Advancing ITSM with Kate Pawlak at Atlassian Team ’24

This is Techron tv. Hey everyone. Mitch Ashley here.

We are at Atlassian, team 24 in Las Vegas. Great conference. There's a lot of buzz and a lot of excitement, uh, about announcements and great people, people come for community activities and, and being part of the conference or just checking out the new things that are happening, maybe making announcements themselves.

So it was a great pleasure of being joined by Kate. Hello. You're Welcome.

Yes, hello. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me this You Bet.

This conversation. SBO, right? Yes.

Abs Bioo. Yeah, Avaya. Okay.

Yeah. Thank you. Tell us a little bit about what Apps Bio does and your, your role in the Atlassian ecosystem.

That sounds like such a big question. Okay. So I am, uh, in, in the Atlassian ecosystem a long time, I guess, uh, because I've been there since 2017, so around seven years.

Uh, and at Abaya, uh, I am a Chief Product officer, but I'm also one of the co-founder. I, uh, created this company with my two colleagues, Chris and Peter. Uh, and we are Atlassian marketplace vendor, which is, uh, which focus on ITSM area.

Uh, this is, uh, uh, the direction in which we would like to develop our company and also ourselves. Uh, and I'm so happy because we've, uh, recently, uh, being rewarded, uh, as a marketplace partner of the air in the ITSM Maria. So this is a huge recognition to us, and, uh, I hope that it'll be a new chapter in our company, uh, but also in my life because, uh, dress service management, this is a product which I really love, which I use every day.

And I try to be a real expert in this, in this product. Also, I have a huge pleasure to organize, uh, Atlassian life learnings in Jira service management in this area. Uh, also, I am Atlassian community leader, and I am also, uh, the, in the part of Atlassian creator program.

So, as you can see, I have a lot of roles in that Atlassian ecosystem. But, but of course, being, uh, um, part of abs bioo, this is the most important role now. Uh, and I'm so very happy that we can be also a sponsor this year during the Atlassian 2024.

Amazing. Well, congratulations on the, Thank you very much. That's, That.

That's a massive thing. That's huge. Yeah.

Recognize that way. Yeah. It, it's very important event for us, uh, every year, but this year it's, it's really special.

Yeah. Due to a lot of things. A lot of awards.

Uh, yeah. So you're not, you're not just a dipping your toe in the water of the lasting ecosystem. You're all in.

Why, why Atlassian? Why is this such the place? You, you've been so invested and want to continue to build a company around and all the community and other things that you do?

Uh, so I started as a technical writer, uh, in this, uh, in this ecosystem. Uh, and it was the beginning. Uh, and I remember that, uh, in my first week, I, uh, didn't know what is the epic, uh, or story in Jira, and it was so difficult to me to understand all these connections, uh, or linking between these objects.

And now, uh, when I'm thinking about it, I, I feel that I have to laugh because it was so easy. But at this time, it was something new, a new world, uh, to me. And I think that, uh, why I'm, I'm still here, um, because people, we have a fantastic community, which is created around Atlassian, uh, uh, also, uh, people who are really engaged, uh, in building this community.

We have people from, uh, different parts of the world. Uh, we, uh, organize a lot of Atlassian community events. We have also a very active, uh, online, uh, community.

We help each other. I think that it's something which is really unique, and it's not only about Atlassian products, but also about people who use this product, who share the knowledge how to use this product. Uh, and I think that it's, it's fantastic.

And this is, uh, why, uh, I really would like to be here during such events being, uh, as a leader, uh, being in this community. So, uh, I don't know if we have any other such community like Atlassian, uh, and also such products and huge portfolio with, with different products. Not only for one type of team, but uh, with different offers.

Uh, so I think that it's really unique and this is why people stay for, for a long time. There's Lots of things to do, lots of things to be involved in you. Yeah.

You have got a lot of options. You can really engage in it. You always have a great party too.

Yeah. At this event, yes. There's a lot of Fun.

Yes. It's through. Yeah.

You know, it's interesting you think about, 'cause I've worked with Atlassian for a number of years too, and they, they kind of grew up in the SaaS world, and then the development tool, then the DevOps, and of course Confluence and documentation. So there's a lot of places people have gone involved with using Atlassian Technologies now team and, and the intelligence and so many new products that are out. What, what is, what is your favorite thing you like to work on when you're using your technology with Atlassian's products?

