Key Challenges & Context: Moving to Jira Cloud Without Disrupting Ongoing Work
Our client relied on Jira to support 100 users across 40 projects and more than 3,000 tickets. Moving this environment to Jira Cloud meant more than transferring data. The migration had to protect ongoing projects, preserve service quality, and keep disruption to an absolute minimum.
The team was also looking to reduce the operational burden associated with its existing infrastructure. IT resources needed to be redirected toward more strategic priorities, while security, compliance, user provisioning, and access management had to remain under control throughout the move.
The main challenges were clear:
- Keep interruptions and downtime as low as possible.
- Maintain the quality and integrity of the Jira environment during migration.
- Strengthen security and meet compliance requirements.
- Simplify user provisioning and Single Sign-On (SSO).
- Protect ongoing projects from unnecessary disruption.
- Move infrastructure costs and IT resources toward higher-value priorities.
With one plugin, thousands of tickets, and dozens of active projects involved, a poorly controlled migration could have affected users and day-to-day operations. The client therefore needed a carefully planned migration strategy, with risks identified before the move and clear checkpoints throughout the process.
The source material does not indicate that the client had previously attempted another migration. The challenge was instead to make the move to Jira Cloud safely the first time, without compromising business continuity.
Our Approach: Planning the Migration Around Business Continuity
The client could not afford a disruptive move to Jira Cloud. Their environment supported 100 users, 40 projects, and more than 3,000 tickets. Our priority was therefore to control risk while keeping ongoing work moving.
Rather than treating the migration as a simple technical transfer, we planned each stage around the client’s existing environment, users, and operational constraints.
1. Audited the existing Jira environment
We started with a detailed audit of the current instance. This gave us a clear view of its configuration, workload, users, projects, and dependencies.
We also assessed the migration workload and identified risks before any data moved. This early work helped us build a migration strategy suited to the client’s specific Jira setup.
2. Prepared the environment before migration
Moving unnecessary complexity into the Cloud would have created avoidable work. We therefore cleaned up the platform, not only user accounts, and advised the client on the most appropriate licensing setup.
We also supported the connection between the client’s Active Directory and the future Cloud instance. This prepared the foundation for simpler user provisioning and Single Sign-On after migration. It also brings a significantly higher level of security to user management, with access centrally controlled through the client’s existing directory.
3. Built a migration runbook around the main risks
Business continuity was one of the client’s biggest concerns. We created a dedicated Migration Runbook that documented actions and points of attention for each stage.
This gave both teams a shared framework for managing the migration. Weekly meetings with the client also kept decisions, risks, and progress visible throughout the project.
4. Tested before committing to production
We did not rely on a single migration attempt. The team ran several migration test iterations before moving into User Acceptance Testing and pre-production testing.
When technical issues appeared, we coordinated directly with Atlassian and Xray support to resolve them before go-live. This reduced uncertainty around the client’s plugin and Jira configuration.
5. Supported the client through go-live
Once testing was complete, we moved the environment into production and remained involved during the hypercare phase.
This structured preparation helped limit downtime to just four hours after go-live while protecting the quality of the migrated environment.
Benefits: A Controlled Migration With Only Four Hours of Downtime
The migration gave the client a Jira Cloud environment designed to reduce infrastructure overhead while improving security, access management, and collaboration. Most importantly, the transition was completed without creating major disruption for the teams relying on Jira every day.
The strongest measurable result was business continuity. Despite migrating an environment supporting 100 users, 40 projects, more than 3,000 tickets, and one plugin, downtime was limited to just four hours after go-live.
The client also gained several operational benefits:
- Infrastructure and service costs could be redirected toward more strategic priorities. Moving to the Cloud also removed much of the effort previously spent maintaining the platform and running version upgrades.
- Security and compliance capabilities became part of the Cloud environment.
- User provisioning and Single Sign-On became simpler to manage.
- The migration maintained the quality of the Jira environment between instances.
- Teams benefited from better collaboration and more efficient day-to-day operations.
The result was more than a successful technical migration. The client moved a business-critical Jira environment to the Cloud while keeping disruption under control and creating a simpler foundation for its teams to manage going forward.
Ready to Plan Your Cloud Migration?
If you are considering a Jira Cloud migration and need to reduce risk, downtime, and disruption, we can help you plan the move with confidence.
