Trello this week announced that its no-code automation tool Butler can now integrate with Slack and Jira, helping users bring a new level of automation to its chat and development platforms.
Created in 2016, Butler was originally a third-party Trello integration itself before being acquired by Trello in 2018 to provide users a native “If This Then That” (IFTTT) set of automation capabilities. Using rule-based triggers, Butler is designed to make it easy to automate any set of actions in Trello through the click of a button or scheduled commands based on regular intervals or due dates.
Trello said the latest set of integrations means “automated workflow can now extend even further beyond the boundaries of Trello to the tools where other teammates are working.” For example, with Butler’s new Slack integration, comments posted in one channel can now be automatically posted in another so users without access to the original channel can still see the comment.
The new Jira integration allows users to automatically create new tasks, bugs and issues and post comments about existing Jira tickets directly from Trello through any of Butler’s rules, buttons or commands.
“With these new integrations, Trello is enabling its users to knit together processes across the different tools they use, reducing the friction they are faced with as they cope with using multiple tools across a business to get their work done,” says Angela Ashenden, principal analyst at CCS Insight. “We’ve seen this highlighted as a major frustration for employees in our survey research, and it’s a critical piece in the employee experience puzzle.”
Trello already has a number of existing integrations, or “Power Ups,” in place that allow users to combine the platform’s productivity capabilities with other tools they use routinely. Google Hangouts, Dropbox, MailChimp, OneDrive and Salesforce are just some of the 130 Power Ups Trello currently touts on its website.
Ashenden said that, as a best-of-breed tool, integration is particularly important for Trello. “This investment in Butler’s capabilities shows the value that users place in it as an easy-to-use, no-code task automation tool,” she said.
“Slack and Jira are great choices to start this new phase of interlinking Trello with other tools, given Trello’s overlapping customer base with Jira and Slack’s positioning as a work communications hub.”
