Atlassian end of Server migration - how much baggage will you take to the Cloud (or DC)?

Migrate lighter and more cost-effectively with fewer Marketplace Apps

 3 minute read - potential savings: 2 X your current annual spend!

Key Points:

• End of Atlassian Server means Cloud or Data Centre (DC) migration inevitable
• Marketplace App prices significantly higher in Cloud and DC than Server renewals (up to 4x!)
• Sum of post-migration App cost could be as high as 2 X your current TOTAL Atlassian bill!!
• Reduce Technical Baggage and save $$$ by investigating for underutilized Apps

Technical Baggage - Marketplace Apps (also known as Plugins)

Let's be clear from the get-go: I'm not denying the utility of Marketplace Apps. The Atlassian App Marketplace is a wonderful feature that sets Atlassian far ahead of the field and there are many teams around the globe working hard to solve real problems by creating Plugins that help you take your Atlassian usage to a new level. BUT. I will always encourage you to review your ROI of each Plugin, especially during a migration and ESPECIALLY when they cost more in the version you are heading to.

Let's dive into an example of a Server instance with 2000 Jira and/or Confluence users and look at how much a few of the common Marketplace Apps will cost.

Example 1: Zephyr for Jira - Test Management

 Here is what the annual costs look like for Zephyr:

• Server renewal: USD $8,500
• Data Centre: USD $19,000
• Cloud Annual: USD $20,550
• Cloud Monthly: USD $24,660

Now, I'm not disputing the utility of Zephyr. You may need to take it with you when you migrate - just know that in Cloud Annual your bill went up nearly 2.5 X.

I commonly come across users where they don't just have 1 plugin, they have 15 or more. For these users, plugins can make up more than 50% of their annual spend in Server... And so how do you think the annual cost projections look post-migration...? Yeh, not great. I've seen annual cost projections reach up to 4 X current annual spend.

Example 2: Gliffy, Tempo Timesheets and Zephyr

Here's a look at Zephyr next to two very common Apps: Gliffy Diagrams and Tempo Timesheets

As you can see, where your Server renewal for these three Plugins used to cost USD $22,566, in Cloud Annual it's gone up to $61,625 - and Cloud Monthly $74,010!!

The challenge is that you cannot always tell if a plugin is still providing value to the organisation. The team of 50 or so users who originally requested plugin, may have since moved on. Not only are you still paying for it now, but on top of that, you are paying for your entire 2000 users and not just for the original 50. Are you really going to bring underutilized plugins to the Cloud??

WHAT DO I DO?!?! Don't bring them with you!

One particularly ruthless strategy is to simply not migrate the majority of the plugins to the Cloud and see who complains. If no one does, you saved yourself a lot of money. If they call and put a good business case forward - then hey, money well spent!

There are far less ruthless ways of doing this also - for example, an experienced user can go through the list and see if there are duplicate or overlapping feature sets or Apps that have become native features of Cloud or DC etc - some investigation works quite well. Zephyr, for example, has a competitor that costs half the price with comparable features - and if you are migrating, then the team will be learning a new interface anyway.

I hope that you seriously look at the technical baggage that you take with you to the Cloud (or DC) - it could save you a lot of $$$ on an already increasing bill.

Have a great start to the year!

Kevin

As always, get in touch for fantastic guidance on your Atlassian tools.