From Atlassian Data Center to Cloud: planning your approach
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From Atlassian Data Center to Cloud: planning your approach
Phill Fox
Published on 10 September 2025
3 min read
Phill Fox
Published on 10 September 2025
3 min read
As you consider your approach to the recent Data Center end of life news, it may feel like a reason to panic, but there are many steps you can take to drive momentum now.
It’s important to remember that end of life dates are like cliff edges, rather than finish lines. Treat the Data Center end of life date, 28 March 2029, as a hard stop and not a target – make sure you are not going to run right off the cliff when the date arrives.
Your unique business context is most important - your constraints, history, and future ambitions all need to be considered.
Here are practical steps you can start today when considering your path:
1. Prepare:
- Map your estate. This includes products, versions, customisations, user counts, and data volumes
- Catalogue every Marketplace app and integration; note owners, usage, and start to check for Cloud equivalents
- Capture regulatory, data residency, performance, and uptime needs
2. Pick your path:
- Cloud is the likely destination, but assess alternatives where they might fit. Decide app-by-app: migrate, replace, retire, or consolidate
3. Build the team:
- Who are your executive sponsors, product owners, admins, security/legal, finance/procurement, comms/change, and power users?
- Agree on decision rights and how you'll control scope
- Engage a partner early to assist where needed
4. Plan the work:
- Identify windows of opportunity to migrate, taking into account any other business impacts, change freezes, or dependencies
- Include buffers and roll‑back criteria
- Define your success metrics: downtime, data quality, adoption, and user satisfaction
5. Prove it early:
- Stand up trial sites and run proofs-of-concept to understand the differences these expose
- Rehearse your cutover proposal like an incident drill to build muscle memory and de‑risk surprises
6. Prepare to protect day-to-day business:
- Phase the migration. Use dual‑run where needed
- Line up hypercare, training, and clear comms so value keeps flowing while you transform for the future
7. Start to tell the story:
- Secure a business case that balances disruption with benefits (security, TCO, new capabilities)
- Communicate little and often; set expectations and stick to update cadences
Is it imperative that you make a decision today? No. Should you use the timeline to your advantage to start the right conversations with the team that will make it happen? Absolutely. Pause the panic, reflect on what you truly need to do next, and start formulating the plan. 2029 will arrive faster than you think, but we are here to support you on your journey to the cloud, every step of the way.
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