DoIT Jira and Confluence Service Change - Project Overview
DoIT Jira and Confluence users have three options to consider
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Select and migrate to alternative services available to UW-Madison or UW System
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Choose not to migrate any content and archive old data. Discontinue the use of Jira and Confluence and start using a new product.
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Migrate to similar Atlassian products in the cloud, or a self managed and licensed data center instance
Guides for how to migrate and select products
High-level timeline of the retirement plans
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April 1, 2023 – No new projects or spaces will created. No new features or additional plugins will be added.
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April-May 2023 – Service change announcements and all active Jira project and Confluence space owners will be contacted
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Every 90 days reminders, additional resources, and lunch and learns will be provided
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December 13, 2024 – All users migrate to alternatives
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January 31, 2025 – Full retirement of the Jira and Confluence services
Review the suggested timeline and action items
Why is this happening?
Effective February 2024, Atlassian will no longer be supporting “server licensing/instances” of Confluence and Jira. This includes support or bug fixes for Atlassian Server products, Jira Software, and Confluence. Investing in cloud tools allows Atlassian to stay ahead of the latest security requirements and to focus on building a more modern, collaborative user experience. Today, more than 90% of Atlassian users begin with Atlassian cloud products.
Moving forward the vendor (Atlassian) will only offer data center and cloud licensing. These two products cost significantly more than server licensing.
The DoIT Jira and Confluence services launched in 2006 and have served DoIT and the university well. Throughout the recent contract discussions, Atlassian held to its changed service model and increased its annual cost by nearly 500%. Over the last two years, the Shared Tools team investigated alternatives and service options. For a majority of use cases alternative services at UW-Madison offer comparable features.
Our current instances are highly customized. The Atlassian cloud products needed to support each group will vary. A distributed licensing model will allow groups to choose the Atlassian products they need.
Read the service change announcement
What do you need to do?
Users should continue to use the DoIT instances of Jira and Confluence, start to explore their options, and migrate to alternative solutions by 12/13/2024.
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Verify how Jira and Confluence are used by your group and end-users
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Review the three migration options
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Discuss the timeline and confirm your group's migration goals and priorities
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Attend lunch and learns about alternative services and ask questions
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Select preferred products to test
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If you choose to migrate to Atlassian cloud products, learn more about how-to test migrating, acquiring a cloud instance, and joining a community of practice
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If you choose an alternative option, reach out to the service provider and request a trial account
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Learn more about alternative options or how to purchase Atlassian cloud products
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As needed, consult with the Shared Tools team
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Ask questions
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Discuss how to approach a migration
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Test exports and imports into alternatives
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Archive project data and create static copies of your wiki
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Test using the new platform. Confirm how to migrate content, explore new features, and if needed start the procurement process
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Start using the new platforms and verify all your use cases are covered
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Archive your previous projects and spaces for reference
What’s next?
We are available to help users navigate this change. Users can take advantage of additional support, including:
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Consultations upon request. Email st-help@doit.wisc.edu or complete an Atlassian Migration Request for Consult form.
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Weekly office hours every Tuesday from 10:30 to 11:30am, starting April 11, 2023.
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Lunch and learns regarding alternative services starting late April.
FAQs
Will there be a shared instance available?
No, there will no longer be a shared instance available.
Will there be enterprise cloud licensing and a Campus service?
Not at this time. Until enterprise licensing is available on Campus, consolidating into other services and a distributed licensing model are recommended.
Why is the recommended migration date after Atlassian’s deadline?
One-time funding was approved. For a limited time (12 months), the current services will switch to data center licensing from January 2024 to January 2025.
How long will a migration take?
This will vary by group, complexity, and size. Meet with your teams to understand your needs. Migrations could take less than 1 week or up to three months.
Will my project issues be read-only? Or will my pages/records be editable?
Groups can archive an export of Jira projects or keep a static copy of their Confluence space. All data will be removed after 01/31/2025.
Are there migration tools?
There are migration tools for Jira to GitLab, Confluence to the KnowledgeBase (KB), and to other Atlassian products.
A Jira Cloud Migration Assistant and Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant can be used to migrate data. The Shared Tools team can use this tool help with migrations to the cloud. Learn more about what data gets migrated with the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant or Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant.