Moving Code Corp to the Atlassian Cloud

Addressing The Atlassian Cloud Migration Issue

Initially, Code Corp planned the migration with an internal IT Manager who was able to perform an initial migration for Jira and Confluence. However, they encountered a few challenges when starting to look at the migrated site. This included most pieces of data being migrated, but some features didn’t work right because of missing workflows or automations. To complicate the project, the IT Manager left the company in December 2021 and advised Code Corp to work with SPK and Associates to complete the project.  

Code Corp knew they still had a wishlist that they wanted to complete with a successful migration. This wishlist included: 

• Accessing new features and bug fixes.
• Outsourcing the work to ensure it remained a priority versus the internal staff attrition.
• Most of their source code was embedded software; however, Code Corp had added more web software over time which was on Bitbucket Cloud, but Jira was an on-premises Server instance. This prevented using the features that connect the two very easily.
• A desire to capitalize on richer business intelligence through richer Jira analytics.
• Migrate off Atlassian Server Products to Cloud to enable continuous Atlassian Support.
• Migrate with no downtime or data loss.
• Ensure expert cloud migration support.
• Remain complaint and achieve their business goals. 

Solution To Atlassian Cloud Migration Approach

This particular migration was more complex than usual due to Code Corp also needing several tools for migrating. Additionally, they also needed a change of platforms from on-premise instances of Atlassian tools to the Atlassian Cloud platform. Therefore, there were also additional data challenges bound to arise. The project scope also included collaborating with Code Corp to address user access and a credentialing cleanup. 

In February 2022, the migration gained new traction. Code Corp attempted to clean up users, roles, and groups as the Active Directory had seen years of adding and subtracting. The acquisition by Brady Corp also resulted in a larger Active Directory. 

By June 2022, the scope was finalized, and a new IT Manager had been hired. The migration was planned for completion by mid-September. Ryan Hoobler, VP of Engineering at Code Corporation and project sponsor, engaged SPK to migrate their on-premises instances and ensure on-time delivery.

At SPK, we utilize Atlassian’s Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA), Confluence Cloud Migration Assistance (CCMA), and Bitbucket Cloud Migration Assistant (BCMA) for successful cloud migrations. Additionally, we follow the best practice approach of:

1. Assessment
2. Planning
3. Migration Test Sprints into a Sandbox
4. Migration
5. Launch

The migration project started in June 2022.

What A Great Cloud Migration Team Looks Like 

SPK also allocated four project members to facilitate the migration and work in tandem with Code Corp’s project team. The overarching team included:

Delivering An Atlassian Cloud Migration

The initial run was planned for the first weekend in November.  After some trial runs with JCMA and updating a runbook, the migration was successfully completed on the third weekend in November 2022.

As a complex migration, Code Corp and SPK collaborated to identify what could successfully migrate and what assets may need minor recreation. The following is a list of outcomes from the post-migration and how they were resolved: 

• Code Corp has projects per product and then runs an agile team based on engineering discipline (embedded software, software, electrical, mechanical). Essentially, many boards across multiple projects. Any filters and boards that touched multiple projects did not migrate. However, these required only a few hours to re-create. 
• Boards that crossed multiple projects caused permission issues with sprint managers. A workaround was identified to resolve this. 
• Code Corp wanted to use EazyBI for sprint analytics to get more detail than standard Jira and remove manual data tracking. But, they needed to associate sprints with a specific board to do this. However, the link was broken during the transition due to the board not migrating. A resolution was found by SPK working directly with the third-party marketplace vendor to resolve the problem.
• There were minor access issues, but these were quickly resolved.
• Extra and duplicate users were identified that required additional cleanup. A resolution to break the link to Active Directory for Roles and Groups, and recreation and management within Atlassian tools is being discussed.

Conclusion

Migrations can be complex and challenging. So, it’s important to ensure you have the right expertise on board to minimize your pain points, identify resolutions and keep your business goals a focused priority. 

By outsourcing your complex migrations to a certified Atlassian partner, you can ensure that it runs on time and with the least friction possible. Additionally, it offloads you and your team to focus on the day-to-day operations.

If you need support to successfully migrate your Atlassian infrastructure from on-premises to the cloud, talk with one of our team members about your approach. We’ve completed plenty of migrations globally, and we’re recognized as an Atlassian Gold Solution Partner.

Contact our team here to discuss your migration needs.