If you haven’t moved to Atlassian Cloud yet, there’s probably a good reason for it. Challenges like complex setups, extensive customization, and stretched resources can make the transition feel overwhelming. That’s exactly why Atlassian and Praecipio are committed to making migrations easier and helping companies see the full value of their cloud investments.
Atlassian recently launched FastShift, a program that marks another important step forward in helping clients migrate to the cloud with confidence. FastShift offers a collaborative way to transition much of your Atlassian product data to the cloud with the support of Atlassian’s rockstar team in a compressed timeframe.
In this article, we walk you through how FastShift works, its pros and cons, and why teaming up with an Atlassian Solution Partner is your best move.
What Is FastShift?
FastShift is an Atlassian cloud migration program that operates as a strategic partnership between the customer and Atlassian. You team up with Atlassian to leverage their support and resources to guide you through a fast-track cloud migration.
FastShift is designed to help migrate core Atlassian products like Jira and Confluence, but it’s not a fully standalone solution. It is purpose-built to help customers move quickly and cost-effectively to the Atlassian Cloud. FastShift is a structured, tool-led approach that prioritizes speed and simplicity and includes direct access to Atlassian experts and a rapid "lift-and-shift" methodology. FastShift gets you started, but you'll need a partner to guide you through the rest of the process.
How Does FastShift Work?
Atlassian’s FastShift program is designed to get you across the migration finish line quickly and efficiently. It’s a “lift-and-shift” model that aims to migrate at least 50% of your production environment within 3-4 months, with dedicated project managers and engineers guiding the process. Plus, priority issue escalation gives you access to senior engineers and even executives, ensuring quick resolutions for critical challenges.
That said, FastShift isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. FastShift prioritizes migrating what JCMA and supported third-party apps can handle first. For any additional app-related or custom integration needs, you’ll likely need the expertise of an Atlassian Solution Partner to ensure a successful transition.
Pros of FastShift
1. Speed That Lives Up to the Hype
FastShift’s name isn’t just for show. Atlassian’s structured approach gets the job done quickly. FastShift focuses on a “lift-and-shift” approach. This means moving data over as-is, skipping the more complex steps that take more time, like optimizing or reconfiguring your systems beforehand.
2. Access to Atlassian’s Best and Brightest
Atlassian goes all in with their support. From white-glove escalation to rapid problem-solving when things don’t go as planned, FastShift ensures you get top-tier technical assistance.
3. Proactive Testing
Atlassian runs proactive tests to catch and fix potential pitfalls, keeping the migration on track so you don’t end up with all your data in limbo. This helps reduce any major issues post-migration.
4. Did We Mention It’s Free?
There’s no cost to join for eligible businesses, which makes FastShift a pretty sweet deal for businesses that could use expert help and don’t want it eating up their budget.
Considerations and Limitations of Fastshift
The program is a great starting point for organizations with large, complex environments, but there are some important things to consider before going all in:
1. It’s Built to Get You Started
Atlassian’s support focuses on migrating core data (Jira and Confluence) and applications with automated migration paths. But anything more complex, like bespoke integrations, highly customized workflows, third-party tools without automated paths, or apps that don’t exist in the cloud, isn’t part of what FastShift offers.
2. No Data Cleanup or Optimization
Because of its “lift-and-shift” nature, FastShift doesn’t clean up or optimize your environment in the cloud. Atlassian moves everything “as is,” meaning you will need help sorting through any duplicate data and outdated workflows after the migration.
3. No Big Picture Energy
The focus of FastShift is speed, not long-term strategy. It’s not about rethinking your workflows, streamlining processes, or tackling long-term cloud optimization.
The Secret Sauce to a Successful Cloud Migration
Complex cloud migrations are a team effort. Having an experienced partner and an Atlassian Technical Account Manager (TAM) collaborate is the secret sauce to making it all work. Neither of us can do it alone, and that’s always been the case with cloud migrations.
Atlassian Solution Partners step in where FastShift leaves off, taking the baton from Atlassian to handle tasks like cleaning up your data, leaving behind the clutter, and managing those tricky third-party apps and custom tools that don’t play nice with cloud instances by default. Also, migration roadblocks are basically a rite of passage, and when this happens, partners step in to fix the mess, reconfigure processes, and find cloud-ready solutions so you don’t have to.
They don’t stop there, though. Partners can rebuild or replace apps and workflows to ensure everything runs smoothly in the cloud. Plus, they bring a long-term strategy to the table, helping you optimize your environment and truly maximize the value of your Atlassian Cloud investment.
The key takeaway? Engage a partner first. A partner like Praecipio can scope out your migration, align it with your business goals, and then work with Atlassian to build a solid plan. This way, you set yourself up for long-term success with an environment that’s 100% tailored to what your business needs. If you're migrating to get to a better, faster, shinier place, then why not make sure you actually thrive in the cloud?
Reach out to Praecipio to learn more about how we can help you set up your cloud environment to support your teams’ success.
