When deciding whether to build or buy a Jira software integration, Slack found Appfires’s solution was the only one that met (and exceeded) their needs.

“Slack is using Appfire Slack Integration+ for setting up custom notifications posted in channels for issues being closed, new security issues, or issues coming close to hitting their SLA dates to keep tabs on some of our largest and most impactful projects across Slack.”
Nick Matute, Slack, Technical Program Manager

In this customer story, we’ll explore how Slack came to choose Slack Integration+ as their solution for connecting Jira to Slack. Like many large companies, Slack was faced with the decision to build or buy software.

Slack had been using a homegrown Jira to Slack integration called “Jira Tools,” but the required maintenance and development soon became cumbersome and expensive. Slack had to decide if they would continue to further invest in their internal tool, or look for an outside solution.

Build vs Buy

The team at Slack did an ROI analysis on whether to keep dumping resources into their Jira integration, or buy a software solution. Their homegrown solution called “Jira Tools” was originally built as a catch all software that solved many business needs, but as Slack scaled, it became an unstaffed burden.

They ultimately decided to decouple the tools and search for solutions that best fit the individual needs of each line of business.

“In order to clear the road for the tools depreciation, we had to find a comparable replacement for the plethora of tools built under the “jira tools” umbrella,” said Nick Matute, Technical Program Manager at Slack. The Slack team had to quickly find a solution that performed the plethora of tasks their old “Jira Tools” did while also staying up to speed with the latest features in Slack.

“When searching for a solution, we came across Appfire and they were the only solution we were able to find that met all of our requirements. It even had some additional nifty functionality that exceeded our expectations,” said Matute.

Improved experience, expanded features

The Slack team ultimately decided to ditch their homegrown tool and implement Appfire’s Slack Integration+ as their Slack to Jira integration tool of choice. “We needed something that could stand up against our internally built tools and provide our users with the crisp and reliable experience that matched what they were used to,” said Matute.

While originally aiming to just replace their previous functionality, the Slack team quickly realized that the new software provided even more features.

Customizable notifications

“Not only does Slack Integration+ provide the Jira notifications that we needed, but they’re even more customizable than what we had before,” said Matute.

The Slack team loves being able to customize their Jira notifications within Slack. With the ability to adjust advanced notification settings to fit each individual’s needs, they were able to minimize distractions and boost productivity.

Advanced channel-based settings

“The channel notifications that can be customized with JQL are especially powerful and a real game changer”, said Maute.

Slack utilizes advanced channel-based settings in Slack Integration+, which allows them to toggle to JQL-mode. This lets them to further streamline their workflow in Slack by providing granular control with JQL syntax. With this setting, Slack can enter any valid JQL syntax into the first text box to immediately pull up the issue.

Issue unfurls

“One of the other important cases we needed a functional replacement for was issue unfurls, which can be done by adding the bot to a channel today”, said Matute.

has been able to gain even more insight about Jira issues by using in-channel issue unfurls right in Slack. This ability to view, manage and close Jira issues from Slack has allowed them to stop switching context, save time and keep their team on the same page.

In an effort to further maximize Slack’s time-saving benefits, the Appfire team began working closely with them to expand issue unfurls to become “global unfurls,” which will allow Jira issues to unfurl anywhere in Slack - even if the bot is not added to that channel.

Scheduled reports

“We’ve also started leaning into scheduled reports to keep track of our largest and most impactful projects across the firm,” said Matute.

Through scheduled reports, Slack users can set up customized alerts that the bot will send based on specific triggers like:

Daily report of tickets assigned to me
Report of overdue tickets for my project
Project summary report into scrum channel

The reports can be set up at any variety of timing based on the users needs. Through scheduled reports, Slack is able to speed projects along by avoiding missed next steps.

Results

Slack effectively shifted from maintaining a costly and antiquated internal tool to outsourcing their Jira to Slack integration with Slack Integration+, which resulted in better functionality and improved performance.

“We officially rolled out in June and have seen steady adoption and numerous use cases crop up since...we look forward to growing alongside this amazing partner.”
Nick Matute, Slack

Key results:

300 Slack employees use Slack Integration+
The bot is installed in 200 channels (and growing)
Up to $1.19 M in potential annual savings*

About Slack

Slack has transformed business communication. It’s the leading channel-based messaging platform, used by millions to align their teams, unify their systems, and drive their businesses forward. Only Slack offers a secure, enterprise-grade environment that can scale with the largest companies in the world. It is a new layer of the business technology stack where people can work together more effectively, connect all their other software tools and services, and find the information they need to do their best work. Slack is where work happens.

*Based on How Atlassian and Slack drive value for technical teams study, showing IT and Developers reported each person saving two hours a week with Slack & Atlassian 2-way integration.

With Slack Integration+, you can customize notifications, track issues with JQL-powered filters, and automate reports.

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Why Slack ditched their own solution to use Slack Integration+

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