Tableau Jira Integration with Tableau Connector for Jira: Complete Guide 2023

Jira is a powerful platform for managing projects. It helps development teams to communicate with users and testers and, along the way, gathers lots of handy data. But it has yet to be discovered, put in order and interpreted. Business intelligence software like Tableau allows turning this raw data into actionable insights. So, let’s see how you can easily make Tableau and Jira work together.

Jira has been designed for bug tracking and agile project management, but it is also a great software for monitoring key performance indicators and collecting other useful information such as time spent on different issues and tasks, customer satisfaction, development and support costs, etc.

To make this data work, agile companies use smart BI tools, like Tableau. It allows creating reports, charts and data maps, tracking trends, and analyzing insights, which, in turn, helps you puzzle out what is going on with your business and make better decisions. Tableau is very user-friendly, and even people without technical skills can make interactive dashboards, do all calculations and wade through the details quickly and without effort.

Here are some examples how and when companies prefer to build Jira reports in Tableau and use Tableau and Jira integration:

• Data Visualization. With Tableau, you can easily turn Jira data into visually appealing dashboards and informative charts, and then share it with non-Jira users, customers and other stakeholders.

• Combine Data From Different Sources. You may merge data from Jira with insights from other software and tools like CRM, ERP, ITSM etc and combine it in Tableau to track whole business operations and see the whole picture of your business.

• Build Any Jira Reports You Need. You will no longer be limited by default Jira reporting features. In Tableau you can build reports on multiple Jira projects, use custom fields for reporting, use add-ons data etc.

• Predict Business Trends and Customer Behaviour. Analyzing data collected from multiple sources for different time periods will help you understand future business and customer trends and effectively plan for business strategies.

• Improve Productivity. You can further use insights received with Tableau to identify your company’s benefits and weaknesses, as well as future market trends, and make your team work in a more profound way.

Neither in Jira, nor in Tableau, there are build-in options for bringing these two platforms together, but you can use a third-party add-on. For example, custom Tableau Jira connector developed by Alpha Serve, a Ukrainian software development company and Atlassian Platinum Marketplace Partner which specialises in BI Connectors.

Trusted by educational institutions, governments and leading companies and having 500+ active installations, Tableau Connector for Jira enables a no-code Tableau Jira integration with advanced features. It is easy to set up and may be configured in accordance with the user's data exporting and reporting needs.

Now, let’s see how you can install and use Tableau Connector for Jira.

Step 1. Log in to your Jira Cloud instance and ensure you have administrator rights. Then go to the Jira Cloud Apps section. Click on “Explore more apps”.

Step 2. Type "Tableau Connector For Jira Alpha Serve" into the search field. Click on it. Click Try it free to get a 30-day free trial license. In opened window click Start free trial button. You’ll be notified about successful installation.

You can also install Tableau Connector for Jira Cloud directly from Atlassian Marketplace by visiting the application product page here and selecting Cloud hosting option.
The Cloud version of Tableau Connector for Jira is permanently free for small teams up to 10 users.

If you use Jira Server or Data Center, you may also install the connector directly from the dedicated Atlassian Marketplace page. Find our detailed step-by-step installation guide for Tableau Connector for Jira Server or Data Center here.

All versions of Tableau Connector for Jira have free 30 days trial. Then, you'll be informed about correspondent pricing plans. You can read more about it.

After installation, Tableau Connector for Jira will be by default available for Jira Admin only. To use the connector, Jira Admin need to grant permission to Jira users or user groups.
Select Administration from the left-side navigation menu of the app to give the permissions to create, watch, edit, or export connectors to certain users or groups of users. Click the Edit icon to open Edit permissions window.

To select groups click the Select groups field and select groups from the available groups in the list. To select users click the Select users field and start to type username you want to grant permissions. You can select as many groups and individual users as you need.

Don't forget to save the permissions by clicking the Save button.

The first step is to create a data source.

Data source is a configured set of data that user wants to export. So, you will need to select Jira fields that you wish to export to Tableau, and apply filters if relevant to narrow data selection and make your Jira data export more precise. You can create as many data sources as you need for your Jira reports in Tableau.

Step 1. Click Create a Data source button.

Step 2. In the window that appears select any fields that you need. You can also set up add-ons tokens and export add-ons data, such as Tempo, Xray and others.

You can use basic or JQL filters to set up filtering (for example, a certain project or data range). When you're done, don't forget to click Save below.

To export data from Jira to Tableau you will need to use the Data Source URL. It is generated by Tableau Connector for Jira.

Step 1. Go to Connectors tab. Copy Data Source URL by clicking Copy icon.

Step 2. Launch Tableau Desktop, select Web Data Connector

Step 3. Enter copied URL in the opened window. Press Enter.

Step 4. Fill in your credentials and press Log in and Export button. The process may take some time, if there is too much data.

Step 5. Proceed to Sheet 1 where you can start building dashboards based on the imported data. Just choose the visualization type and select the data you want to see on your dashboard.

Project management platforms such as Jira bring lots of benefits for agile teams, but you need additional tools like Tableau to make good use of the raw data it helps to gather.

Tableau Jira integration will help you understand your company’s processes and issues, market trends and customer behaviour to develop better strategies and optimize workflow.

You can find all details about Tableau Connector for Jira, its configuration, use and its features in the Product documentation. Start your free trial today!