Connecting JIRA to Tableau: Easy Step-by-Step Approach 101

Data poses an exceptional potential for opportunities when it is properly analyzed and visualized. A good analysis enables businesses to visualize the complex relationships within data, to understand difficult concepts, or identify new patterns. Data visualization is an efficient way to convey information/concepts universally.

Data analysis makes data organized and structured. Visualization tools present those pieces of information into charts and graphs. Data Visualization helps businesses make data-driven decisions in the following key areas:  

1. Prediction of customer trends and behavior.
2. Forecasting of sales volume and factors that influence sales.
3. Increase in business productivity.
4. Analyze, interpret, and deliver data in more meaningful ways.

In this blog post, you will learn how you can connect JIRA to Tableau to extract data from JIRA and create appealing visualization to uncover insights. You will also look at, Hevo Data – an alternate and an easy way to extract data. 

Table of Contents

• What is Jira
  • Key Predominant Usage of Jira
• What is Tableau
  • Tableau Product Offerings
  • Key Features of Tableau
• Why Integrate Jira and Tableau?
• Load Data from JIRA to Tableau
  • Key Features of the AIO Connector
  • Steps to Load JIRA Data into Tableau
• Common Use Cases of Jira Tableau Integration
• Conclusion

Before beginning, let’s briefly discuss JIRA and Tableau.

What is JIRA

JIRA is a proprietary tool provided by Atlassian and is the most powerful work management tool used for bug tracking, issue tracking, and project management. Nowadays, JIRA has evolved and is used for all kinds of use cases, i.e., from requirements and test case management to agile software development.

Key Predominant Usage of JIRA

1. Requirement and Test case management.
2. Agile teams use it for Issue tracking, project backlogs, kanban boards, etc.
3. Project Management teams use it for reports and analytics, project customization, etc.
4. Software Development teams use it for release planning, bug tracking, CI/CD Integration, sprint planning, etc.
5. Product Management teams use it for Product roadmap, forecasts, etc. 
6. Task Management teams use it for Changelog, issue hierarchy, project linking.

What is Tableau

Tableau is a robust and broadly used Business Intelligence (BI) and Data Visualization tool. It is the fastest-growing tool in the BigData industry, and it is easy to deploy, learn, and use. Tableau creates exceptional masterpieces with visual elements like colors, tables, and charts that help businesses execute market-driven decisions. 

Tableau Product Offerings

1. Tableau Desktop: This is the most widely used product and has an interactive dashboard to uncover hidden insights in data. It offers in-memory computations and secure collaboration and sharing of workbooks. Download the 14 days free trial version from here.

2. Tableau Server: Tableau Server provides the flexible deployment of Tableau dashboards with robust management and monitoring tools. It provides a secure scale-up facility to accommodate the increasing volume. Find out more about Tableau Server here.

3. Tableau Online: Tableau online is hosted on the cloud and provides users to access the dashboards on the go through tablet or mobile via Tableau app. It also provides a secure environment to manage workbooks and templates.

4. Tableau Reader: Tableau Reader is a free desktop version to view the dashboards built on Tableau Desktop. It allows you to add filters and drill down data. However, you cannot refresh the data through the connections. Hence, it is utilized to view and analyze static data, i.e., month-end reports to the clients.

5. Tableau Public: Tableau Public is the free version provided by Tableau. It allows you to connect through various data sources and create visualizations. However, the visualizations created will be stored publicly, and it doesn’t allow you to save the workbook locally.

Key Features of Tableau

1. Tableau is a visualization software with an intuitive dashboard with thousands of symbolic elements to create visuals.
2. Tableau provides secure collaboration and sharing of worksheets to the users to allow a quick review of designs.
3. Tableau offers excellent support for real-time data integration. It also encompasses robust in-memory computation.
4. Tableau has over 200+ connectors available in its library, which can connect to any relational as well as non-relational databases, CSV files, Excel files, Hive, Snowflake, etc.
5. Tableau has quite advanced charts and graphs to create high-quality visuals.

