Jira project configuration analysis

Overview

As a Jira admin, how many times have you been faced with a scenario where you implement a change request only to trigger an unexpected impact across all dependent configuration elements? Large and complex Jira systems are comprised of hundreds or thousands of custom fields, workflows, screens, and other types of Jira configuration elements that interact with one another in a non-linear way, thus making it difficult for admins to understand these dependencies and their change impact easily. 

This is where Power Admin for Jira comes in handy! It is an advanced administration tool designed to enable Jira admins to search for configuration elements, see their dependencies, usage, and change impact, and perform quick actions such as modifying or deleting them. In the following use case, we will introduce you to the powerful capabilities of Power Admin for Jira and how it can enable you to conduct a comprehensive configuration analysis of your system.

Purpose

This use case demonstrates how Power Admin for Jira can enable you to quickly and confidently configure Jira projects by understanding the complex web of dependencies of the configuration elements that comprise a typical Jira environment.

When you implement change requests to the configuration of a Jira project, you rely on Configuration Manager's change and impact analysis to review these changes and see which projects are affected. During this phase, you may encounter the following issues:

• Inconsistencies in the snapshot: a configuration element, say a custom field that wasn't added initially, ends up being listed in the snapshot. The reason for this is an indirect reference, such as a post-function, which is related to a particular configuration element. 

• Lack of visibility into dependencies: no clear visibility into all Jira configurations and their dependent elements.

• Non-optimal UI: the current Jira UI does not allow for a quick and easy change of related configuration elements.

The lack of visibility into the dependencies between the various configuration elements and the less-than-optimal Jira UI forces you to perform multiple manual complex processes to meet your objectives. Power Admin for Jira allows you to find a configuration element, explore all its dependencies quickly, and efficiently perform various actions (such as edit, configure, delete, or copy).

Terminology

For this use case, we'll assume the following definitions:

• Configuration element: the search object; a configuration element type (e.g., custom field, screen, workflow, etc.)

• Dependent element: the first-level dependent configuration elements of the search object (e.g., custom field, screen, workflow, etc.)

Usage and dependency management

Location, location, location: Search & find Jira configuration elements

Power Admin for Jira allows you to search and find configuration elements by Name or ID quickly. The search results provide end-to-end information regarding the usage of a configuration element, how changing it will impact the configuration, and a list of its first-level dependent configuration elements. You can also drill down to review each dependent element.

Open

The search mechanism allows you to filter the configuration based on the following configuration element types:

• App

• Custom Field

• Filter

• Group

• Issue Type

• Issue Type Scheme

• Issue Type Screen Scheme

• Issue Security Scheme

• Notification Scheme

• Permission Scheme

• Priority

• Priority Scheme

• Project

• Resolution

• Screen

• Screen Scheme

• Service Project

• Status

• Workflow

• Workflow Scheme 

Understand configuration element usage and its dependencies

By navigating deep into the Jira infrastructure, Power Admin allows you to review the full information about the searched configuration element:

• Its usage: see the usage of the searched configuration element across your entire Jira instance. Understand where and how a configuration element is used.

• List of dependent elements: see all the first-level dependent configuration elements to the searched configuration element.

• Relations between configuration elements: drill down into a more detailed chain of dependencies to further explore configuration element relations.

This will enable you to quickly and easily gain a full understanding of the complex dependencies that exist between the different configuration elements of your Jira configuration before introducing any changes. A task that would usually take hours can be completed within minutes as all the information is readily accessible via Power Admin's search and filtering mechanisms - a capability that provides a lot of day-to-day value.

Open

Perform actions on configuration elements and their dependent elements

How many times have you stumbled upon a post function or any other configuration element that you wanted to change or delete quickly, but the clunky Jira admin UI didn't accommodate such a straightforward approach?

Well, Power Admin for Jira allows you to perform actions on all configuration elements and their dependent elements down the chain of dependencies. These actions allow you to configure, edit, copy, and delete, the configuration elements depending on their type. For all actions, whether they are on a configuration element or its dependent elements, Power Admin for Jira will redirect you to the Jira native action pages.

This capability enables you to quickly introduce changes across the chain of dependencies while being fully aware of the impact. Additionally, it streamlines the process of cleaning up rarely-used configurations to tune the performance of the system, which is another use case of Power Admin for Jira.