Is Jira Service Management Right For Your Company?

Jira Service Management (JSM) and Jira Software (JSW) are both amazing software tools, so how do you know which is the right one to choose for your organization? At first glance, it might seem simple to determine the best tool for your project, but there are several nuances that should be looked at before making a decision.

In this blog post, I've pulled together three good questions to ask yourself that will help you determine whether JSM or JSW is right for you.

Do You Have a Customer Base that Doesn't Need an Internal Ticket View?

If so, then JSM may be a great choice for you due to its external ticket view for customers. Keep in mind that your customer base can be either internal or external customers—or both! For example, an IT Help Desk has internal customers, but product support could have external customers. Neither have a need to have an internal ticket view. As long as all of the users that would submit tickets can work with the friendly, customer portal, JSM is a great option.

How Many People Will be Working on the Tickets?

If there are large number of customers, but not many people actually doing ticket work, it makes more sense to use JSM. JSM allows for unlimited customers while agents are licensed. JSM also works in the same Jira instance that your technical teams live in, so they can continue to work issues that might be escalated from the help desk.

How Technologically Savvy are Your Users? 

One of the complaints of first-time Jira users is that it feels like a tool made by developers for developers. Now, the usability of Jira has come along way, but it still can be quite daunting to stare at a screen with a lot of buttons and short one- or two-word fields that offer very little help or descriptors.

JSM, on the other hand, has an easy-to-configure, brand and use customer portal that allows you to craft a custom user experience that speaks to customers in their terms. You get the full power of Jira for your agents coupled with the usability of the JSM portal...chocolate, meet peanut butter!

Finding the Right Solution

There are a few key differences between JSM and JSW. It’s important to take note of your business needs and find the right solution. Review what your ticket intake looks like and how many people will be using the tool, both from a customer perspective and from someone working on the ticket’s perspective. Once those are narrowed down, it’ll be easier to determine which solution will work best.