Atlassian: from Server to Cloud with no risks

On October 29th, 2020 Atlassian surprised the world with a new strategy for their products – “Server products are to be discontinued” – which created a buzz amongst their customers. Atlassian told us all that they were committed to focusing more on the development of their cloud platform. And their decision was backed up by (1) the fact that around 90% of their new customers tend to start their Atlassian experience in the cloud and (2) their current cloud users, which supports the possibility of having a superior product.

Of course, their on-premises customers could not be, by any means, forgotten. In this regard, Atlassian is also clear that this will be a smooth process that will take over around three and a half years and that their “Data Center” will remain as an alternative, so no one will be left behind.

The first question is: “Why should I migrate to the Atlassian cloud?”

There are many good reasons, such as the following:

• The cloud is the “future”, accessible anywhere, at any time and with greater scalability;
• Atlassian’s service uptime is around 99.9%, minimising business impact;
• Security and privacy-wise Atlassian offer a more reliable level of compliance with the latest laws, regulations and standards; and
• Atlassian will handle the infrastructure maintenance so that you don’t have to.

Aside from the reasons above, you may still want to know “What’s in for me?”. There are several gains to be made from adopting the cloud:

• Your infrastructure can be downsized or requalified for new product initiatives;
• Your IT administrators can focus on other objectives rather than the infrastructure maintenance of Atlassian products, maximising their productivity;
• Operational risks decrease;
• No more technical debt so no more manual upgrades;
• The Cloud will always deliver to you the newest features releases in first hand;

After considering all these topics you might wonder “Can I go in the cloud?”. This process needs to have an overview analysis regarding variables like “current versions”, “existing apps”, “end-user readiness”, “data residency requirements”, “3^rd party integrations”, and a few others. If for some reason the journey to the cloud is not feasible it´s important to remember again that there is always the Data Center alternative.

In the cloud, you will have a new set of features such as:

• Unlimited space
• Product release tracks
• Sandbox environment
• Out-of-the-box automation
• And much more, depending on the product (check the full-force roadmap)

Based on the above advantages of moving to the cloud, along with the usual concerns about your product scenarios, now’s the moment to realise what Xpand IT can do for you!

Xpand IT, as an Atlassian platinum partner, have wide experience in consulting on and implementing Atlassian products for many customers in different sectors and of all sizes. We are proficient at technical setups and configurations, functional customisations tailored to our customers’ needs, data migrations, product assessments and empowerments, training, and, on top of all this, we have a team able to support any need.

In terms of the migration process itself, “every case is a case”. We follow a detailed process with our customers for maximum efficiency:

• Evaluate the existing technical and functional ecosystem;
• Help the customer identify what’s most relevant to migrate;
• Plan and define an adapted roadmap to ensure a “smooth” journey for everyone;
• Focus on the quality of the outputs;

Execute side-by-side with the customer, at a comfortable speed for the stakeholders and taking as much feedback as possible into the process.

To wrap up everything said so far, let’s share a few last thoughts:

• The cloud is the next step. Atlassian is committed to being a cloud-first company and to focus the improvement of their products in this model;
• The journey to the cloud holds no mysteries and if the process is well-scoped and performed under a good plan and follow-up it will feel like a “natural” step;
• There’s still time to migrate to the cloud, so it’s important not to rush it. Nevertheless, although the deadline for Server product support is still some way off (February 2024), the smart approach is to start planning now to address all the details beforehand and take all possibilities into consideration.

We are at your full disposal to chat you through your journey and address your specific use case, so feel free to contact us. Give us a call, we’d love to know your needs in more detail.