In this blog series, we’re getting under the skin of Data Center migration. We’ve already covered the following topics:
- The big benefits driving businesses to choose Data Center
- How to get organised ahead of migrating
- Why user acceptance testing matters and how to make the most of it.
- The best tools and apps for a successful migration
In part five, we fast-forward to when you’ve made that leap of logic and migrated to Data Center. What can you expect from your system’s new home, what are some of the challenges you might face, and how can you make Data Center work for you?
For an in-depth look at best practices for planning, preparing, and testing your way to migration success, download our free eBook Demystifying Atlassian Data Center migration.
The future is now
Picture this: after all the planning, auditing and testing, you’ve finally made it. Your hard work has paid off – from Jira and Confluence to Bitbucket – your system’s set up and ready to use on Data Center. You made a big decision to migrate, so you’re going to want to see some big results. And we’re sure you won’t be disappointed.
From increased performance, scalability and reliability to powerful collaboration capabilities, there’s lots to love about your brand-new home. Here are our five favourite upsides to making the move to Data Center.
- Powerful performance
The biggest difference your users will notice is how Data Center performs – exceptionally. This makes it ideal for businesses experiencing sustained growth. If you’ve previously been under pressure to meet demands as your teams scale, you won’t have to worry with Data Center. Enjoy second-to-none performance that grows with your business. - Resilience = reliability
Optimum performance is meaningless if it’s not backed up by a resilient, reliable foundation. Behind the scenes, Data Center reduces downtime, switching users to working nodes in the unlikely event of an outage. With the right infrastructure in place, they won’t be faced with frustrating error messages and can count on stability around the clock.
At Adaptavist, we partner with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for Data Center deployments precisely because it lets us split application nodes across multiple availability zones, providing resilience that really makes a difference to our customers. - Upgrade your upgrades
On Server you might have suffered from upgrade downtime – shutting off while your system steps up, either during the day at great cost or outside working hours with added complexity. But on Data Center all upgrades can take place stealthily. These ‘silent’ sessions happen while your instances are live – cutting out wasted time and irritated users. - Nodes for when you need them
Data Center is designed to be scalable. Whether that’s adding extra nodes to help with everyday tasks that typically drain resources or dedicating nodes for high-pressure add-on apps like EazyBi, day-to-day operations don’t have to slow down. As your organisation grows, simply increase your performance by adding nodes – and if your needs decrease, you can remove any you no longer need to. - Speed things up with Smart Mirrors
Have remote development teams using Bitbucket? If they have to wait long periods to clone large repositories from global locations, you might want to add a Smart Mirror near to where they’re based. These prevent wasted waiting time by hosting repositories and keep them in sync with the primary instance, allowing developers to get identical content, only much faster. - On the same page
Take your teamwork to a whole new level, with one seamless experience for everyone. Unlike multiple Server instances with disparate Jira and Confluence data, you can streamline your strategy and manage it all in one place, aiding collaborations. And with proactive monitoring, you’ll have a much clearer idea of usage, performance choke points, and what resources to deploy moving forward.
Protect yourself from pain points
While there’s lots to look forward to, when switching over to a new way of working, it’s likely that a couple of little creases will need ironing out. Here are a few potential problems that might emerge and the steps you can take to mitigate any migration migraines.
Unexpected delays
No matter how much planning goes into migration, unforeseen delays can occur. Maintaining a runbook – a set of routine procedures and tasks that are carried out during migration – so everyone knows what’s supposed to be happening and when, is key to navigating any last-minute hiccups. Keep this in Confluence, or another collaboration tool, so the team can understand the impact of any delays.
Ready to roll back?
If, for any reason, you need to put migration on pause, you’ll need a fully tested rollback plan in place, enabling you to revert to your pre-migration environment. This is your SAFe®ty net, which you hopefully won’t need, but it helps to eliminate any costly downtime in the event that you do.
Following a rigorous user acceptance testing (UAT) process will all but eliminate the chance of your migration failing, but it’s always best to be on the SAFe® side. Discover our top tips for UAT success here.
Have help at hand
Once all your users have migrated over, everything should fall into place and work as you want it to. But if you need tweaks made or have any concerns, it’s good to know you’ve got support in place. We’ve been helping customers with Atlassian Data Center since its inception, which means we’re perfectly placed to support you and help make your transition as smooth as possible.
In reality, a well-planned migration with adequate testing should be relatively problem-free, especially with the support of a leading global Atlassian partner like Adaptavist. We’ve managed complex Data Center migrations for Fortune 500 companies, which means we’re experienced at handling the hurdles consolidation and migration throw up and well-versed in all the ways Data Center can transform your organisation. We’ll be by your side through it all, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you at the finish line.
Our expert team is here to help make your move as smooth as possible – from sorting out your licencing plan to migration itself. To find out more about Atlassian Data Center migration, download our eBook or get in touch.
