DevOps integration
The development teams and IT operations teams of most organizations use different tools to manage and track their efforts. Using different tools can present a challenge to implementing DevOps practices across an organization. BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker aims at addressing the challenge of integrating the tools used by the IT operations teams with those used by development teams.
You can leverage the DevOps integration functionality for the following vendors:
- Atlassian Jira Software
- Rally Software (formerly known as CA Agile Central)
- Microsoft Azure DevOps
DevOps integration with Jira
The integration between BMC Helix ITSM and Jira works in the following manner regardless of the integration platform used:
- When a developer creates an issue in Jira, a corresponding incident, change request, known error request, and work order is created in BMC Helix ITSM based on the condition specified while configuring the feature. The BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT agents can view these records in the Smart IT console. The issue ID is also added to the Smart IT ticket and agents can click the ID to directly open the issue in Jira.
- When an incident, a change request, a problem request, and a work order item is created in BMC Helix ITSM, a corresponding issue is created in Jira. The data between the two applications is also synchronized.
- BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker facilitates integration of BMC Helix ITSM with multiple instances of Jira. BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker supports full functionality for all the instances of Jira in your organization. See Use cases for more information about using multiple instances of Jira.
DevOps integration with Rally Software (formerly known as CA Agile Central)
The integration between BMC Helix ITSM and Rally Software works in the following manner while using BMC Helix Integration Service:
- When an incident is created in BMC Helix ITSM, a corresponding issue is created in Rally Software.
- The data between the BMC Helix ITSM incident and Rally Software issue is also synchronized. For example, status change and activity notes.
DevOps integration with Microsoft Azure DevOps
The integration between BMC Helix ITSM and Azure DevOps supports the following use cases:
- Two-way synchronization of tickets that enables you to create BMC Helix ITSM incidents from Azure DevOps work items and create Azure DevOps work items from BMC Helix ITSM incidents, along with synchronizing ticket details.
- Create BMC Helix ITSM change requests from Azure DevOps work items and synchronize ticket details.
Benefits of DevOps integration
The following table lists the functionalities or benefits that DevOps integration provides:
Functionality | Reference |
---|---|
Automatic creation of a BMC Helix ITSM incident, change request, known error request, or work order when an issue is created in a tracking tool like Jira. | How BMC Helix ITSM tickets are created from Jira issues by using BMC Helix Integration Service |
Ability to associate multiple issues (for example, Jira issues) with a single BMC Helix ITSM change request. | How multiple issues are associated with a change request |
Automatic creation of an issue or user story in a tracking tool like Jira when a BMC Helix ITSM incident, change, problem, known error request, or work order record is created. | |
Automatic creation of an Azure DevOps work item when a BMC Helix ITSM incident is created. | How Azure DevOps work items are created automatically by using BMC Helix iPaaS |
Automatic creation of a BMC Helix ITSM incident when an Azure DevOps work item is created. | How BMC Helix ITSM tickets are created automatically by using BMC Helix iPaaS |
Updates to activity notes. BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker keeps ticket comments and status updated. | How activity notes and status are updated in BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker |
Using BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker with Mid Tier
You can integrate BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker with tracking tools without using BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT. In addition to the Smart IT console, you can use Mid Tier to view change requests and incidents. When working without Smart IT, you cannot view the vendor ticket details. However, you can view the work logs to verify that tickets are being brokered.
If you are using Mid Tier, you cannot perform the following actions:
- Associate multiple issues (for example, Jira issues) with a single BMC Helix ITSM change request.
- Send an activity note from BMC Helix ITSM to the tracking system.
DevOps integration for multiple Jira instances
When you integrate BMC Helix ITSM with multiple Jira instances, consider the following guidelines:
- There is no limit on the number of Jira instances that a BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker tenant can support.
- You must specify a unique name for each Jira instance for easy identification.
- You have the flexibility to define different field mappings and trigger conditions for each Jira instance.
- You can only combine BMC Helix ITSM tickets from a single Jira instance.
Components used to create vendor tickets
BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker supports BMC Helix iPaaS, powered by Jitterbit and BMC Helix Integration Service as the underlying integration platforms. These platforms contain different components that you can configure for an integration. When you integrate BMC Helix ITSM with Azure DevOps, it additionally uses Webhooks to create the incident or Azure DevOps work item.
