What Does an Atlassian Cloud Migration Cost?

If your organization relies heavily on Jira, Jira Align, or other Atlassian products, you already know that Atlassian’s support for Server products ends February 15, 2024. As a result, thousands of companies just like you are scrambling to arrange their move to Atlassian Cloud or, in some cases, Data Center. (At least, they should be scrambling at this point.)

But, a migration is no small task; IT leaders are rightly concerned about what they can expect from the migration process, and especially, what it’s going to cost. This brief guide will help you figure that out.

What does a cloud migration cost?

It would be irresponsible of us to publish a pricing chart for Atlassian Cloud migrations as if there’s a clear three-tier package arrangement available. There are simply too many factors involved because every single migration is unique.

After completing well over 800 successful migrations, the best we can do in terms of dollars and cents is let you know migration costs range anywhere from $35,000 to over $500,000.

Not much help, is it?

But what that does tell you is

1. This is a significant investment, so it deserves significant attention, and
2. There are a lot of factors that impact the cost—many of which are in your control

What factors go into the price?

As with most services, the smaller and simpler the job, the less it will cost. As size and complexity goes up, so does the price.

So, determining the cost of your migration requires understanding the potential complexity by reviewing the amount of data and number of users you wish to migrate over to the Cloud. Your level of complexity can also impact your timeline, the migration strategy you choose, and the level of support you may need.

Factors that can affect the complexity of your migration include:

• Size: The size of your data, as well as the number of users
• Apps: The number of critical apps you have, whether they’re available in the cloud (or have alternatives), and if they have migration pathways
• Customization: Custom fields, non-Atlassian integrations, custom apps, and unusual data shapes
• Number of Products: The more products you have to migrate, the more complex your   migration will be. For example, a Jira Software only migration is simpler than migrating both Jira Software and Jira Service Management.
• Consolidation and Federation: If you’re consolidating multiple sites, rather than simply migrating into a new site, this will increase complexity as data, apps, and users need to be reconciled. Similarly, federating, or splitting, sites, or choosing to host data in both Cloud and Data Center instances can increase complexity in the migration process.

What can you do to save money?

While most of the above factors seem set in stone, there are actually a lot of things you can do to make things simpler—and therefore less expensive—before completing your migration. These suggestions will help you avoid costly trial-and-error, and ensure you end up with a streamlined Cloud instance that is as simple and cost-effective as possible.

• Work with a partner: A major migration is a huge job; the best way to ensure you’re getting it right the first time—and getting the most bang for your buck—is to work with an experienced migration expert who’s been there and done that. Plus, Atlassian partners can often offer significant discounts on licensing, or on the migration service itself.
• Start with a thorough assessment: Your first step should always be a thorough assessment of your current setup and a rundown of how you want your cloud setup to look and function. This will help you identify any gaps or potential problems and formulate an action plan to tackle the migration efficiently.
• Handle your cleanup and prep work: Prior to actually migrating your data and configurations, taking the time to clean up any inactive or duplicate users, unnecessary data, and unused applications or integrations will save you time and money. Identifying these cost-saving opportunities is a valuable result of that initial assessment.
• Training and enablement: Another issue surrounding the migration that can end up costing a lot of time and money is the errors and loss of productivity that can come with jumping into a new system if your staff hasn’t been trained properly. Consider effective training, enablement, and change management to be an investment in the future success of your migration.

Cprime can help

As a Platinum Solutions Partner with Cloud specialization, Cprime’s dedicated team of experts have completed over 800 successful migrations to date. Our goal is to ensure you end up with the optimal Atlassian tool stack setup, which includes the most cost-effective migration arrangements.

Learn more by downloading our whitepaper, The Mechanics of an Atlassian Cloud Migration. Or, if you’re ready to explore the first step, speak to an expert about performing your Cloud Migration Impact Assessment.

Pavel Fomin, Director of Engineering, Cloud Migrations