Key Challenges & Context: Self-Managed Atlassian Environments Were Becoming Too Costly to Maintain
For this Swiss insurance company, managing Jira and Confluence on-premise had become increasingly demanding. Regular updates required significant time and effort, making it difficult for IT teams to keep the environments properly maintained.
The scale of the platforms added to the challenge. The environments supported more than 300 users, 70 projects, 170 Confluence spaces, over 62,000 tickets, three plugins, and 75 GB of attachments. Maintaining this ecosystem while limiting disruption required considerable internal resources.
This created two immediate problems for the client:
- Maintenance was becoming a heavy and complex process for IT teams.
- Time and resources spent managing the infrastructure were slowing the delivery of new capabilities for users.
The client needed to move away from this maintenance burden without compromising the data and working environments its teams relied on. The migration also had to provide a more sustainable foundation for security, compliance, user management, and collaboration.
Our Approach: Reducing Migration Risk Without Disrupting the Business
Moving more than 300 users, 70 projects, 170 Confluence spaces, 62,000+ tickets, and 75 GB of attachments required careful preparation. The client needed to leave behind the maintenance burden of its self-managed environment without losing data, quality, or access to critical tools.
Our approach focused on reducing risk at every stage of the migration while preparing the client for a simpler Cloud operating model.
1. Audited the Existing Jira and Confluence Environments
We started with a detailed audit of the existing instances. This gave us a clear picture of the applications, users, projects, spaces, plugins, and data that needed to move.
We then assessed the workload and migration risks to identify potential issues before they could affect the transition.
2. Prepared and Simplified the Environment Before Migration
Moving to the Cloud was also an opportunity to avoid carrying unnecessary complexity into the new environment.
We worked with the client to clean up and rationalize user accounts and advised them on the licenses required for the future setup. This helped prepare a cleaner environment while supporting better control over future licensing and administration.
3. Built a Migration Runbook to Control Every Step
Given the volume of data and the importance of Jira and Confluence to daily operations, the migration could not rely on a one-off technical procedure.
We created a dedicated Migration Runbook covering the actions required at each stage, as well as issues identified during testing. It became the reference point for coordinating the migration and incorporating lessons from each iteration.
Weekly follow-up meetings with the client kept decisions, risks, and progress visible throughout the project.
4. Tested the Migration Through Multiple Iterations
Rather than waiting until go-live to identify problems, we performed several migration test iterations.
Each test helped us validate the migration strategy against the specific characteristics of the client’s Jira and Confluence environments. When issues arose, we coordinated directly with Atlassian support and TestRail to resolve them before production.
We also organized User Acceptance Tests and completed pre-production testing so the client’s teams could validate the new environment before the final move.
5. Prepared Identity Management and Cloud Access
The migration also needed to simplify how users accessed and managed the platforms. We supported the connection between the client’s Active Directory and the future Cloud instance, preparing the foundation for easier user provisioning and Single Sign-On management.
6. Managed Go-Live and Hypercare
Once testing and validation were complete, we moved the environments into production. Careful preparation allowed the client to complete the production migration with only eight hours of downtime. We then provided a hypercare phase to address any issues following the transition and help stabilize the new Cloud environment.
Benefits: A More Reliable Atlassian Environment With Less
Maintenance Overhead
The move to Jira and Confluence Cloud gave the client a more sustainable way to manage its Atlassian environment. It reduced the infrastructure burden on internal teams while preserving the data and working environments users depended on.
Limited Disruption During a Large-Scale Migration
The migration covered more than 300 users, 70 projects, 170 Confluence spaces, over 62,000 tickets, three plugins, and 75 GB of attachments. Despite this scale, production downtime was limited to just eight hours. The client also completed the migration without losing data or compromising quality between the existing and Cloud instances.
Process Automation That Saves Time
Beyond the migration itself, the move to the Cloud gave the client access to native automation capabilities that were not available in its previous self-managed environment.
The client took advantage of these new features to automate recurring processes across Jira and Confluence. Tasks that previously required manual handling are now triggered automatically, saving time for both IT and business teams and improving the consistency of day-to-day processes.
More IT Resources Available for Higher-Value Priorities
Maintaining the previous self-managed environments required recurring infrastructure and IT effort. By moving Jira and Confluence to the Cloud, the client could reallocate part of those resources toward more strategic priorities instead of spending them on platform maintenance and updates.
Security and Compliance Built Into the Cloud Environment
The new environment gave the client access to security and compliance capabilities provided natively within the Cloud solution. This reduced the responsibility associated with maintaining these capabilities within a self-managed infrastructure.
Simpler User Access and Administration
The migration also simplified user provisioning and Single Sign-On management. By connecting the client’s Active Directory with the Cloud environment, the team gained a more manageable foundation for controlling access across Jira and Confluence.
Better Collaboration Across IT and Business Teams
Moving to the Cloud gave users access to functionality that was not available in the previous self-managed environment. These Cloud capabilities created new opportunities for collaboration while helping reduce silos between IT and business teams.
The result was an Atlassian environment that required less infrastructure maintenance, was easier to administer, and provided a stronger foundation for the client’s teams to work together.
Ready to Move Jira and Confluence to the Cloud?
If your self-managed Atlassian environment is becoming difficult to maintain, a structured Jira and Confluence Cloud migration can reduce operational burden and support long-term scalability.
