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Migration

Accelerated Cloud Migration – A One-Month Success Story

Successfully migrated a client from Server to Cloud in under 2 weeks with zero data loss and minimal downtime.

Cloud migrationAutomation

Executive Summary

Client Industry: Legal and professional knowledge solutions
Challenge: Migrate an enterprise-scale on-premise Atlassian environment (Jira Software and Confluence) to Atlassian Cloud within a strict one-month timeline while minimizing disruption to over 1,200 users.
Solution: A risk-managed, phased migration strategy leveraging Atlassian’s Cloud Migration Assistant, with heavy pre-migration optimization and post-migration validation.
Outcome: Full migration of 480 Jira projects, 367 Confluence spaces, and key plugins with only 12 hours of downtime—meeting all business and technical success criteria.

Background

The organization relied heavily on self-hosted Jira and Confluence for project collaboration and internal knowledge management. With Atlassian's server support nearing its end, the need to migrate quickly became both a compliance and scalability imperative.

Key Pain Points

  • Tight deadline due to Atlassian end-of-support
  • Complex data structures and heavy plugin use
  • A user base of over 1,200 with minimal training time
  • Strict downtime limits (< 24 hours)

Project Scope & Challenges

Scope

  • Jira Software:

    • 1,248 users
    • 480 projects

  • Confluence:

    • 1,148 users
    • 367 spaces
    • 22GB of data

  • Plugins Used:
    Structure, Time to SLA, JSU Automation Suite, Draw.io, Table Filters

  • Migration Model:
    “Optimize & Shift” — clean before migration

Challenges

  • Legacy data and inactive users
  • Complex workflows and plugin compatibility gaps
  • 24-hour maximum downtime
  • Seamless transition for a non-technical user base

Solution & Methodology

Phase 1: Pre-Migration Audit

  • Full inventory of users, projects, and plugins
  • Identified 20+ custom elements needing rework
  • Removed 60 obsolete Jira projects and over 1,000 inactive users

Phase 2: Planning & Setup

  • Adopted the “Optimize & Shift” strategy
  • Configured Atlassian Access and verified domains
  • Set up test environments and enabled advanced migration flags (e.g., full board/filter export)

Phase 3: Testing & Validation

  • Executed partial migration to QA environments
  • Validated plugin integrity and automation rules
  • Engaged power users for UAT and configuration feedback

Phase 4: Production Migration

  • Performed full production migration in 12 hours (vs. 24 planned)
  • Migrated Jira and Confluence in parallel using CMAs
  • Reconnected mail handlers, reapplied global permissions, and revalidated Salesforce integrations

Key Success Factors

🔐 Risk Mitigation

  • Proactive cleanup and readiness audits reduced migration risk
  • Rollback plan prepared but never needed

🤝 Stakeholder Alignment

  • Bi-weekly syncs across IT, leadership, and business units
  • Communication campaigns minimized confusion pre/post-migration

⚙️ Technical Execution

  • Resolved plugin edge cases (e.g., Draw.io PageID mismatches)
  • Used automation scripts for bulk JSON exports/imports of rules

Results & Benefits

  • ✅ Migration Completed: Ahead of Atlassian’s EOL deadline
  • ✅ Performance: 30% faster Confluence page loads post-migration
  • ✅ Downtime: 12 hours (50% under limit)
  • ✅ User Satisfaction: 0 critical issues, 3 minor tickets resolved within 48 hours
  • ✅ Cost & Maintenance: No more server overhead; predictable cloud billing

Lessons Learned

  • Early Audits Save Time: 20+ plugin issues identified pre-go-live
  • End-User UAT is Essential: Power users flagged 5 minor issues before launch
  • Runbooks = Fast Recovery: Step-by-step documentation streamlined post-migration cleanup

Client Feedback

“The migration was faster and smoother than we expected. What impressed us most was the minimal disruption to our teams and how well everything was communicated in advance.”
— IT Project Lead

Conclusion

This case highlights how large-scale migrations under strict timelines can succeed with the right strategy, tools, and communication. By blending deep Atlassian expertise with structured execution, the organization now benefits from a modern, scalable, and fully supported cloud environment.

Final Metrics

  • Jira Projects Migrated: 480
  • Confluence Spaces Migrated: 367
  • Total Data Volume: 22GB
  • Downtime: 12 hours
  • Post-Migration Issues: 0 critical, 3 minor