Merging Atlassian Tools in Your Post-Integration IT Strategy

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are exciting for growth, but they come with challenges, especially when it comes to IT integration. One of the most critical aspects of post-merger integration (PMI) is the alignment of digital tools, systems, and processes. When you’ve got two sets of systems, digital tools, and processes clashing, it’s a mess waiting to happen. And if you’re running Atlassian tools like Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket, it’s mission-critical to get it right. Efficiently merging these tools after a merger is key to unlocking value and avoiding disruptions.

We’re breaking down how to merge Atlassian tools as part of a broader post-integration IT strategy. You’ll get best practices to make sure your organization benefits from a unified, efficient IT landscape– without the chaos of a complex migration.

1. How to Nail Post-Merger Integration

What is Post-Merger Integration (PMI)?

Post-Merger Integration (PMI) is the process of combining two or more organizations into a single, cohesive entity. This involves integrating various aspects such as IT systems, processes, and company cultures to ensure a smooth transition. The goal is to maximize the value of the merged company while minimizing disruptions. A successful PMI requires meticulous planning, execution, and management to ensure the new entity operates efficiently and effectively. Think of it as harmonizing a symphony in which every instrument must play in sync to create beautiful music.

Importance of Post-Merger Integration for Businesses

Before getting lost in the details of merging (or separating) Jira or Confluence instances, let’s step back. An IT strategy post-merger isn’t just about merging systems—it’s about aligning technology, workflows, and, more importantly, people. If your teams can’t function smoothly together, the whole merger can go off the rails.

Enterprise architecture plays a vital role here, helping you streamline your IT landscape while improving collaboration. By integrating systems, simplifying tools, and enhancing decision-making, you set the stage for a successful PMI.

• Integrate IT Systems and Processes: Reducing complexity and improving scalability by streamlining IT systems.
• Harmonize Business Operations: Enhancing productivity and efficiency by aligning business processes.
• Retain Talent and Minimize Disruption: Ensuring a smooth transition for employees and maintaining customer satisfaction.
• Realize Synergies and Cost Savings: Achieving cost efficiencies and improving the bottom line.
• Enhance Competitiveness and Market Position: Strengthening the company’s position in the market.

By focusing on these areas, businesses can ensure a smooth transition and unlock the merger's full potential.

Related: Building A Strong ITSM Foundation for Pharmaceutical Companies

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2. Why You Need a Post-Integration IT Strategy

Without a strategy, some organizations take years to fully integrate IT systems after a merger or acquisition, resulting in chaos and frustration in every department. Managing disparate systems creates technical debt, security risks, siloed work, and communication breakdowns between technical teams and leadership.  This results in lost revenue and costly staff turnover. An efficient integration strategy mitigates these risks and allows teams to get back to the work that matters most. 

Take 3E, for example. They were facing the same post-merger chaos; siloed systems and misaligned teams. By integrating Jira for project tracking, Confluence for documentation, and Bitbucket for code repositories, they built workflows that foster collaboration and innovation across the board.

A strong post-integration strategy focuses on:

• System unification: Streamlining tools and infrastructure to cut redundancies.
• Operational continuity: No downtime, no disruption to daily work.
• Data integrity and security: Protect sensitive data during migration.
• Scalability: Set up a flexible infrastructure for future growth.

Want to see how this works in real life? 3E’s case study shows how seamless integration drives efficiency.

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3. Conduct an Atlassian Audit to Understand the Full Picture

Before you can successfully merge your Atlassian tools, you need to figure out what you’re working with. How are Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket used in each organization? How many instances are there? Are there other project management and Enterprise Service management tools in use? What overlaps, gaps or custom setups could complicate things? An audit is the first step to make sure you know exactly where to focus your efforts.

Here’s how you do it:

• Evaluate workflows: How does each team use Atlassian tools? Check for differences in Jira workflows, especially across teams.
• Identify redundant projects or repositories: Cut the extra weight. Find overlapping projects and repositories, and consolidate where you can.
• Check for tool sprawl: Catalog software that serves a similar function and decide which solutions to keep and which solution to replace. 
• Assess permissions and security levels: Make sure security settings and permissions align. Misaligned access can lead to breaches or data chaos during integration.
• Prepare pre-migration checklists: Ensure readiness for migration by creating detailed pre-migration checklists (or use Praecipio’s Mergers & Acquisitions checklist and Jira project) for platforms like Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket Server or Data Center.

When you’re done, you’ll have a clear picture of where things stand, guiding your consolidation strategy.

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4. Merging Jira Instances to Keep Projects Rolling

Jira is the backbone of many teams’ project management processes, particularly in agile environments. When merging Jira instances from two organizations, you need to ensure that project tracking remains uninterrupted and that teams can continue their sprints and workflows with minimal disruption.

Steps to Merge Jira Instances:

1. Export and clean up data: Get everything ready for migration and clean out the junk—old projects, unnecessary custom fields, and outdated workflows.
2. Standardize workflows and schemes: Standardize workflows, issue types, and permission schemes across teams. This way, nobody’s confused when collaborating across projects.
3. Consolidate projects: If there are similar projects in both organizations, consolidate. For example, if both were building similar products, merging those projects in Jira will improve coordination.
4. Choose between Jira Cloud or Data Center: Jira Cloud offers easy management and scaling, but if you need more control, Jira Data Center may be your best bet.

Key Considerations:

• User Permissions: Post-merger, teams may have different access levels. Harmonize those to avoid friction.
• Data Integrity: Make sure nothing is lost in the transition. Prioritize UAT to confirm all data is intact and the tools function properly for users. 
• Test Migration: Conduct a test migration to estimate downtime, validate data integrity, and identify any potential bugs before the actual migration.

