As the push towards SaaS solutions intensifies, you may be left wondering why so many businesses are in support of this transition. Migrating to the cloud is often beneficial, but remaining on-premise can also have negative impacts. For example, Atlassian is no longer updating or providing support for its on-premise, perpetual license version of Jira, known as Jira Server. Let’s explore the risks of remaining on an unsupported software such as Jira Server.
Jira Server vs Atlassian Cloud
Jira Server is an on-premise solution, meaning it is installed and run on your own servers. It holds your IT team responsible for installation, maintenance, updates, and backups. Recently Atlassian has stated they will no longer provide technical support, security updates, or bug fixes for server products. This creates multiple security risks and encourages customers to migrate to Atlassian Cloud. Running Jira from the cloud makes it accessible from anywhere. It holds Atlassian responsible for all performance, security, and maintenance needs. Updates and backups are automatic and the system automatically scales up and down to suit your needs.
Risks of Unsupported Software
If your organization remains on an unsupported software such as Jira Server, you are putting your data at risk. The lack of updates and bug fixes lead to many security issues. Here are the five main risks of utilizing unsupported software:
Vulnerabilities
When security patches and updates are no longer supported, it exposes your data to security threats such as cyberattacks. These updates typically address vulnerabilities, strengthening your security. Without them, your data becomes more accessible to hackers. This is because unsupported software with known vulnerabilities increases the attack surface for cyber threats.
A lack of security updates can also put a heavier burden on your IT team. They will be expected to manage, troubleshoot, and secure your products without support. More time and resources will be required to constantly monitor and manually patch vulnerabilities. With data becoming more vulnerable, it will also be expected that more frequent security incidents will occur. The IT team will be held responsible for investigating and resolving them.
SPK handles this for our managed services clients by continually doing assessments and security checks. This has allowed our team to prioritize and prepare our clients for migrations, small changes or re-architected solutions that may be needed in the future.
Privacy and Compliance
Using unsupported software can severely impact privacy and compliance requirements. This is especially true for highly regulated sectors such as finance and healthcare. These industries have strict measures to protect sensitive data and customer privacy, and unsupported software increases the risk of these being exploited.
If data is not properly protected, this can lead to compliance requirements not being met. Many regulations and standards such as GDPR and HIPAA require organizations to use supported and up-to-date software. This can result in legal consequences, financial losses, and a damaged reputation for your business.
SPK assists clients in mitigating the risks associated with using unsupported software, by offering expert consulting services, both long-term managed services and on a by-project basis. SPK helps ensure that our clients’ systems adhere to stringent privacy and compliance standards, such as GDPR and HIPAA. We provide solutions for upgrading or replacing outdated software, thereby protecting sensitive data, avoiding legal repercussions, and preserving the integrity and reputation of the business.
Downtime and Data Loss
Both well-intentioned and malicious actors are more likely to access your system when it is unsupported. This could lead to unintentional or deliberate manipulation of the system, often resulting in data loss. This is because unsupported software often integrates poorly with current data backup solutions. If data ends up corrupted or lost it poses significant privacy risks and compliance issues.
Outside interference can also lead to systems going completely down. Unsupported software is more prone to crashes which leads to more frequent downtime. Without vendor support, normal business operations cannot go on. IT teams must use more of their time troubleshooting, costing your business time and money.
Security Advancements
With the loss of technical support and updates, unsupported software also loses access to the latest advancements in security technology. This lack of new technology makes it extremely easy for new forms of cyber threats to access your data. It is likely the unsupported software will lack encryption standards and other data protection features, resulting in compromised privacy.
This lack of new technology combined with hackers who may have access to it creates an even larger risk. New cybersecurity risks develop every day as new technologies develop. For example, ransomware attacks are being enhanced with AI. These new ransomware attacks use artificial intelligence to enhance the threat level of typical ransomware attacks, improving the chances of accessing your data.
Unsupported Apps
In the case of Atlassian, Jira Server users can no longer purchase new apps for their existing server licenses. These apps and add-ons may be important additions to Jira’s capabilities, and with no new updates, these features will not be added. This limited functionality can lead to compatibility and integration issues, resulting in inefficient workflows.
In other cases, on-premise solutions may be able to run new applications, but the outdated software may not be able to handle them. It may run slow or even crash when trying to run the new apps. This leads to unhappy users and decreased productivity for your business.
Avoid Unsupported Software with a Cloud Migration
All of these risks make it clear that moving to the cloud is the best way to ensure your IT infrastructure can handle the future of data threats. Cloud solutions and other SaaS tools regularly update their platforms with the latest security patches and updates. This includes encryption, access management, and threat detection to keep your data secure. They also offer monitoring tools that enhance your ability to detect incidents, and disaster recovery capabilities to quickly restore lost data. In addition to this, cloud solutions are much more flexible, scaling up and down to meet your business needs. They adopt new security technologies as new threats emerge.
Furthermore, reputable cloud service providers automatically comply with all industry regulations including privacy requirements. This automatic compliance removes responsibilities from your IT team, allowing them to focus on other critical tasks. Cloud services also often include integration capabilities, creating a more efficient workflow. In Atlassian’s case, Atlassian Cloud offers additional apps, add-ons, and its own AI tool called Atlassian Intelligence. These additions combined with proactive security measures such as threat intelligence and continuous security assessments provide 24/7 data protection.
Shifting to Modern Solutions
Now that you understand the risks and how tools like Atlassian Cloud prevents them, you may want to remove legacy infrastructure within your business. We recommend finding vendors that understand both your current legacy architecture, and the requirements to migrate to a more modern solution. For example, if you are a current Jira Server administrator looking to make the move to Atlassian Cloud, we can help. To learn more about an Atlassian Cloud migration for your business, contact our experts today.
