper understanding of business operations.
- Data synchronization eliminates manual data entry work, data duplication, or getting unscattered data.
How to Connect Jira to Salesforce Using a Third-party Tool
Overall, there are 21 applications for Jira to Salesforce integration in the Atlassian marketplace. However, we’ll discuss the integration offered by ServiceRocket.
Prerequisites
Please, be aware that you need admin access to the Jira Cloud instance and technical or billing contact with the Jira Cloud instance.
Note! If you prefer watching instructions instead of reading, you can watch this overview by ServiceRocket on YouTube. You can also use a detailed official guide by ServiceRocket.
Step 1: Install connector in Jira
Open the Atlassian Marketplace and search for Salesforce connector by ServiceRocket. Otherwise, you can open the marketplace link to the connector here.
Click Try it free to start downloading the app. Then, choose the hosting type you need.
Note! For the installation process to continue, you must log in to the Atlassian account.
After that, the Salesforce connector appears on the Apps menu at the top menu.
Step 2: Install connector in Salesforce
Once you’ve installed the connector for JIRA, you need to install the ServiceRocket connector package in Salesforce. Open the AppExchange market and search for Jira connector.
Click on the Get It Now button and choose where you want to install the app (the Production Org or the Sandbox Org). Then, confirm installation details, tick agreement on terms and conditions, and click Confirm and Install.
After that, you have to choose the security type of installation and finish the process by clicking the Install button.
Note! If you choose “Install for Admins Only,” be aware of these limitations:
- Only Salesforce Admins can be used as an integration user for the steps in setting up a connection to Salesforce.
- Only Salesforce Admins can view the content of the lightning components, even when it is added to the Salesforce Object layouts.
The installation is complete. You can read more helpful information in the final window or continue your work by clicking Done.
After installation, go to Installed packages to establish a connection with the server. It can be found in the left menu Platform Tools/Apps/Packaging.
In the Quick Find, type remote site settings to open the setup page and click the New Remote Site button.
Fill in the following details:
- Remote Site Name: Jira
- Remote Site URL: https://sfjc.servicerocket.io/
Click Save to finish the installation of the Salesforce package.
Step 3: Set up Jira to Salesforce connection
In Jira, choose the Salesforce application from the dropdown Apps menu at the top. On the left menu, go to the Connections section. Click the +Add Connection button, type the connection name and add a new connection.
Allow access to your Salesforce account. Choose what objects from Salesforce should be imported and finish authorization of the connection.
Step 4: Set up Salesforce to Jira integration
Start from the Installed Packages page, find the Jira for Salesforce package, and click Configure.
Paste the API token for your JIRA instance. You can find the API token in Jira on the page with Salesforce connections under the three dots menu. Copy the API Access token and enter it in the Salesforce dialogue window. Now you’ve successfully connected Salesforce to the Jira instance.
Pros and cons
- It’s an easy-to-install out-of-the-box solution with detailed documentation and an excellent support team.
- As Salesforce data becomes more complex, the application cannot meet all needs.
Use Exalate to integrate Jira and Salesforce
Exalate is a one-way or two-way integration solution that allows connecting multiple Jira (cloud and on-premise) and Salesforce instances along with other platforms like ServiceNow, Azure DevOps, and so on.
It has a no-code builder to implement simple or basic synchronization use cases and an intuitive scripting interface to implement advanced use cases. It uses Groovy-based scripts to map information via the scripting interface.
Once you set up the connection between Jira and Salesforce, you can set up native automatic triggers and control the sync the way you want.
Here’s the step-by-step process of setting up a Jira Salesforce integration:
- Install Exalate on both Jira and Salesforce
- Connect the Jira and Salesforce instances
- Configure the Salesforce Jira Sync rules
- Set up triggers to automate the integration
Step 1: Install Exalate on Jira and Salesforce
To install Exalate on Jira Cloud, go to the Atlassian Marketplace and look up “Exalate Jira Issue sync & more”.
You get a 30-day free trial. So click “Try it Free” and get started.
Note: To install Exalate on Jira on-premise, check out Exalate’s documentation.
To install Exalate on Salesforce, you can go to the Atlassian Marketplace or visit exalate.com/integrations and choose Salesforce from the list of integrations.
You get to choose to install Exalate in either the production or sandbox mode.
