What is a Jira Service Desk agent?

Jira Service Desk is Atlassian’s service management and help desk product built on top of the Jira platform, designed for handling requests, incidents, problems, and changes from customers and internal users. It has since been rebranded and expanded as Jira Service Management, but many people still use the old name “Jira Service Desk” to refer to the same family of capabilities.

Jira Service Desk (now known as Jira Service Management) is not a CRM system. It is an IT Service Management tool designed to handle incoming service requests, issue tracking, incident management, and IT workflows rather than managing customer relationships and sales pipelines like a CRM. Jira Service Management focuses on customizable workflows, SLA management, change and release management, and integration with other Atlassian tools for IT and support teams.

While Jira Service Management helps with customer support requests via a self-service portal and ticketing system, it lacks the broader contact management, sales automation, and marketing features typical of CRM software. CRMs focus on customer data management and sales processes, whereas Jira Service Management is fully oriented toward IT service delivery and operational support.

Alternatives to Jira Service Desk include several robust tools such as Easy Redmine HelpDesk, Zendesk, Freshdesk, Zoho Desk, SolarWinds Service Desk, and open-source options like Zammad and Redmine. These alternatives provide varying features like omnichannel support, automation, incident management, shared inboxes, customizable workflows, and knowledge bases.