So, definitely Jira Service Management is, in my heart, kind Of fits in the idea Sam space a little bit. Yes, exactly. And this is very close to customer experience area, uh, which is also a very important part of my professional life.

Uh, but of course, confluence, I started creating documentation for products in Confluence. It was the beginning. And it's a fantastic product to share knowledge, um, in team.

And I think that's a huge value if you are able to create company in which people really want to share this knowledge and they see the value of sharing this knowledge. So, um, also, we, we use of course, JIRA software, JIRA work management in our daily, uh, work. Uh, and, uh, we, we see that now it's a one Jira because, uh, it's one of the big announcements that we have got now Jira, simply Jira.

Just Jira. Just Jira, yeah. A good way.

Just like, just Jack, Right? Yes. Just Jira.

And I think that we, uh, we can see that, uh, now this, this, uh, differences between developers, testers, some managers, some people from marketing. Uh, we don't have such, uh, differences, uh, between these teams because we have got one team. Uh, people have different skills.

We have different perspective, but we have got one team and one goal, uh, which we would like to achieve together. So I think that it's a, um, good decision that Atian decided to change Jira work management, just software to Jira. Mm-Hmm.

Just Jira. Yes. Jira.

Yeah. And, and, and it's great. Uh, so yes, we use a, a lot of different products, but just service management.

It's in my heart. Yeah. It's, it's, um, I, I know what you're talking about.

Bringing that together of course, makes so much sense. I'm sure there was a lot of work to really make that happen seamlessly. What do you think that will, how, how will that affect the end users, the customers?

How will they see that? Mm. Or will it be kind of behind the scenes?

Mostly? I think the huge value is that we don't have to switch between tools and between ecosystems, because we have got everything in one, one place. Atlassian, uh, offers, um, products, which are for different, uh, purposes.

We have got feedback, we have got Bitbucket, we have got Compass. So something more for development for DevOps. Uh, we have got direct service management.

We have got, uh, confluence to, to, uh, share knowledge. So I think that every area, uh, in the company can be, uh, can be, uh, uh, used using Atlassian products. So we don't have any gaps.

We, we don't have to use some another tools and everything is around Atlassian. So, uh, I think that's, it's a huge value, uh, in case of, um, sharing data, because also we have got, uh, some, uh, Ian Analytics, for example. So, uh, everything in one place, and it's really good.

And also I see the value, um, in such a approach, uh, in new things, new, uh, product, which we, uh, which was announced, uh, during the team. So Atlassian Revo, uh, and I remember that last year during the Atlasian team 23, it was a huge announcement, Atlassian intelligence and mm-Hmm. We saw, oh, I can summarize the ticket.

Wow. It's great. I can, uh, I can, uh, summarize the Confluence page.

Oh, it's great. But it was very small in comparison with what we have, uh, now because only It's only been a year or two. Isn't it amazing, yes.

How fast this has Advanced. Yes. Because, um, after some time after this, uh, announcement LA last year, we saw, uh, a new level that we were able to, uh, search and to use, uh, Atlassian intelligence across the whole instance.

So across all products. And also, this is fantastic that we have got all these products from Atlassian, and we can use also Atlassian intelligence across these products. And I think that it's a huge value, and it was a new level, uh, on using this, uh, this, this new product.

And this year we have got Atlassian vo, uh, which is a completely new stage, uh, in case of human and AI communication. Hmm. Because, uh, it's not only about one ticket, uh, one Jira instance.

Now it's about, uh, more about more tools because we are able to connect, uh, some external tools, external data. And thanks to this, we, uh, as a team can find data across, uh, for example, Google, uh, files, uh, across some data from some external tools. Uh, so I think that it's something huge.

Also, uh, a another thing in this, uh, in case this Atlassian robot that our teams can learn, uh, a lot, uh, because we have got option, uh, to chat with, uh, with ai, we have an option to build some knowledge base. Uh, also what is something, uh, really interesting, and I think that it has got also a big potential for marketplace, marketplace vendors. Uh, it's called agents.

So thanks to agents, we can build some workflows, uh, which are supported, uh, by Atlassian intelligence and Atlassian robot. So I think that it's something really huge and it's totally different, um, using AI in our life, in our, in, in our teamwork. So I'm very happy to, to see what will be next.