For inspiration, check out how a leading satellite TV and entertainment company handled its Jira consolidation and enterprise visibility post-merger.

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5. Merging Confluence: Your Knowledge Base Needs to Work

Confluence is your knowledge-sharing hub, and keeping documentation accessible after a merger is critical. Merging two Confluence instances requires careful planning to avoid duplicate content while ensuring that all teams can easily access and contribute to shared knowledge.

Steps to Merge Confluence:

1. Consolidate spaces: Preserve key spaces and archive outdated or redundant content.
2. Standardize templates and formatting: Get everyone to use the same templates. It’ll make documentation consistent and easier to manage.
3. Reorganize the space hierarchy: Reflect the new organization structure. Keep critical spaces easy to access.
4. Set up unified search: Streamline search across multiple Confluence instances so users can find what they need fast.

Key Considerations:

• Permissions: Permissions can get tricky in Confluence with space admins and page-level access. Align these with the new organization’s needs.
• Documentation consistency: Get teams on board with a unified approach to managing docs.
• Migration assistant: Utilize a migration assistant to help seamlessly merge Confluence instances, ensuring data integrity and providing step-by-step guidance.

Need help? The Confluence migration assistant is a great tool for ensuring seamless data merging.

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6. Bitbucket Repository Integration: Avoid Dev Disruptions

For dev teams, Bitbucket is the source code command center. Merging Bitbucket instances takes careful planning, so you don’t disrupt development cycles leading to a better developer experience.

Steps to Merge Bitbucket Repositories:

1. Consolidate repositories: Identify and merge redundant repos with similar codebases or projects.
2. Standardize repo structures: Align repo naming conventions and branching strategies.
3. Migrate to Bitbucket Cloud or Data Center: Choose based on your scale. Cloud is easier to manage, but Data Center offers more control.
4. Implement CI/CD Pipelines: Post-merger, continuous integration, and deployment need to sync up.

Key Considerations:

• Branching strategies: Align strategies used by both companies (e.g., Gitflow or trunk-based development).
• Access controls: Secure intellectual property by setting proper access controls.
• Cloud instance preparation: Accurately list apps and users that need to be migrated. Identify critical applications available in the Cloud and prepare user access before initiating the migration process.

Check out our guide for more on whether to merge or separate instances during a cloud migration.

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7. Data Security and Compliance: Protect What Matters

Merging two companies' IT systems can introduce significant security and compliance risks, especially when handling sensitive customer data or proprietary information. As you merge Atlassian tools, it’s crucial to ensure that security policies, user access controls, and compliance protocols are rigorously followed.

• Unified access controls: Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to assign permissions based on job functions.
• Data compliance: Make sure your systems meet regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, or SOX. This could involve encrypting sensitive data, setting up audit trails, or ensuring compliance requirements are met without merging, where necessary. Keep sensitive data secure and separate if required to maintain compliance.

Want to make sure your data stays safe? Atlassian’s security practices offer a robust solution.

8. Training & Change Management: It’s Not Just About The Tools

You can have the best tech, but if your people aren’t on board, it won’t work. Change management and employee training ensure your teams are ready to embrace the new tools and workflows, especially during an Atlassian Cloud Migration.

Having a clear migration process is crucial to ensure a smooth transition and minimize disruptions.

• Employee Training & Enablement Programs: Offer sessions so teams understand the new Atlassian tools and workflows.
• Change Management: Keep communication flowing with regular updates and support to reduce confusion. Having a migration timeline helps in planning and executing the transition efficiently.

A successful migration not only enhances operational efficiency and security but also enables organizations to leverage cloud advantages while minimizing disruptions and resource strain on their teams.

9. Cloud Migration & Atlassian Cloud

Benefits of Cloud Migration for IT Integration

Cloud migration is a pivotal component of IT integration, especially during mergers and acquisitions. Moving to Atlassian Cloud offers a plethora of benefits that can streamline the integration process and enhance operational efficiency. Here’s how:

• Unified Atlassian Ecosystem: Consolidate Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket instances into a single, cohesive ecosystem. This enhances collaboration and productivity by providing a unified platform for all teams.
• Simplified IT Infrastructure: Reduce the complexity and costs associated with maintaining on-premise infrastructure. This allows IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine maintenance.
• Improved Scalability: Easily scale IT resources up or down to meet changing business needs. This flexibility ensures that the merged entity can quickly adapt to new opportunities and challenges.
• Enhanced Security: Leverage Atlassian Cloud’s robust security features, including encryption, access controls, and compliance certifications. This ensures that sensitive data is protected and regulatory requirements are met.
• Faster Time-to-Value: Accelerate the integration process, reducing the time and effort required to realize synergies and cost savings. This means the merged entity can start reaping the benefits sooner.

By migrating to Atlassian Cloud, organizations can streamline their IT integration, improve collaboration, and enhance operational efficiency, ultimately driving business success. Learn more about whether to merge or separate instances during a cloud migration.

Building a Unified Atlassian Ecosystem

Merging Atlassian tools like Jira, Confluence, and Bitbucket isn’t just about avoiding chaos—it’s about setting up an ecosystem that lets teams collaborate, innovate, and drive value from day one. By following these steps, you’ll ensure your IT systems are aligned, continuity is maintained, and your merger realizes its full potential.

Selecting an appropriate migration method is crucial. Assessing factors such as complexity, compliance, and user numbers will help determine the best strategy, and engaging with a third-party solution partner may be beneficial for complex migrations.

Careful planning, clear communication, and the right mix of tech and people are what it takes to build that ecosystem. Looking for more guidance? Check out our M&A IT checklist to stay on track.