🎃👻 Who you gonna call? BSM Busters! 🍻🍂

[#1]

The Haunted Backlog 👻

We’ve all seen it: an ITSM portal that feels more like a haunted house than a help desk.

• Endless input fields where no one knows what to insert.

• Labels like “incident,” “Incident??,” “incdnt” haunting your backlog.

• Priorities that are unclear, so every request feels urgent… or ignored.

This is what Atlassian calls Bad Service Management (BSM) — and it’s just as scary as it sounds (learn more here).

The good news? Jira Service Management (JSM) helps you escape this haunted world with clear, modern service portals and workflows. And with Awesome Custom Fields (ACF), you can take JSM one step further: guided forms with Cascading Select, visual clarity with Colored Labels, and smarter prioritization with the Priority Matrix.

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The BSM Busters’ Tools 🧰

Escaping Bad Service Management starts with Jira Service Management — the proton pack that busts haunted processes and brings teams back into the light. But even the best Buster needs the right upgrades. That’s where Awesome Custom Fields come in:

🔀 Cascading Select
Think of it as your ghost scanner: guiding portal users step by step.

• From Ghost 👻 → Poltergeist → Office Kitchen → Blocking the Wi-Fi.

• Or from Epic → Story → Task in large backlogs.
  No more wandering through endless lists — just the right choice at the right time.

🎨 Colored Labels
In a haunted backlog, everything looks grey. With Colored Labels, important issues shine bright:

• Blockers glow red.

• Improvements beam green.

• Features sparkle pumpkin orange.
  Suddenly, priorities stand out at a glance.

📊 Priority Matrix
Even Ghostbusters need to know which monster to tackle first. The Priority Matrix makes it simple:

• High Impact + High Urgency = Wi-Fi-blocking Poltergeist (P1).

• Low Impact + Low Urgency = Friendly attic ghost (deal with later).
  No more wasting time on the wrong scares.

With JSM + ACF, your portal isn’t just free of BSM — it’s colorful, guided, and crystal clear.

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Apptoberfest Magic 🎃🍺

We could have just written a technical article… but that’s boring. So we filmed BSM Busters, our Halloween parody that shows how Awesome Custom Fields can turn haunted portals into guided, colorful, and clear experiences.

Now it’s your turn:

• Watch the video 🎥

• Share your own “scary backlog story” in the comments 💬

• And don’t forget to vote for your favorite Apptoberfest demo 🏆

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✨ From haunted backlogs to colorful clarity — let’s raise a stein to better portals. Prost & Happy Apptoberfest! 🍻🎃

[Paul Pasler]

@Jens Schumacher - Released_so would you be so kind to add it to the "unofficial" Apptoberfest Demo board? Thanks in advance!

[Julia Watson-Clarke]

This brought a smile to my face, nice work!

[Paul Pasler]

@Julia Watson-Clarke thank you so much. Apptoberfest is all about having fun!

[Vitalii Rybka]

Nicely done. It wouldn't be so funny unless there were so many such examples. I hope Jira Service Management (JSM) will help to improve the situation.

My best "scary backlog story" is:
- All the bugs that aren't fixed before the New Year are becoming features.

BTW, does your project use Forge? If so, I would like to get access to the source code (of course, if there are no concerns).

[Stephen_Lugton]

I was particularly impressed with the high level animation involved with moving the ghost 👻 across the screen in the opening seconds, it's always good to see how partners approach Apptoberfest!

[Paul Pasler]

@Vitalii Rybka ah yes… the curse of the undead backlog! Every unresolved ticket rises from the grave on January 1st — now forever haunting the feature list.

@Stephen_Lugton Haha, thanks! That ghost spent hours rehearsing its entrance, spooky stage presence takes commitment.

[Rustem Shiriiazdanov _Actonic_]

Nicely done! The final "wowowowowow" made me laugh so hard 😂

[Mia Tamm _Simpleasyty_]

@Paul Pasler creative way to turn a complex ITSM topic into something engaging and memorable. The mix of humor, storytelling, and practical use cases makes the value of Awesome Custom Fields stand out clearly. A great example of how to make technical solutions feel approachable and fun.

Nice ☺️

[Paul Pasler]

@Rustem Shiriiazdanov _Actonic_ So happy it made you laugh!

@Mia Tamm _Simpleasyty_ Thanks! We had a blast turning something as serious as ITSM into a story worth remembering. Proof that even “scary” topics can be fun with the right kind of magic.