Uh, but it, uh, was only one year that we started from this simple issue, and now we have got something huge, something which is, uh, I guess, crucial for enterprise companies. Uh, so we'll see what will be next. That's the thing, uh, organizations at an enterprise scale, you know, the problems you might have on a 200 person company or a couple thousand per company, yeah.

Those problems become pretty insurmountable. They're really tough to tackle. And it seems like rather than having it all stuck in some other database and trying to make, make some way of making access, getting access to that easier, it sounds like Robo is a much more of a user friendly, user positive user experience.

You need to worry about all that. And it's going across, you know, Atlassian other sources as well. Yes, yes.

So it's not only about Atlassian now, but also about other tools, uh, other solutions which are, uh, available on the marketplace. So we'll see in which direction Atlassian will develop it. Uh, but I am very happy that we are a part of this, uh, this history.

Yeah. Great. Let me ask you, um, you know, your, the honor you received about being the, was a partner of the year for the, for ITSM, is that true?

Yes. You got the right word. Yeah.

Um, why do you think, why do you think Apps Bio was chosen? What do you think? What is, what is it that stands out about the company?

I think that, uh, our huge value is that we are really focused on this area, and we would like to be an expert in this area. Mm. So, uh, we build everything around this topic.

We not only, uh, build apps, uh, in our portfolio around ITSM, uh, be, because of course we have got, uh, apps, uh, uh, like, uh, feature bundle, like customer and organization management. Uh, also issue merger. So a lot of apps which, uh, are for different, uh, audience, different persona.

But, uh, all these apps, uh, build a new customer experience, I guess. Mm-Hmm. Uh, and we really try to redefine this customer experience.

And also we, uh, think what will be next in case of Atlassian Volvo. 'cause I think that, uh, it will be also something challenging to us. Um, so I think that this is it, this value, and we really think how to educate also our customers, uh, in case of Jira service management.

So this is why I am, I'm very happy that I can be a part of Atlassian life learning, uh, because thanks to this, we can, uh, see, we can present people. Okay. So this is how it works.

And you can see benefits, uh, from what we have in Jira service management, but also we have got apps and we can extend this possibilities and, uh, and we can also make some customizations for your companies. So, uh, we can, we can do more. So I think that this value and this this focus is really important.

Yeah. They say most while you hear, like musicians or writers talk about, I create things for myself 'cause I enjoy it. Right.

And the fact that other people really love it too is, is even better. Yeah. But the fact that you, the creator loves their creation, you follow that pattern too, it seems like.

Yeah. I think that in our times, creativity is something which really needs, um, because of course we have got a fantastic tools. We have got, uh, ai, which is the hottest topic now, but I think that we have to remember that we are still humans and, uh, creativity, teamwork, some collaboration, some workshops, brainstorming.

This is what we really need, especially after this pandemic time when we were at home alone. And we didn't have a lot of space to be in creative, I guess. Uh, because without people, I, I think that is difficult to be creative.

So this is why I really love to be in this community because exchanging these ideas, um, because of a lot of discussions. So this is what, uh, allow us to be, uh, to be creative and it make something bigger and different. Fantastic.

Where can folks find out more? Where can they check it out? Download.

Try try what you do at X file. Yeah. Uh, yeah.

And, uh, we, uh, we are, uh, an Atlassian marketplace, uh, on the Atlassian marketplace. You can find there, I, you Probably knew the answer to that. I didn't have to ask, right?

Just check it out on the app, on the Atlassian marketplace. Yes. Atlassian marketplace.

Yeah. But, but also you, you can find a lot of good, um, solutions, good ideas, um, on the Atlassian community. And this is what I really recommend to, to visit and to, to, to be the part of this community.

Because when you feel it, you will stay it. Mm-Hmm. Well, congratulations again.

Thanks for, Thank you very much talking With us and sharing, uh, not only you did great news, which, you know, which is fantastic news, but also, you know, how, how this community and, and the technology and the work, the people have all evolved into really a great passion. So help others who join into, Yeah. This is, uh, this is our, uh, tagline that create apps with fashion.

There You go. Yes. I love that.

Great. Kate. Uh, Kate, let me say your last name correctly.

Is it Pavlock? Pavlock, yes. Pavlock, thank you very much.

Thanks. Uh, Ben's been fantastic talking with you. You're interested in Atlassian, you're already part of the community.

Wonderful. But it's a great place to be with lots of great people like Kate.