A Complete Guide to Asana Integration

Software integration is essential when organizations use hundreds of apps in day-to-day work, and nowhere is that more true than with Asana. This popular project management app has fantastic built-in automation tools and a strong reporting suite, but it’s rarely the only place where work happens. Whether collaborating with developers in Jira or reporting on trends with tools like Google Sheets, an Asana integration allows all teams to have the same context no matter where they work.

Here’s a guide to integrating Asana with the rest of your stack.

What is Asana?

Asana is one of the most popular project management platforms on the market. It’s robust enough to handle even the most complex projects, while being accessible enough for complete beginners. Asana’s built-in reporting features also allow for real-time insights on essential projects, initiatives, and portfolios.

What is Asana integration?

Asana integration is the process of bridging the gap between Asana and other apps, allowing data to flow between them. Integrations allow teams to continue using the tools their workflows depend on, while contributing context from their work to Asana projects automatically. Managers and leaders can also use integrations to get a more holistic reporting view of work happening both in Asana and other tools.

Asana is frequently integrated with tools like:

• Software development platforms like Jira, GitHub, and Bitbucket.
• CRM tools like HubSpot and Salesforce.
• Customer support apps like ServiceNow and Freshservice.
• Other project management platforms like ClickUp, monday.com, and Smartsheet.

Why does Asana integration matter?

Integrating Asana with other tools creates massive benefits for organizations, such as:

• Maintaining alignment between teams: Few organizations use Asana exclusively. By integrating it with other tools, teams can stay aligned on objectives no matter which tool they work in.
• Keeping projects on time and on budget: Many Asana projects rely on work happening in other tools. Integrations can keep essential deliverables and context moving from source tools to Asana smoothly.
• Increased productivity: Without integrations, teams lose time manually transferring data back and forth between Asana and other tools. Integrations give them that time back.
• Better reporting: Asana’s reporting capabilities are strong, but they’re limited to Asana projects. By integrating Asana with other tools, you can use Asana’s reports with data from these tools.

4 types of Asana integration

Not all Asana integrations are created equal. Some are built specifically to transfer specific types of data from Asana to other tools, while others sync data back and forth. Some integrations are accessible to all organizations, even those with the smallest budgets, while others are more suited to enterprise organizations.

• Built-in Asana integrations: Asana has built-in integrations for tools like Jira and Salesforce, with actual functionality varying depending on the tool. But this allows Asana users to integrate their tools without any third-party platforms.
• Automation platforms: Platforms like Zapier use trigger-action automations to push data across thousands of apps. These tools can be used to automatically dispatch work from Asana to other tools, update a single field in an Asana task, and more.
• Two-way sync: A platform like Unito syncs data back and forth between Asana and other tools. That includes automatically creating Asana tasks to match work items in other tools, and vice-versa. Additionally, fields are kept up to date automatically in both tools as you work.
• Robotic process automation: Robotic process automation (RPA) allows Asana users to build software “bots” that can replicate any action a human can take. That means they can “click” on buttons in Asana and other tools, making it easier to work across tools.

How to integrate Asana with Unito

Here’s a look at how an integration between Asana and other tools work with Unito.

Step-by-step integration guide

1. Connect tool accounts to Unito: After signing up for Unito, click +Create Flow and connect Asana and the tool you’re integrating it with to Unito.
2. Choose flow direction: Flow direction tells your Unito flow where you need new work items created. Most Unito flows are two-way, meaning they automatically create work items in both connected tools.
3. Set rules: Unito rules use trigger-action logic to filter out work items you don’t want synced or automate certain actions. To build a rule, set the trigger Unito should look for and the action you want it to take.
4. Map fields: In most flows, Unito can automatically map fields in Asana with fields in other tools. From there, you can customize field mappings to match statuses across tools, send data from some fields to fields specific to your workflow, and more.
5. Launch your flow: Once you map your fields, your flow is ready to launch. After an initial sync, Unito will check for changes in real-time.

Curious to see this in practice? Check out these video tutorials to syncing Asana with other popular tools:

• Syncing Asana with Azure DevOps
• Connecting Asana with Jira
• Integrating Asana with ServiceNow
• Connecting Asana with Trello
• Syncing Asana with Salesforce
• Integrating Asana with NetSuite

Challenges to watch out for when integrating Asana

No matter which integration method you pick for Asana, you’ll have to account for the following challenges.

Integration depth

Not all integration platforms have the same level of depth, meaning they might not support as many fields as you need or transform data the way you need them to. Automation platforms, for example, might only support simple transformations or even no transformations at all, while RPA tools can be more limited in their actual integration capabilities.

When researching an integration solution, pay careful attention to its documentation. Not all workflows require deep integrations, but knowing what you need and what platforms can actually support those needs is crucial.

Real-time integration and event-handling

Not all integration platforms that support Asana actually support real-time integrations. They may check your projects for changes on a pre-scheduled interval or even require manual triggering to actually take effect. If your workflows are time-sensitive, or they impact metrics where timeliness is essential, then evaluate this capability in potential integrations.

Data quality and consistency

With some traditional integration solutions, significant data cleaning is required before work items can be effectively transferred between tools. This might have to be done manually or add a significant load to the integration solution you use. While you can institute manual processes that keep data relatively clean before it’s synced over by an integration, you’ll usually want to pick a platform that can do most of this for you without sacrificing functionality.

Performance and scalability

Automation platforms and similar solutions use relatively simple technology to support a wide variety of integrations. This allows support for a variety of workflows, but doesn’t scale effectively as your organization’s needs grow. These platforms often require significant maintenance to run correctly, often hitting a ceiling in scalability. When picking integration platforms, don’t evaluate them based exclusively on your existing needs; consider how the platform might scale in the future.

How to keep Asana integrations secure

Since integrations inherently require data transfer, data privacy and security are especially important. Here’s how you can keep your Asana integrations secure.

Compliance

Because integration platforms transfer data between tools, they need to comply with data privacy and security regulations in your jurisdiction. If you have customers in or are based in California, for example, any integration platforms you use need to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Most platforms comply with these regulations, but more specific examples, like HIPAA in healthcare, are less common.

Access control

How rigid are you about giving access to an integration platform? Since a platform can potentially leak sensitive data out to tools or projects that don’t have the same tightly-controlled access as the source system, access to integrations is often limited to specific teams or roles.

Data privacy

In most integration solutions, data is encrypted as it moves between tools, keeping it protected if it should be intercepted. Other measures, like field-level security and data masking, can enhance data security and prevent potential security issues.

Security certifications

In addition to your own internal processes, you need to ensure the integration solution you use has the right security certifications for your needs. A certification like SOC 2 Type 2 shows a commitment to data security that’s suitable for most organizations, but in some industries, you’ll need to look for providers that have other specific certifications for your industry.

Best practices when integrating Asana

When rolling out an integration solution to Asana for the first time, remember these best practices:

1. Start any integration with a small pilot project so you can troubleshoot any potential issues without affecting essential data.
2. Evaluate the results of a pilot project before implementing integrations at scale.
3. Consider if you need an integration solution that’s widely available within your organization or if access should be restricted
4. Review the integration vendor you rely on at least yearly to check their solution against what’s offered on the market.
5. Use Asana’s built-in automations where possible to enhance any third-party integration solution you use.

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