Why migrate from the Atlassian server to the cloud now? There are more benefits than you think

The broad benefits of moving to a cloud-based program are well-known: lower maintenance costs, greater flexibility for remote working, and instant and frequent product updates. It’s no surprise then that organisations are undertaking large-scale digital transformations to leverage these benefits: according to Findstack, 67% of all enterprise infrastructure was cloud-based at the end of 2021. However, for large enterprises with complex requirements and largely on-site workforces, the move might not appear as beneficial so they try to put it off.

For Atlassian customers, moving to the cloud platform comes with a deadline as the server-based product approaches a definite end-of-life date. So, if you’re dragging your heels, we’ve taken a look at your concerns and outlined a few reasons why you should plan and execute your migration sooner rather than later.

What’s stopping you from migrating from the Atlassian server to the Atlassian cloud platform?

While not all of these will apply to your organisation, we’ve found that the most common reasons for putting off migration to a cloud-based platform (Atlassian, or any other for that matter), are:

• Cost – in terms of subscriptions, the resource cost of having your own staff (or hiring people) to perform the migration for you, and any lost productivity as a result of system downtime.
• Expertise – recent research suggests that 39% of businesses don’t have the skills necessary in-house or aren’t confident in undertaking cloud migration themselves. (Source: IDC)
• Time – “We’re always busy” is a common refrain. If you aren’t in a business with seasonal peaks and troughs, finding the right time to do a migration can be difficult.
• Priority – when businesses are in recovery from COVID-19 economic pressures and/or large-scale weather events, migration can get pushed down the business priority list.
• Effort and headspace – if you don’t have in-house expertise in platform migration, the task can feel overwhelming and ends up relegated to the ‘too hard basket’.
• Security concerns – for organisations dealing with confidential or high-security information or services, migration can be held up by finding a cloud solution that offers the right level of protection.
• Loss of control and complexity – having an on-premise solution does afford organisations a more powerful platform with a higher level of control and complexity. However, lower maintenance costs and sophisticated customisation capability go a long way to balancing this out.

These are all valid concerns for putting off a migration, particularly when the Atlassian Cloud platform won’t deliver value in an immediately visible way. However, when a deadline for migration is imposed upon you – as it is for Atlassian server customers, we believe that acting sooner rather than later is the best course of action. Here’s why:

Cloud is better if you’re a smaller organisation.

Subscription-based cloud platforms mean that customers are buying hosting infrastructure at a bulk rate and don’t have to worry about performing platform or application maintenance like upgrades. This is certainly a better option for smaller organisations of up to 100 users who may have limited, or no, in-house IT expertise. This means money can be reinvested in hiring experts to guide the configuration and maintenance of the cloud platform, or into new technologies that will help the organisation grow.

Moving to the cloud now allows you to deliver the additional functionality your team need without interruption. 

Whether migration is on the cards or not, your existing teams or new hires will continue to ask for additional functionality to help them do their job more effectively. And they probably need it immediately.

Therein lies the problem for server customers – many Atlassian products and marketplace apps cannot be bought for the server version any longer, and those that can require their own configurations and apps which means building out complexity on a platform that is already at the end of its life.

You then have two options:

1. buy the additional functionality outside the Atlassian suite of products and increase the complexity of your software infrastructure, compromise your agile approach and add to your maintenance budget; or

2. migrate to the Atlassian Cloud now and give your team access to thousands of apps to enhance their functionality, all of which will continue to be updated and improved.

The Atlassian platform is made up of a series of configurations and becomes more complex as you add apps and make customisations to suit your way of working. Migrating to the Cloud now ensures that any new enhancements are value for money and can be built on in the future.

Acting sooner allows for longer lead times, less stress and fewer errors.

By having conversations about timing, capacity and future requirements now, you can build in sufficient lead times for evaluating your current technology stack, cleaning up data, purchasing licenses and undertaking the migration.

With comfortably long lead times, you’ll ensure your team have the mental and physical bandwidth to cope with the change, reducing the chance of teething issues when you sign in to the cloud for the first time.

Acting now offers you the opportunity to spring clean your technology stack.

Some organisations worry about the effort involved in a migration – particularly if their current environment is messy or complex. And they are right to an extent – if you migrate a mess, you’ll still have a mess.

We see the migration to the Atlassian Cloud platform as the perfect opportunity to take stock of what you’ve got and plan for the future. This means you can start fresh with best-practice configurations and only migrate what you really need.

In theory, this spring clean can save you time and money on unused apps, duplicated or unused licenses and poor practices. Yes, it can be an uncomfortable process (less so if you have experts like DI help you), but you’ll be set up for greater efficiency in the long term. Your team will still have their work and the apps they know – their environment will just be better organised and their workflows will be far easier to manage.

Migrating to the Atlassian Cloud platform now means you can get in early with the experts – like DI.

According to Gartner, a major reason that migration budgets blow out is the failure to build in capacity for external support. Even when staff are available in-house, expert guidance will make the transition much smoother.

All Atlassian server customers will have to migrate, but by doing so sooner rather than later, you’ll have the first pick of experts like DI to analyse your existing environment, create a long-term strategy, purchase your licenses and execute your migration with best-practice configurations.

Taking this opportunity to engage experts will ensure you are set up with industry best-practice configurations, strong governance and administration practices, and finely-tuned workflows that will ensure your Atlassian platform is set to grow and evolve with you.

Ready to get your migration to the Atlassian Cloud platform on the road? Contact the DI team today to discuss how we can help you evaluate your current environment, develop a robust strategy for the future and manage your migration quickly and seamlessly.