Pre-requisites

1. Working knowledge and access to JIRA 6.4 +.
2. Working knowledge and installation of Tableau desktop 9.4+.
3. Basic knowledge of JQL(JIRA Query Language) and JIRA terminology.

Why Integrate Jira and Tableau?

Open issues, project pace, hours worked on a project, and other Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may all be tracked with Jira. These indicators are beneficial because they assist organizations in making informed resource planning decisions. Executives can look back at previous data to see where improvements might be made.

Jira provides a wealth of information on the technologies that enable your operations. These insights will go unnoticed unless Jira and Tableau are integrated. Businesses, on the other hand, acquire first-hand access to vital information from all corners, evaluate it, and make better decisions by connecting the two.

Load Data from JIRA to Tableau

JIRA can connect to Tableau by using the connector developed by AIO and is available in Atlassian Marketplace. The connector allows you to import data from JIRA into Tableau. You can create different worksheets with the use of charts, graphs, and maps by providing separate JQL statements. Each data set can contain various fields.

Key Features of the AIO Connector

1. It allows you to select JIRA fields such as Agile, Custom, Time Reporting, History fields, etc.
2. Automatic refresh and extraction of data at regular intervals.
3. Custom URL to connect to multiple data sets for Tableau reporting.
4. Easy to set up and use.
5. Data Center compatible.
6. Excellent and responsive customer support.

You can download the connector from here.

Steps to Load JIRA Data into Tableau

1. Log into your JIRA account and make sure you have the admin access.
2. Click the admin dropdown and choose Add-ons.
3. Search for AIO Tableau Connector for JIRA and click on Free trial to download and install your app.
4. AIO icon will appear on the JIRA Web UI upon the successful addition of Add-on (marked in red in the below image). 
5. Click on the icon and select My Connector URL to generate the custom URL to connect to Tableau.

6. Copy the above-generated link and go to Tableau Desktop.

7. On the Tableau home screen, click on the Web Connector and paste the link copied above.

8. It will take some time to load the extracted from JIRA. Upon a successful load, the below screen will appear. 
9. Add the JQL (JIRA Query Language) to select the project or add any filers. Provide the access code and click on Continue.

10. Select all the required fields to import on Tableau.

11. It will take some time to fetch all the data from JIRA, and once successfully done, data will look as it does below.

12. Go to the Worksheet and add the Rows and Columns to prepare visualizations.
    1. The left panel will show the available metrics and dimensions.
    2. The middle one will show the data selected for visualization.
    3. The right group provides the option to choose different types of charts and graphs.

That’s it! Your visualization is ready for display.

Common Use Cases of Jira Tableau Integration

For both large and small organizations, data analysis has become a significant approach. Jira is a valuable data source for businesses and IT professionals. Tableau allows you to better comprehend Jira data and apply the insights to improve business operations.

The Jira Tableau integration is used by most organizations to:

1) Data Visualization

Software Development teams may instantly see data for a project they’re working on by linking Jira to Tableau. The team can display the data in easier-to-understand charts to the client, project manager, or other stakeholders.

2) Bringing Multiple Data Sources Together

Many companies are looking for a means to combine their Data in order to gain Useful Insights. You can add Jira to your Tableau Data sources to acquire a bigger data picture by integrating Tableau and Jira. The data can then be visualized, trends identified, and business activities can be taken.

3) Identifying Performance Patterns and Increasing Productivity

For Business Intelligence Analysis, Tableau Jira integration is frequently required. Businesses and project managers may track project performance, durations, and weak spots to increase efficiency by combining the two Apps.

Conclusion

Data analysis and visualization are essential in business to understand problems faced by an organization, and to explore data in meaningful ways. In this blog post, you got introduced to the Connector, which can help you load data from JIRA into Tableau to create appealing visualizations. However, when it comes to fully managed ETL, you can’t find a better alternative than Hevo. Hevo will help you move data from multiple data sources to your destination. It is consistent and reliable.

It has pre-built integrations from Jira along with numerous free data sources. So, give it a try – Sign Up for a 14-day free trial.

Share your experiences connecting JIRA to Tableau in the comments. We would love to hear from you!