Ideagen is a global leader in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) software, providing organizations with solutions to manage quality, safety, and regulatory requirements. With a strong presence across industries like aviation, healthcare, life sciences, and financial services, it helps businesses ensure compliance, mitigate risks, and drive operational excellence.
Since the start of 2023, Ideagen has grown its capabilities and geographic footprint with the acquisition of 11 innovative tech companies across Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe. Ideagen software is used widely to keep people and processes safe and protected.
We spoke to Kyle who works as an Operations and Analytics Specialist at Ideagen. His role is heavily data-focused, particularly when there’s a new company acquisition. He manages the technical side such as creating API scripts and migrating data between systems.
He looks after Zendesk and other third-party tools like Exalate. He manages the connection between Zendesk and Jira and ensures everything works as expected, maintaining the sync rules, and resolving any issues that arise. Additionally, he supports the customer division by keeping everyone’s tools aligned and reporting reliable and up-to-date.
Scaling Challenges: Managing Multiple Jira Instances
His major responsibility is to ensure everything is operationally efficient and meets the needs of Ideagen’s customers and internal stakeholders. Every stakeholder should have access to the required data to help them make informed decisions.
Ideagen currently manages three Zendesk instances, one being their central Zendesk instance. They acquire, on average, six to eight businesses annually, for which migrations and integrations become essential. They wanted a way to connect multiple Jira instances used by engineering teams to their main Zendesk instance.
The Search for the Right Fit: Solutions Ideagen Evaluated
Ideagen looked at different integration tools but there weren’t any that fit their requirements. The native Zendesk support for Jira integration did not allow multiple Jira instances to be connected to Zendesk.
Exalate’s ability to manage multiple Zendesk and Jira connections has been invaluable, so it was an obvious choice.
Use Case: How Exalate Powers a Custom Inhouse Ideagen App to Integrate Jira and Zendesk
Exalate is the key to powering Zendesk integrations at Ideagen.
In their Zendesk domain, they have several connections between Jira cloud instances with Exalate. Such a setup allows the support staff to raise tickets with the development team and access information from Jira without needing direct interaction with Jira itself.
Exalate powers a custom-built interface, called Jira Link, which pulls data from Zendesk fields and presents them to the engineers working in Jira.
The idea is to reduce the need and dependency on another platform. Such an integration doesn’t require any kind of intervention from an engineer.
Exalate does all the background work and the Jira Link is essentially the front-end.
It shows what the engineers need to see, so there’s no need to access Jira directly. The Jira link app shows the current Jira ticket priority, the reference to the created date, and the latest comment along with the subject.
It basically displays everything the support engineers need to understand where a development ticket is at any time.
For Ideagen, the customizable sync rules that Exalate provides make their Jira Zendesk integration shine. For instance, when they connect a Zendesk ticket to a Jira ticket, Exalate adds a comment to the Jira ticket specifying the details like: ticket ID, the organization, etc.
So, the development team has a quick note of the ticket priorities.
It also provides additional information like the customers affected by the ticket and how many Zendesk tickets are attached to a Jira ticket. This helps their development team build a complete picture and understand where they need to prioritize resources.
Such a setup enhances the engineer’s experience, and streamlines escalation workflows.
They also use custom sync rules for every connection to automate processes across their instances. For example, when a Jira ticket moves to a specific status, that update is automatically pushed to Zendesk. If a developer marks a ticket as “More information required”, Exalate also syncs this status with Zendesk, displaying the latest comments, ticket status, and other relevant Jira details.
Ideagen also uses Exalate alongside Zendesk triggers. When there’s an update from Jira, Exalate notifies triggers in Zendesk to automatically reopen the ticket, and place it back in the support queue.
| Ideagen Use Case Overview • When a Zendesk ticket is created, Jira Link appears in the app sidebar, offering engineers different Jira issue types to choose from. • Selecting an issue type pre-populates the project ID, task ID, and relevant parameters in Jira, ensuring the ticket follows the correct workflow. • Support engineers then create the Jira ticket and input the defect reference into Ideagen’s custom Jira Link app. • This action notifies Exalate to initiate a sync, pulling data from Jira back into custom fields in Zendesk—visible to engineers through Jira Link. • Any status changes in Jira (e.g., a request for more information or ticket closure) are synced back into Zendesk via Exalate. This triggers workflows such as reopening tickets, adding internal notes, and ensuring engineers receive timely updates. |
Why Exalate?
Exalate was an obvious choice because of its scripting capabilities, which allowed it to connect with Jira Link, a custom-built in-house solution.
They chose Exalate because it could enable them to connect multiple Jira instances with Ideagen’s Zendesk domain.
They could also enable custom sync rules for every Jira to Zendesk connection, all isolated from each other. This made the entire setup scalable.
It’s easy to set up new acquisitions since they update their triggers by specifying to Exalate what new information it should look for. All they need to do is create a new connection, set up new sync rules for that, add new features if required, and update the Jira Link app. Everything else just works!
Once this is done, they let the acquired staff know that they can start using their Jira instances like they used to before.
All of this makes it easier to add new products or acquisitions, making the process more scalable and efficient.
It’s also easy to troubleshoot Exalate if things go wrong. So, when they have sync errors, for instance, a required field is missing, Exalate notifies them both on the Zendesk and the Jira side.
Additionally, unlike simpler one-to-one Jira Zendesk integrations that work well for smaller companies, Ideagen’s complex environments require maintaining multiple Jira instances due to Ideagen frequently bringing in new acquisitions, making the onboarding process for the newly acquired customers seamless and efficient.
| Why Exalate? • Scripting capabilities that help power a custom in-house app called Jira Link. • Connecting multiple Jira and Zendesk instances, each with an isolated connection and distinct sync rules and triggers. • Easily add new Jira instances during acquisition to the existing tech stack, making the process scalable. • Troubleshooting is easier since they are notified on both Zendesk and Jira instances. • A complex Ideagen environment can be handled easily via Exalate, making it a fair and cost-effective solution. • Decentralized integration helps isolate external instances, leading to better security. |
Results
Some key benefits Ideagen observed:
- Isolated and distinct Jira instances ensure a seamless and consistent experience for engineers who get a consolidated overview of all issues.
- Efficient and automated ticket management process.
- Increased efficiency by automating the handover process between support and development.
- Seamless onboarding experience for newly acquired customers.
- License optimization.
What’s Next?
Kyle thinks there are still additional capabilities in Exalate that are yet to be leveraged. Every acquisition comes with new or different requirements and it’s worth assessing if Exalate can provide solutions beyond what they’re currently using.
They are also willing to explore AI Assist, Exalate’s AI-powered integration solution to help them generate their sync scripts faster and more efficiently.
