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Tempo synchronization

Owned by Anna Ciepłota
Last updated: Feb 02, 2024 by Magdalena Szpunar
8 min read

Table of contents

Synchronization with Tempo Apps is a BigPicture Enterprise feature and is currently available on:

  • Jira Server 

  • Jira Data Center

  • Jira Cloud (BigPicture version 8.2 (21 Oct 2021) or higher)

Synchronization will only work if plugins are installed within the same instance of the Jira environment (this applies for Jira Server as well as Jira Data Center).

More information on the differences between cloud and server versions of the App can be found here.

To synchronize with Tempo Apps, make sure to have one of the following installed:

  • Tempo Timesheets for Jira v. 7.9 (released on 2014-05-05) and later,

  • Tempo Planner for Jira v. 1.3 (released on 2014-06-11) and later,

  • Tempo Budgets for Jira v. 8.0 (released on 2015-05-01) and later.

What features can be synchronized?

The "Synchronize with Tempo" buttons trigger the synchronization between BigPicture Enterprise and the Tempo plugin of your choice.

It is important to bear in mind that a user 'triggers' the synch-up - the synchronization between our plugin and Tempo plugins can be achieved only at the user’s request.

Feature

Synchronized with Tempo?

Feature

Synchronized with Tempo?

Workload Plans

Yes (Tempo name used: Workload Schemes)

Holiday Plans

Yes (Tempo name used: Holiday Schemes)

Teams and team members

Yes

Skills

Yes (Tempo name used: Roles)

Resources

All of the above will be synchronized.

Workload and Holiday Plans synchronization

image-20240122-084827.png

The Workload Schemes which were imported from the Tempo plugin can be distinguished by:

  • Tempo label,

  • Tempo code.

Codes of these external Workload Plans were automatically generated to describe the external (Tempo's) WP's. These codes also have Tempo attached to their name, so you cannot mistake them for our native codes. 

You might have also noticed that before the synchronization in BigPicture and in the Tempo plugin there were two workload patterns recorded under the same name: a Workload Plan and a Workload Scheme named „Full-time”, then after we proceeded with the synchronization of a Workload Scheme -  a new „Full-time” Workload Plan was generated. As a result, we have two Workload Plans named: „Full-time” of which one is native, and one is external. This decision was made to avoid unwanted mistakes and make our project safer. This is why we do not merge any objects and do NOT alter any data or information in any of your Workload records (even if they carry the same name).  

The same rule applies to our Holiday Plans.

Plans updated using Tempo

One-way sync at request if provided by the app. 

Will the plans in Tempo be synchronized to reflect BigPicture? The answer is: "No, they won’t”. And it is not an error - it is indeed a feature. A feature that intends to give a user as much control over a project as possible. For the External Workload/Holiday plans to be synchronized correctly after changes were implemented in Tempo Schemes, you will have to use the "Synchronize with Tempo” button. This sort of behavior may seem far from intuitive, though (as we’ve mentioned) it is intended to give you as much control over the data flow between both plugins as possible.

Plans updated using BigPicture

What will happen if you modify the synchronized Workload/Holiday Plan in BigPicture? Plans will be overwritten and a "pen" icon will be added to the label.

Deleting plans

What will happen when we delete from Tempo Workload/Holiday Scheme synchronized with BigPicture? It depends if the object you deleted was ‚synchronized’ or "overwritten".

  • If the object is marked as 'synchronized', then during the Synchronization with Tempo it will also be deleted from BigPicture.

  • If the object is marked as 'overwritten' (which means you’ve implemented some changes from the perspective of BigPicture, which are only visible in BigPicture), then during the next synchronization with Tempo, it WILL NOT be deleted and will become a 'native’ object.

Synchronization rules

The synchronization rules are summed up in the table below:

Type of Action Performed in Tempo

What will happen during Synchronization in BigPicture

Type of Action Performed in Tempo

What will happen during Synchronization in BigPicture

Adding Workload/Holiday Scheme

  • Creation of a new - external Workload/HolidayPlan with the data stored in Tempo.

Warning: An external Workload/Holiday Plan will be generated even if a native W/H Plan is already in place in BigPicture (with the same name and/or the same daily workloads).

Modifying Workload/Holiday Scheme

  • If corresponding Workload/Holiday Plan is synchronized, then all changes will be implemented.

  • If corresponding Workload/Holiday Plan is overwritten, then all changes will be ignored.

Deleting Workload/Holiday Scheme

  • If corresponding Workload/Holiday Plan is synchronized, then the Workload/Holiday Plan will be deleted.

  • If corresponding Workload/Holiday Plan is overwritten, then the status of that W/H Plan will be set to ‚native’.

Type of Action Performed in BigPicture

What will happen with the 'external’ Workload Plans (ones which were pulled from Tempo)?

Adding native Workload/Holiday Plan

  • Nothing will happen with the external Workload/Holiday Plan. The W/H Plan will just be added as a "native" one.

Adding external Workload/Holiday Plan

  • Such an operation cannot be performed. In BigPicture only native Workload/holiday Plans can be added and the external ones are generated only through the synchronization with Tempo.

Modifying native Workload/Holiday Plan

  • Nothing will happen with the external Workload/Holiday Plans. The W/H Plan will just be modified and stay in the native status.

Modifying external Workload/Holiday Plan

  • If Workload/Holiday Plan is synchronized, then changes will be applied and W/H Plan will change its status to 'overwritten’.

