What are the Differences Between the Linking Methods from JIRA to Salesforce?

Classic Connector for Salesforce & Jira

What are the Differences Between the Linking Methods from JIRA to Salesforce?

What are Remote Issue Links?

Remote Issue Links are a new feature in JIRA 5.x and provides a simple and lightweight way to integrate an issue with another application. From version 5.1 onwards of the Salesforce-JIRA Connector, this feature has been leveraged to allow easy configuration and linking from a JIRA issue to a Salesforce object.

Comparing with Other Linking Methods

The differences between the 3 linking methods are outlined in the The 3 options of linking Jira to Salesforce page in the Accessing Scaffolding's Administrator Settings.

You may wish to use Remote Issue Links if your integration needs with Salesforce.com are very simple and you don't require these linkages to be searchable in JIRA. Otherwise you should use the Connector Custom Fields.

If you need the link to synchronize to and/or from Salesforce, neither of these fields are appropriate. You will need Adding a Remote System Reference.

To put it simply, associating a JIRA Issue with a Salesforce Object will allow synchronization of fields on both ends. Making changes in a JIRA Issue will be reflected in the associated Salesforce Object, and vice versa.

Linking a JIRA Issue with a Salesforce Object merely allows retrieval of data in a read-only state. Making changes on one end will not be reflected on the other end.