MS Outlook Integration Adapter

Though Outlook is widely used as an Email Application; it also includes Task Manager and Contact Manager. Outlook is basically a Personal Information Manager that comes with Microsoft Office Suite. Kovair Outlook Adapter connects the ALM tools with Outlook application enabling team members to add Requirements, Defects, and Change Requests to respective ALM tools directly from Outlook. Kovair Outlook Adapter supports Outlook 2013.

Developers, analysts, testers and other people associated with application development process usually communicate through emails, especially when the team is distributed over various geographic locations. An option to add Requirements, Defects or Change Requests directly from Outlook can be handy. No need to log into any other system; read the email and add it as a record to the mapped ALM solution with just a few clicks.

Features & Benefits

  • Add emails as Requirement/Defect/Change Request to respective ALM tools with just a few clicks.
  • No need to log in to another tool to add a Requirement/Defect/Change Request that just arrived via email.
  • Email attachments get added to the Requirement/Defect/Change Request as well.
  • The email conversation can be tracked; if the reply mail of a Requirement is added as Change Request, for example, the system adds relation between them.
  • Tasks and Contacts get synced between Outlook and other mapped tools in the ALM ecosystem.
  • Take actions quickly.
  • Add emails as Requirement/Defect/Change Requests directly from Outlook. Subject of the Email becomes the Title and the Body of the Email becomes the Description of the artifact.
  • Attachments are passed on to the respective tools along with the emails.
  • Tasks and Contacts added to Outlook get automatically synced with the mapped ALM tools.
  • Tasks and Contacts can be imported to Outlook from the mapped ALM tools with just one mouse click.

Kovair Support for Outlook Integration

Kovair Outlook 2013 Adapter allows users to point specific fields of certain ALM tools as the Requirement, Defect, and Change Request repository. Users need to install Kovair Outlook 2013 Addin along with the Adapter. Once the plug-in and the adapter both are installed and configured, any email can be directly added to the mapped ALM tool as Requirement, Defect or Change Request. The adapter also syncs Tasks and Contacts between Outlook and mapped ALM tool.

Kovair provides a vendor-neutral integration platform called Kovair Omnibus Integration Platform to which the best-of-breed SCM tools, IDEs, and other ALM tools can be connected using adapters. The ‘Kovair Outlook Integration Adapter’ allows Microsoft Outlook 2013 to connect to Kovair Omnibus Integration Platform and thereby get integrated with other ALM tools in the system.

Once the ALM tools are mapped with Outlook, data can flow in both the directions between Outlook and other ALM tools in the ecosystem. Requirements, Defects or Change Requests can be added from Outlook to the mapped tool directly. This enhances communication, eliminates delays and reduces chances of error.

Examples of Outlook Integrations

Outlook Integration Adapter offers the followings:

Enhanced Collaboration

Requirements and Change Requests can come up any time during the application development. Such requests are made through email usually. With Kovair Outlook Adapter, users can add emails as Requirement, Defect or Change Request to the connected ALM tools in just a few clicks. When a quite a few Requirements, Change Requests or Defects reach to the team through email, this easy interface of adding artifacts to the system can save significant amount of time.

Tasks and Contacts can be synced up with other tools in the ALM ecosystem. Team members can refer to one task list; all tasks assigned to them can be updated to this list easily.

Reduced Risk of Errors

Teams that receive multiple Requirements, Change Requests or Defect alerts every day need to copy the content of the email and add it to the respective tools.

With Kovair Outlook Adapter it is not required to write a summary or copy the content; team members can add verbatim copy of the emails to the system directly from Outlook.

This reduces the risks of errors to a great extent. Team members can ensure that an accurate version of the Requirements, Change Requests and Defects are added to the system quickly.