The following table describes these components in detail:
Component | Description | Where you can configure the component |
---|---|---|
BMC Helix iPaaS | ||
Project variables | A project variable is a data element that you can update based on your environment settings. You set a project variable before running an integration. You can set a project variable for credentials, filenames, or environment settings. | You update a project variable in the out-of-the-box integration template in Cloud Studio. |
Workflows | A workflow is a sequence of tasks that is used to accomplish a goal, for example, to create a record or to update a record. | You can view the workflows in the out-of-the-box integration template in Cloud Studio. |
BMC Helix Integration Service | ||
Connector | A connector is an integration with a BMC or third-party application, for example, BMC Helix ITSM, Atlassian Jira, and Remedyforce. Each connector supports a certain number of triggers, actions, or both. | You configure a connector in BMC Helix Integration Studio. |
Flow | A flow is a connection between two connectors that lets you accomplish a certain task. Each flow has a source application and a target application. A triggering event in the source application causes an action to take place in the target application. | You can configure a flow in BMC Helix Integration Studio. |
Connector target | BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker defines processes to call vendor application specific actions to perform different business functions. When triggered by using a rule, a process uses the actions defined to implement the business logic for a given business case. The process is associated with a connector target which provides the process with the information required to connect to a vendor service. | You configure connector targets in BMC Helix Innovation Studio. |
The following images show how tickets are created using these components:
BMC Helix ITSM to Vendor Ticket Management system
Vendor Ticket Management system to BMC Helix ITSM
BMC Helix ITSM to Azure DevOps
Azure DevOps to BMC Helix ITSM
How BMC Helix ITSM tickets are created automatically by using BMC Helix iPaaS
The following image shows an example of how BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker creates a BMC Helix ITSM incident from an Azure DevOps work item:
How Azure DevOps work items are created automatically by using BMC Helix iPaaS
The following image shows an example of how BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker creates an Azure DevOps work item from a BMC Helix ITSM incident:
How BMC Helix ITSM tickets are created from Jira issues by using BMC Helix Integration Service
The following image illustrates how BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker uses connectors, flows, and processes to automatically create a change request, incident, problem, or work order in BMC Helix ITSM:
Important
For a known error request, Step 6 to Step 10 are performed by a webhook flow.
How BMC Helix ITSM tickets are created from Azure DevOps work items by using BMC Helix Integration Service
The following image illustrates how BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker uses connectors and flows to automatically create an incident and a change request in BMC Helix ITSM:
How multiple issues are associated with a change request
Service desk users can associate and view multiple issues in a single BMC Helix ITSM change request by copying a BMC Helix ITSM request ID to the corresponding Jira issue as a label. When you integrate with multiple instances of Jira, you can associate change requests only with issues from a single instance.
The following image illustrates how BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker uses connectors, flows, rules, and processes when multiple issues are associated with an existing BMC Helix ITSM change request:
How Jira issues are created automatically
When a service desk agent creates an incident, change request, problem, or work order record in BMC Helix ITSM, BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker automatically creates a Jira user story or bug.
Based on the following values in a ticket, either a Jira user story or bug is created:
Record | Values |
---|---|
Incident |
|
Change | Operational category: Request > Jira > Story Important: Only supports creation of Jira story and not a Jira bug. |
Problem | Operational category: Request > Jira > Bug or Story |
Work Order | Operational category: Request > Jira > Bug or Story |
The following image illustrates how BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker uses connectors, flows, and processes to create a bug or a user story:
Important
For a known error request, Step 6 to Step 10 are performed by a webhook flow.
How Azure DevOps work items are created automatically
The following image illustrates how BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker uses connectors, flows, and processes to create an Azure DevOps work item from a BMC Helix ITSM incident:
How activity notes and status are updated in BMC Helix Multi-Cloud Broker
The following table lists the events that update the status and activity notes:
Event type | Event | Result |
---|---|---|
Addition of a comment | A service desk agent adds a comment to the ITSM change request or incident (in Smart IT) and clicks Share with Jira/CA Agile Central. | The comment is added to the Jira/CA Agile Central issue. |
A developer adds a comment to a Jira issue or user story. | The comment is added to the corresponding BMC Helix ITSM change request, incident, problem, known error request, or work order ticket. Important: The comment is displayed in the BMC Helix ITSM ticket only if the Viewable to all users option is selected in Jira. | |
Addition of an attachment | Attachments are added to the comment, either in Jira or BMC Helix ITSM. | Attachments are shared between the applications. |
Updates to a field | A field in the vendor ticket is updated. | The updates are reflected in the corresponding BMC Helix ITSM incident fields. Important: This behavior applies to the fields that are mapped when specifying technology provider and field mapping during vendor data configuration. |
Updates to a ticket status | The status of a vendor ticket is updated. | Status change is added as an activity note in BMC Helix ITSM incident or change request. |
Activity notes display the vendor ticket numbers and the author of the note.
The following table lists the different formats in which an activity note can be displayed:
From where a ticket is created | Format of the activity note |
---|---|
From a vendor to BMC Helix ITSM | Note added from <vendor> ticket <vendor ticket id as URL> by <vendor user first last names> Attachment(s) added: <fileName> Attachment(s) failed: <fileName> |
From BMC Helix ITSM to vendor | ITSM user <ITSM user first last name>, added a work note: <work note text> |
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