Automation has long been a hot topic, and we see new examples of automation in every aspect of our personal and professional lives. Yet many of the processes in our business are still overly reliant on manual processes that we know could be performed more efficiently.
While digitalisation enabled organisations to move away from paper-based processes, we seem to have adopted a range of digital processes that are almost as arduous, and just as poorly organised. This is why many organisations are turning to business process automation tools to revolutionise the way they serve customers – both internally and externally.
Atlassian’s stable of Jira solutions offer organisations a variety of avenues for introducing business process automation. According to a survey of Jira customers, more than half of people who have automated their work with Jira say it saves them more than six hours per month, and 87% say it helps them scale the way their organizations work.
To find out how these solutions work in practice, we spoke to Area9’s Enterprise Services Manager Robert Thompson.
What are the most common uses cases for Jira?
Robert - Organisations that receive requests for service or help – either from internal or external customers – this is commonly where we see Jira implemented as a ticketing system. So, you could be an IT service desk for a large enterprise, or you could be a small machinery provider that gets service requests from customers. The range of use cases is quite broad.
Where are the biggest opportunities for business process automation using Jira?
Robert - We often see organisations struggling to manage processes via emails. We automate these processes by generating tickets within Jira that help them get out of email.
As a business process automation tool, we create a more stable and visible environment where managers can track each request or task, and teams can get an overview of their work rather than searching through emails constantly.
What are the technologies that enable these types of automation?
Robert - Primarily, it comes down to a very customizable forms engine. You can dictate what’s on each form, and the workflow engine behind it allows you to trigger events.
For example, you may have a new customer being onboarded. After the initial engagement, a ticket would be created to streamline the rest of your onboarding process. We can cause the engine to ensure certain steps are completed before others, or trigger new fields based on previous steps.
There are varying degrees of complexity in the development of these processes – with the cloud version offering a range of simple process automations. We commonly help organisations to implement more complex processes as this is where we can help them really leverage the power of the underlying engines.
How would an organisation begin automating their business processes with Jira?
Robert – First, Area9 will carry out an analysis on the problem the customer has raised with us. A common issue raised is a lack of information available to management. This issue is often described as an inability to get a clear view on how much time it takes to solve problems or deliver services.
Next, we identify and document how the company interacts with their customers, whether that is email, phone, web, or another method. During this phase we will also capture the business processes that deliver the service or product to the customer.
Once the problem is understood, and the customer interactions are defined, we will build a solution that solves those problems, while providing the company a workflow based system that embeds the business’s processes into Jira. This ensures processes are more consistently followed, are easier to measure and improve, and produce a better outcome for both the company and their customers.
Area9 can help you begin serving your customers and managing your tasks more effectively. Whether you’re an existing Jira user, or you’d like to begin your own business process automation journey, we can help you to gain greater visibility over your team’s work. Get in touch with us today to begin leveraging more efficient workflows and powerful workflow engines within the Atlassian suite of solutions.
Get in touch with Area9 today to find out how automating your business can transform how you deliver services to your clients.