Jira to All! Jira implementation at Graphisoft

Challenges

A little history

Graphisoft has been using the Jira Service Management (JSM) solution since 2019. Initially, only a few smaller software teams used it as a development administration tool, but from mid-2020, the entire software development organization (400 users) switched to using JSM. In 2022, the Jira cloud migration took place, followed by the introduction of Advanced Roadmaps and Jira Product Discovery (JPD) used by all product managers today for roadmap planning.

‍

From the beginning of 2023, IT planning has also been managed in Jira. Currently (December 2023), the Marketing team is migrating.

Problems of growth

The initial focus on development administration has constantly changed as more and more business teams started using Jira. This significantly increased the workload of the internal Jira experts, as they had to reconsider the previous policies and configurations (naming conventions, project categories, workflows, schemes, reports, etc.) that were optimized for the development.

‍

"In addition to the challenges of the conceptual shift mentioned above, the overemphasis on Jira Software was not ideal. Jira Work Management would have been a more suitable solution for supporting multiple business projects. This transition is now taking place in certain areas of the company." - Gergely Fehér, Director of Software Success Operations and Delivery, Graphisoft.

‍

Another issue was the lack of documentation and insufficient internal training. Often, employees couldn’t find information in the system, so they constantly burdened the Jira administrators with their questions and support needs. As Jira education is particularly important for newcomers, the company has started to create training materials tailored to Graphisoft’s own Jira setup.

Summary

Industry: IT

Region: Global

Requirements:

Integrated and automated internal operations on a Jira basis
Consistent service levels

Product(s) implemented:

Jira Software
Jira Work Management
Jira Service Management
Jira Product Discovery
Confluence

Solution

Jira is at the heart of everything

Graphisoft has placed Jira Software at the center of its information architecture and integrated it with existing systems. HR and user data come from SAP SuccessFactors and Active Directory, respectively. The company uses Power BI for reporting, which is also integrated with Jira. Source code management systems (HelixCore, GitHub, etc.), Jenkins, ZABBIX, MS Teams, and the Zendesk end-user support tool have all been integrated, too. The integration of Confluence and JSM was self-evident.

Unified Project and Issue Management

At a large organization like Graphisoft, projects should be managed according to a unified hierarchy and policies. Therefore, the company uses Jira Software for project management at strategic, roadmap, and team levels alike. The lifecycle of incoming issues (requests, problems, ideas, etc.) and software release management are supported by integrated processes and automatic task allocation, all on a Jira basis.

Complex Jira Service Management Environment

Currently, separate JSM systems are being used across five sites, each with limited integration and a dedicated site owner. The five sites are as follows:

‍

Graphisoft site - Support for development and testing tasks and requests
SalesOps - Support of foreign sales and partners
IT service support - IT service desk and onboarding
Procurement - Administration and approval of employee notebooks, cafeteria, and other purchases
Facility - Administration of demands and issues related to the facility operation.

Atlassian Intelligence - First Impressions

The Jira administrators at Graphisoft have begun testing the Atlassian AI solution and shared the following experiences:

‍

In Confluence, it helps a lot in creating new strategic and project documentation.
The AI-created summaries of longer documents are useful.
The "Define" concept explanation feature is particularly helpful for newcomers.
It seems beneficial in generating test cases.
Currently, it can be used well only with English texts, which is a disadvantage.

‍

Today, Graphisoft has approximately:

800 Confluence users,
750 Jira Software users,
135 JSM agents, and
70 JPD users.

The company uses approximately:

15 Atlassian add-ons,
250 automation, and
150 Scriptrunner scripts on a daily basis.

Result

Short-term Plans - JSM Consolidation

Starting in 2024, the company will centralize the entire Atlassian administration and budget. The separate sites and add-ons will be reviewed, unified, and relocated to a central location based on a predefined schedule. The ultimate goal is for every internal JSM project to be moved to a central site and operate at a unified service level.

Long-term Plans

Graphisoft’s various business units are continuously generating additional JSM-related demands. Currently, the following long-term plans are on the table:

‍

Approval of contracts and legal documents,
Internal Atlassian support for employees,
Better serving of partners and resellers,
Support of custom software release requirements, and
Support of the internal development infrastructure.

‍

"One might wonder why Graphisoft has so strongly committed to JSM. The answer lies in the simple configuration, the availability of forms, the direct, traceable interactions with the users, the flexible integration options, the Confluence knowledge base, and the SLAs." - Gergely Fehér, Director of Software Success Operations and Delivery, Graphisoft.

About the client

Founded in 1982, Graphisoft develops Archicad, the industry-leading Building Information Modeling software solution for architecture and design. Graphisoft’s Virtual Building concept represented a milestone in CAD development and established itself at the forefront of the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Archicad is now used by hundreds of thousands of architects worldwide in 108 countries and 27 languages.

About the partner

About the product

Jira Software

Jira Software is the #1 software development tool used by agile teams. It’s a proprietary issue-tracking software that allows bug tracking and agile project management. Built for planning, prioritizing, and tracking using agile methods or the waterfall model.

‍

Jira Service Management

Jira Service Management (JSM) is Atlassian’s enterprise service management tool for all business teams. Internal teams such as HR, marketing, and facilities deliver services like onboarding employees, responding to web page requests, or resolving facility issues with JSM.

‍

Source: Jira bevezetés a Graphisoftnál | 25. Magyar Atlassian Meetup

If you want to try out Email This Issue, check it out on the Atlassian Market Place or contact our team for further assistance!