Incident management with Microsoft 365 for Jira

Effective incident management relies on Jira Service Management and seamless coordination between service agents, internal clients, and ops teams. By integrating Microsoft 365 tools, organizations can streamline reporting, alerts, and ensure full transparency keeping all stakeholders informed and response times fast.

Incidents are managed end-to-end with full visibility in Microsoft Teams. New incidents or changes trigger instant action in a Teams channel, and all updates are tracked in Jira Service Management. Service agents, IT operations, and stakeholders stay aligned through chat, meetings, and shared context - without switching tools. Automated notifications and AI-powered summaries keep everyone informed, from the first report to the post-incident review.

Challenge

When a critical IT incident occurs, fast and effective communication is crucial to minimize downtime and business impact. However, teams often struggle with scattered information, slow response times, and a lack of clear accountability. While IT teams manage incidents in Jira Service Management, business stakeholders rely on Microsoft 365 tools like Teams and Outlook. The challenge is to ensure smooth coordination, rapid detection, and clear reporting without losing track of crucial details or communication.

Solution

To handle incidents efficiently, the solution is structured into key steps: incident reporting, incident command center, and communication. This is where Microsoft 365 for Jira can streamline the incident management process, bringing IT and business teams together for more effective collaboration.

Incident reporting

Reported incidents from Teams, Outlook, or the integrated JSM portal all find their way into Jira Service Management.

• Customer portal in Teams: Embed the Jira Service Management customer portal directly as a tab in Microsoft Teams for a smooth and efficient way to report incidents.

• Incident creation in Teams: Create JSM incidents from any Teams channel conversation or chat.

  Creating incidents directly from Microsoft Teams enhances the incident management process by streamlining workflows and ensuring immediate action on real-time discussions.

• Incident creation in Outlook: Create JSM incidents from Outlook emails. Creating incidents directly from Outlook makes managing incidents easier by allowing for quick responses during mail communication.

Incident command center

Bring the right people together fast. Every incident gets a dedicated Teams chat to coordinate the response - fully documented in JSM, with a backup after resolution.

• Incident chat (war room chat): A focused Microsoft Teams chat is created to coordinate the response and to align key responders, documented in the JSM incident.

• SLA breach notification: Automated notifications warn in Microsoft Teams when an SLA is about to breach. COMING SOON

Stakeholder communication

Keep the response team and stakeholders aligned with regular updates.

• Incident stakeholder channel: A stakeholder Teams channel provides status updates for internal stakeholders, accessible in Jira Service Management, too. Use adaptive cards to update stakeholders and provide useful Jira native features (e. g. stakeholder comments) inside Microsoft Teams. You can also add an AI driven summary of your chats as a comment to your JSM tickets for post incident review.

• Status update meeting: Regular sync calls via Microsoft Teams ensure IT and business teams are aligned while everything is tracked in JSM.

• Stakeholder email: Critical JSM updates are also sent via email to ensure visibility beyond Teams.

Customer communication

Keep users informed throughout the incident, while staying in JSM. All outgoing communication is documented transparently and visible to the whole team.

• Customer chat: A separate Teams chat allows quick interactions with affected customers, accessible in Jira Service Management.

• Customer email: Formal communications through email ensure all updates are documented, no matter what tool you use.

This approach ensures a rapid and organized response to IT incidents, improving visibility, collaboration, and resolution times across teams. All communication - whether via Teams, Outlook, or automated alerts - is available in Jira Service Management, ensuring full transparency and a documented incident management process.