Today, it is fair to say that the cloud is now seen less as an innovation and more as a basic expectation – standard operating procedure. Indeed, companies wishing to move on from outdated legacy infrastructure or to abandon sub-optimal hardware or software solutions, are now turning to the cloud in their droves. Cloud migration – the process of moving a company’s digital assets, services, databases, IT resources, and applications, either partially or wholly, into the cloud – is the crucial step in that journey.

In this article, we examine the benefits and challenges of cloud migration in Jira, before assessing the specific difficulties of migrating Jira to the cloud and how a unique app, Glass Documentation for Jira, can help you enjoy a smooth transition. 

NEED TO KNOW: Atlassian, the owner of Jira, Trello, and Confluence, has announced that from 15 February 2024, it will no longer be supporting server platforms. To read more about migration with Atlassian, check out their dedicated webpage: https://www.atlassian.com/migration

FIVE BENEFITS OF JIRA CLOUD MIGRATION

1. Cost control: Transferring your assets to the cloud is a great way to reduce your total cost of ownership (TCO). With Jira, once the migration is completed, most of your costs will be concentrated in their flexible subscription service, which is both more affordable and easier to manage. (Jira also has a lot of offers right now to incentivize cloud migration.)

3. Speed and performance: The Jira cloud operating model is faster, more efficient and powered by analytics and automation. Upgrades are released systematically, and more uniform, so maintenance needs are minimal on the client side.

3. Flexibility and scalability: If you want to expand but rely on local servers or a data center, you have no choice but to invest in the necessary infrastructure. Jira Cloud is designed to make scaling as flexible as you want it to be.

4. Access: The internet had already removed many of the barriers to remote working, now the cloud is taking this to the next level. Jira was already accessible from your browser, but with the cloud-based model, whatever the issue, your team can deal with it from any location and device.

5. Security: While Jira developed over a longer time, Jira cloud is built with security in mind from the ground up. Like most cloud systems, it offers first-class security analytics, automatic updates and cross-enterprise visibility as standard.

ALWAYS A CHALLENGE

While the benefits of cloud migration are clear, the difficulties involved in transition mean some companies are still reluctant to take the plunge. Not only is redesigning application architecture for the cloud a difficult and often painstaking procedure, but you usually need to devote significant resources to the people and tools needed to migrate successfully. 

And while you can expect your system to work better long term, during the migration phase, you may experience a range of performance-related issues, as well as difficulties evading pre-existing dependencies on non-cloud apps. Then, even when everything is up and running, you still have to train users on the new systems and monitor operations carefully to keep things running smoothly.

JIRA MIGRATION

When it comes to Jira, there are also several other known issues that tend to cause problems for Jira administrators during migration, from difficulties with uploading large file sizes to a wide range of potential bugs, over-sensitive user checks, and insufficient backup data. Jira admins may face the challenge that fellow admins can also mix things up in project settings. 

However, in our opinion, the key to a successful migration is control and oversight. If you’ve ever moved house, you will know that feeling of panic that you have left something behind or lost something on the way.  Well, it’s the same with cloud migration: you know you are moving to a better place, but you still have that nagging fear that things won’t quite be the same when you get there. 

This is particularly true with Jira, where you can expect to see a wide range of changes in terms of project configuration. Often, there are instances of duplication and in many cases minor but important discrepancies in the configuration that can impact your projects. You will sometimes find that Atlassian automatically renames some schemes, groups, and workflow details when transferring to the cloud, making them hard to find. For example, you may see changes in terms of new fields, permissions schemes and workflow post-functions, to name a few. So how can you be sure that you have successfully moved every detail of each project across and that everything will run just as it should?

GLASS: HELPING YOU SEE CLEARLY

Because Glass will show you. Glass Project Documentation for Jira is a cutting-edge Atlassian productivity app designed to provide Jira documentation automation, help educate users and also assist with change control – a key process in any cloud migration. One of Glass’s key features is Snapshot and Compare, which is particularly useful during cloud migration.

Why? Snapshot and Compare allow you to overview and compare multiple Jira project configurations. In the new Glass Comparison menu, you can create snapshots from your project configuration in transition. These snapshots will identify not only any differences but also the areas that have been moved successfully. Naturally, the faster you can identify discrepancies in your Jira project settings across the server and cloud, the easier it is to resolve any issues.

Glass allows you to make both high-level (more overarching) comparisons and low-level comparisons, where you can deep dive into specific areas.

Areas of high-level comparison:

• Basic summary
• Project schemes
• Issue types, workflows and workflow transitions
• People in the project, notifications
• Security and permissions

Examples for low-level comparison:

• Workflow post functions
• New components or versions
• Fields added
• Modified schemes

Just imagine you have a crucial, long-term project with a whole host of team members – you use it every day, and it is integral to your company’s operations. Any serious downtime would be a major disaster. With Glass, your Jira admins and project admins can make careful analyses and detailed comparisons at each stage of your migration. The export option also means they can share it with their colleagues or clients to make doubly sure that everything is proceeding as it should. This not only helps you avoid costly errors but also contributes to a better understanding of the migration process as a whole. 

THE FULL PACKAGE

Glass’ Snapshot feature provides a powerful tool to compare project configurations and validate your project settings during cloud migration. Beyond change control (and version tracking), Glass Project Documentation in Jira is also designed to automate product documentation and help new users learn about getting the best out of Jira. If you’re interested in saving time and boosting productivity, download the app now and see Jira in a brand new light!

Meta-Inf is an official Atlassian Platinum Solution Enterprise Partner and Platinum Marketplace Partner. We live by the motto of "Eat, Sleep, Atlassian". Our Jira apps empower millions of Atlassian users worldwide. Check them out here.