  • If Workload/Holiday Plan is overwritten, then changes will be applied without a status change.

Warning: It is possible to switch the "overwritten" Plan back to its 'synchronized’ state by clicking the 'Re-synchronize with Tempo’ button in the detailed view of that specific W/H plan.

Deleting native Workload/Holiday Plan

  • Nothing will happen with the external Workload/Holiday Plans. The W/H Plan will just disappear.

Deleting external Workload/Holiday Plan

 

Automatic synchronization

You can set automatic synchronization with Tempo and define items to synchronize.

  1. Go to BigPicture > App configuration > Integrations > Tempo.

  2. Enable the Automatic Tempo Synchronization toggle switch.

  3. Check items to synchronize automatically.

  4. Define synchronization time.

  5. Click Save.

image-20240131-115044.png

How does Resource synchronization work?

Which Resource attributes are synchronized with Tempo? When synchronizing Resources, BigPicture synchronizes Workload and Holiday Plans. Regarding other attributes (name, surname, avatar, etc.), those are being pulled directly from Jira, as both BigPicture and Tempo are Jira plugins and use the same pool of information.

Resource synchronization rules

Rules that apply to Resource synchronization are a bit different from the rules of Workload and Holiday Plans Synchronization. Still, the differences are subtle since, as we’ve already mentioned, both plugins use Resource data, which is predefined in the user base in Jira, and both pool the same data. This means that for both Tempo and BigPicture we are capable of finding the Jira user which represents the same Resource.
Below is a table that summarizes and describes the rules of Resource synchronization. Those that differ in Workload and Holiday Plan synchronization from Resource synchronization are marked with a blue color. 

It is worth mentioning that as Resources are dependent on W&H Plans, the BigPicture performs the implicit synchronization of Workload and Holiday Plans during a Resource synchronization.

Action performed in Tempo

What will happen with the data in BigPicture during the synchronization?

Action performed in Tempo

What will happen with the data in BigPicture during the synchronization?

Adding a Resource

  • If in BigPicture the Resource already exists for the same user in Jira, the Resource will become synchronized, and its status will become synchronized with its counterpart in Tempo, meaning the Resource will be assigned to the Workload and Holiday Plan which was predefined and assigned to in Tempo plugin.

  • If in BigPicture the Resource does not exist for the same Jira user, then with data pulled from Tempo, a new external synchronized Resource will be created.

Resource Modification 

  • If the corresponding Resource is synchronized, then changes will be synchronized.

  • If the corresponding Resource is overwritten, then changes will be ignored.

Deleting Resource

  • The corresponding Resource changes its status to 'native’ (regardless if it was synchronized or overwritten)

Action performed in BigPicture

What will happen with the external Resource (coming from Tempo)? 

Action performed in BigPicture

What will happen with the external Resource (coming from Tempo)? 

Adding a new Resource

  • Nothing will happen with the external Resource. It will be added as a native one.

Adding an external Resource

  • This operation cannot be performed

Modifying a native Resource

  • Nothing will happen to external Resources. It will be modified and will still hold a ‚native’ status. 

Modifying an external Resource

  • If the Resource is synchronized, then changes will be applied, and the Resource will change its status to ‚overwritten’.

  • If the Resource is already ‚overwritten’ then changes will be applied without a status change.

Warning: It is possible to switch ‚overwritten’ Resource back to its ‚synchronized’ state by clicking the ‚Resynchronize with Tempo’ button in the detailed view of that specific Resource.

Deleting a native Resource

  • This operation cannot be performed

Deleting an external Resource

  • This operation cannot be performed

Questions and answers

If I decide to overwrite a Workload/Holiday Plan, will that automatically overwrite Resources linked to that Workload/Holiday Plan?

You are probably wondering how would BigPicture act in a case when: 

  1. You’ve synchronized Workload Plan, Holiday Plans, and Resources with Tempo which creates dependency in which in BigPicture you have synchronized Resources that are assigned to synchronized Workload and Holiday Plans. 

  2. You’ve modified in BigPicture one of the synchronized Workload Plans (or Holiday Plans) which made it become "overwritten". 

Will that make Resources (linked to it) ‚overwritten’ too? 

The answer is: "No." Changing the status of W/H Plans from synchronized to overwritten will not affect the Resources assigned to them. Then, It is possible to have a synchronized Resource assigned to an overwritten Workload / Holiday Plan.

How does the Team synchronization work?

Team names are used. 

The following Team Tempo attributes are synced:

  • Team Name 

  • Team Summary 

  • Team Members who are Jira users (including Team Members added via Jira groups). A Team Member is synchronized with all its Memberships, including:

    • Joining Date 

    • Leaving Date 

    • Skill 

    • Availability

 

The following team Tempo attributes are NOT synchronized:

  • Team Mission Team Lead (a user who is the team leader) 

  • Team Program (Program in Tempo is a group of Teams; each Team Tempo can belong to a maximum of 1 such group) 

  • Team Members who are not Jira users (Tempo allows you to add such "virtual" Members) 

  • Permissions Links to Boards and Projects

Reconnect Tempo and BigPicture

To re-establish the Tempo connection with BigPicture:

  1. Navigate to Tempo > Settings > OAuth 2.0 Applications.

  2. Find BigPicture and select Delete.

  3. Click the New Application button and add BigPicture.

  4. Navigate to BigPicture > App Configuration > Integrations > Tempo.

  5. Enter the credentials and press Save.