We get it. Migrating to the cloud can seem daunting. But it doesn't need to be. Atlassian no longer supports their Server products, so the time to migrate to Atlassian Cloud is now. In this article you'll learn about the 6-step process Praecipio follows and how we've maintained a 100% cloud migration success rate for over 15 years. Check out our full ebook for more detail on the steps and our partnership with Castlight Health.
In the cloud, companies have an increased capability to scale efficiently, increased security, reduced downtime, and several other benefits. You can learn more about why you should be migrating to the cloud in this article. Every Atlassian Cloud Migration is unique, but success is within your reach if you set yourself up for success with a thorough and well-thought-out plan.
1. Assess Your Applications
You will need to perform a deep analysis of your Atlassian applications in the initial phase. In this assess phase, review all of the applications and the add-ons within the applications. You'll need to determine which applications are business-critical, optional, no longer in use, etc. Additionally, you'll need to develop an understanding of how these applications are used.
Not all applications are available in Cloud. The how is essential for determining if there are potential replacements. You don't want to experience any unexpected loss of functionality after the migration. If there are apps that are not yet available in Cloud, research any alternatives and implement these during your testing phase to ensure the functionality is adequate.
Another critical component to the assess phase is carefully considering any external integration. Any external configurations will need to be reconfigured as the base URL will be changed along with how Cloud performs API authentications.
2. Plan for Success
Once your assessment is completed and you have a good understanding of what will be migrated and what will be replaced, it is time to plan the migration. The first step in your planning phase will be deciding if you need Atlassian Access. Atlassian access provided centralized, enterprise-grade security across all Atlassian Cloud products.
If your organization uses a cloud identity provider, Atlassian Access can integrate directly. After the decision for Atlassian Access is determined, you should next set up your "organization" in Cloud. The organization provides the ability to view and manage all of your users in one place and leverage security features such as SAML SSO. Once the organization has been established, verify the company domain. This can be achieved by following the documentation: Verify a Domain to Manage Accounts.
Now that your Cloud site is set up and configured, it is time to choose a migration strategy. You can read this article to learn about 4 Cloud Migration Strategies and their pros and cons.
3. Prepare Your Instance
In the Prep phase, it's important not to cut any corners. Prepping your migration can take weeks to accomplish; however, it's one of the most critical components to a successful migration. Therefore, you'll want to consult with your teams and the key stakeholders of your server instances.
Opening the lines of communication with these users will promote a smooth migration with minimal disruption in their work. After these teams are on board, you will want to check your current server version to ensure you are on a supported version of the server before attempting the migration. Then, with the assessment in hand, begin to clean up any data in the server instance.
In continuing to prepare your Cloud site, install any cloud app that will be used post-migration. Having these apps in place prior to the migration is essential so that the data can be brought over correctly during the migration event. Begin to put together an initial runbook with a step-by-step checklist of all the items that will take place, along with details of each of these steps. Document the estimated time that each step will take as well. The runbook and the timeline may change during the testing phase.
4. Test Everything
In the testing phase, you'll want to have done everything you can to prepare your instance for a successful migration. It will be critical to have a backup of your data. Regardless of any migration strategy chosen, you will want to have a backup of your server instance. Performing rounds of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is vital to a successful migration.
Establish a list of users and teams that will navigate to a "migrated" cloud instance and have these users complete the day-to-day tasks that they would typically complete to do their work as completed. Any uncovered issues should be documented, reviewed, and the solutions added to the runbook. It is recommended that there be several test runs performed until the migration is successful, the runbook is completed, and all UAT users confirm functionality.
Once the tests are completed, prepare any training materials that users will need or find beneficial post-migration. Next, formulate a comprehensive communication plan and begin to execute this plan. Inform your users when this migration will occur, what downtime they can expect, how they can access the new site, how they will sign in, who they can contact in case of any issues, and provide any materials they can review to get acclimated with the Cloud environment.
5. Migrate Your Data
You are now ready for the Migration phase. During this phase, you will fix any last-minute issues and run through your runbook to begin to migrate your users and data. At this stage, be sure to set your server instance in "read-only" to prevent changes made during the migration. Next, perform the migration of the data apps, and begin QA once completed.
6. Launch Your Instance
Finally, the Launch phase. You have successfully migrated to the Cloud, now continue Cloud support and ensure that your users are successful.
Welcome your team to the cloud, communicate to the stakeholders that the migration was successful, be evident in the business decision to move to the Cloud, and provide the materials they will need to succeed in their job function. Set aside office hours to discuss and review any issues your end users may have. Once problems have been resolved or become fewer, you may begin to transition into a maintenance phase versus support.
Atlassian Cloud Migrations are complex, and you can do them yourself. However, we recommend choosing a partner with a history of success and expertise in helping companies like yours migrate to the Atlassian Cloud. Contact us today if you'd like to learn more and get started.
