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Atlassian OnDemand: The Pros and Cons of Atlassian in the cloud

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Adaptavist
1 November 13 Cloud
Atlassian OnDemand: The Pros and Cons of Atlassian in the cloud
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Atlassian OnDemand: The Pros and Cons of Atlassian in the cloud

For many users of Atlassian software, Atlassian OnDemand is their first experience of Atlassian's tools. However, some organisations, especially Enterprise customers, find that they outgrow OnDemand and need to look at a behind-the-firewall solution to deliver the security, scalability or manageability that they need. Below we look at some of the main pros and cons of using Atlassian OnDemand.

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Pros: Why Atlassian OnDemand is great for some

Atlassian OnDemand offers a range of fully-integrated Atlassian tools and a selection of plug-ins. It's cost-effective and offers a low entry level product that many organisations use as their first contact with Atlassian tools. With OnDemand, you can quickly and easily turn components on or off. You don't have to worry about managing infrastructure or having someone technical install and configure. Since it's a cloud-based application, you just pay for what you use and keep focused on your work.

It's affordable, starting at $10 per month for the first ten users with no large upfront payments. It's pretty reliable and has 24x7x365 customer support. Plus you automatically get upgraded to the new versions as they're released.

Why Atlassian OnDemand might not be right for everyone

OnDemand tends to run into problems for Enterprises with specific requirements a one-size-fits-all model doesn't, well, fit everyone.

Whilst the core applications are around 95% the same as the behind the firewall versions, the range of plugins supported by Atlassian OnDemand can be a major limitation. Being able to tailor JIRA, Confluence, JIRA Agile (nee Greenhopper) to provide specific functionality or to integrate other systems is crucial for some teams. OnDemand tends not support individual requirements. Likewise, OnDemand users must work with the standard user interface without being to customise look-and-feel or layout.

For some customers, the lack of an enforceable SLA is a problem. OnDemand is pretty reliable but its availability isn't guaranteed. If there's an outage, many customers will have teams and teams of people unable to access bugs, tickets, information and more.

Outside the USA, another issue is the lack of local hosting options which Enterprises see as a major security and compliance issue. Cloud solutions can be seen as providing less control over company data. Procurement teams will also take issue with monthly, upfront credit card billing which is contrary to their company policies.

Adaptavist can help you assess your requirements and helped a number of clients migrate to a resilient, behind-the-firewall solution that gives them the commercial, compliance and technical solution they need. Read more in our case study or contact us if you'd like to discuss your needs in detail.

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