Confirm, install, and assign the necessary users and permissions.
Next, go to the Salesforce search bar and look up Exalate. Request a node and check your email to verify.
You’re now ready to connect Jira and Salesforce.
Step 2: Connect the Jira and Salesforce instances
How to connect Jira and Salesforce? You will have to initiate the connection from one side and accept the invitation on the other side. You can pick either of the two since the Exalate interface is identical on all platforms.
Let’s start from Salesforce.
Go to the Exalate console on Salesforce and navigate to the “Connections” tab.
Initiate the connection and fill in your destination with your Jira URL.
You’ll be prompted to choose between the 2 modes Exalate supports:
- Basic mode (free mode, out-of-the-box configuration.
- Script mode (configure and customize your integration however you want using simple code).
To continue with the Basic mode, you need to confirm that you have admin access. Then simply initiate the connection and sync your very first issue.
Script mode is yet another story. Because you can do almost anything with its scripting engine. Anything from syncing over basic fields like comments to more advanced use cases like syncing comment threads and users mentions in comments between Jira and Salesforce.
To continue with the Script mode, initiate the connection just like you did in Basic mode. Choose Script mode this time and fill in the form.
Once you click initiate, an invitation code is going to be generated.
- Copy this code.
- Go to the connections on the other side.
- Click accept the invitation.
- Paste in the code.
And you’re set!
Now how can you configure your Jira Salesforce sync?
Configure the Salesforce Jira Sync rules
Exlate provides you with a set of incoming and outgoing sync rules, which you can find under the rules tab when editing connections.
So if you don’t want to share a field, you can simply delete it or comment it out.
You can tweak the code to define your sync rules based on your requirements.
Now let’s see how we can automate the sync using native query languages.
Set up triggers to automate the integration
You can define how to sync entities using triggers in Exalate.
Go to the Triggers tab and start by clicking the Create trigger button.
Choose your entity and select the conditions that apply to your use case.
Turn the toggle on and add the new trigger to your sync.
Alright! You have successfully connected your Jira and Salesforce, and the integration will now take care of your data sharing.
Pros and Cons:
- Exalate provides you with independent and granular control over information passed between platforms. Such a decentralized integration approach makes the sync more secure.
- It supports different modes like the Basic, Visual, and Script modes to cater to both business and technical users.
- The Groovy-based scripting engine makes it flexible and scalable to implement deep integrations.
- You still need some technical Groovy knowledge to implement scripts via Exalate if you aim to customize your sync fully.
Integration of Jira to Salesforce Using API
With JIRA APIs, you can easily fetch and synchronize data with multiple applications. To use the JIRA APIs, you must write the code for the Salesforce Apex Class and use Salesforce Triggers to monitor and make updates in JIRA directly from Salesforce.
Important! This method of using REST APIs requires technical skills and knowledge of REST API concepts.
Step 1: Server Calls Enabling
For calling an external server, you have to write a code in the APEX Class in Salesforce. Log in to your Salesforce account, then go to the security control option. After that, you have to add a new remote site. For creating the remote site, you have to enter your JIRA URL and name.
Important! You need to have an admin level of access to your Salesforce account.
Step 2: Getting Jira Issue Keys
You need to get the JIRA issue key to use the JIRA APIs. This key is used to create an outbound map and match it with the text fields.
Create a text field from the setup option, customize it, and select the fields option. Add a custom field and name it JIRA_key.
Once you’ve created the text field, you need to add an outbound map from your key to the text field.
Step 3: Setting Up Salesforce Apex Class
Once you’ve created an outbound map, you must write the code for your Salesforce Apex class. To do this, go to the app setup option and then click on develop and select the Apex Classes option. You need to write the integration code specifying your parameters and allowing the Salesforce Apex Class to connect with your JIRA instance.
Note! You can also refer to the official documentation on writing Apex Class codes to call for Connector REST APIs.
Step 4: Setting Up Salesforce Triggers
Salesforce Apex triggers are a great feature that can be configured to automate the JIRA issue creation process as well as to do custom actions before or after changes to Salesforce records, like insertions, updates, or deletions.
You must create and add a trigger code to the Apex Class you wrote earlier. Every time a new case is created in Salesforce, it will automatically be synced to JIRA using the REST APIs.
Note! You can learn more about Salesforce triggers in Salesforce developer docs.
Pros and cons
- It’s flexible as it allows performing any data-related operation and managing integration according to various needs.
- It’s difficult to install, users have to have administrator permissions and programming skills.
- You need a Developer edition in Salesforce.
- There are also limitations on user rights, the number of everyday updates to data, etc.
Use Skyvia to Integrate Jira and Salesforce in the Cloud
Skyvia Import offers a no-code way to integrate Salesforce and Jira data. It’s excellent as it’s flexible and doesn’t require specific skills. You must take three easy steps to get cloud integration and establish connections with two services in Skyvia.
- Set up a connection with Jira.
- Set up a connection with Salesforce.
- Set up data import between Jira and Salesforce.
Step 1. Jira connection
Note! Skyvia can connect to both Jira Cloud and Jira Server, however, in this guide, we describe only the cloud connection.
Sign in with Skyvia and click +NEW in the top menu. Then, click the Connection button in the menu on the left. In the opened Select Connector page, select Jira service. The default name of a new connection is Untitled, you need to click it to rename the new connection.
Provide Skyvia access to your Atlassian account by accepting privacy policies. Then, click Create Connection, and Save Connection.
Note! Skyvia doesn’t support custom fields in the default Jira connector. However, if you need to work with custom fields in Jira, you may contact our support team on [email protected] to request custom fields addition.
You can also check the connecting to Jira Skyvia documentation for more information.
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Step 2. Salesforce connection
The same actions as with the Jira connection are required for Salesforce. Click the Connection button, open the Select Connector page, and choose Salesforce service. Change the default name from Untitled by clicking on it. Then fill in the information required:
- Environment: choose the environment type of Salesforce to export data from.
- Authentication: choose the authentication method for connecting to Salesforce.
Depending on your chosen authentication type, either click the Sing in with Salesforce button or specify your Salesforce account e-mail, password, and security token. Create a connection by clicking on the green button, and then save the connection.
Note! For more information, check the connecting to Salesforce Skyvia documentation.
Step 3. Jira and Salesforce data import
For Jira and Salesforce integration, click +NEW in the top menu. In the Integration column, click Import. Rename the import package by clicking and editing the package name as the default one is Untitled.
On the left, select the Data Source database or cloud app source type. Select your Salesforce connection as a Source and Jira connection as a Target.
On the right, click Add task to create the Import task. You can use either the Simple or Advanced mode in the Task Editor.
Here, you have to define Source, Target, and configure Mapping. For this, select the source table or object from the Source list, the object to import data to from the Target list, and the type of operation for the task: Insert, Update, Delete, or Upsert.
Then, on the Mapping Definition page, you should configure the mapping of target columns to source columns, expressions, constants, lookups, etc. Columns with the same names in source and target are mapped automatically.
Note! For more information, read the detailed instructions on creating the Import task and configuring the mapping.
After completing the mapping, save the created task and Import package.
You have to create another Import package according to the above steps to perform the import data in the opposite way from Jira to Salesforce.
You can run the package manually or set the schedule for the package to run automatically. However, it’s better to schedule the packages at different times to avoid data overlapping.
Other options for data integration with Skyvia
Various business use cases need different integration scenarios, and Skyvia provides options for any. In addition to data import, there’s also a Synchronization package for bi-directional integration, there’s a more advanced Data Flow or Control Flow. For creating complicated data flows with data manipulation opportunities (splits, conditions, etc.), these tools are the best options.
Pros and cons
- Skyvia Cloud Integration works from anywhere in the world.
- With a few minutes and basic knowledge and skills, you’ll be able to integrate Salesforce with Jira in Skyvia.
- It doesn’t have any data volume limits. You pay per record processed, not by the total number.
Conclusion
An integrated view of all business processes at a company and how everything ties together in a single system is essential. As the Salesforce CRM system and the Jira project management service are powerful tools that provide all the needed data, the data integration between these platforms helps ensure that team members work harmoniously.
Since these are top-rated and commonly used services without native connectors, in this article, we’ve described various methods to integrate Salesforce and Jira:
- with the help of third-party connectors,
- API,
- Skyvia.
Apart from Jira and Salesforce, you can also use Skyvia for integrating other platforms. It will help businesses to work most effectively and stay competitive, which is crucial in today’s digital era.
