Audit apps for your migration to Cloud

It's important to understand the apps you currently use before developing your app migration plan. Auditing your apps is a good approach to help you do this and determine what course of action to take for your migration.

This page explains strategies and tools that you can use to practice, research, and improve your app audit and develop your migration strategy. At the end of this page, you’ll also find more information about Atlassian's guides to migrating to Cloud, and using the Cloud Migration Assistants.

How to begin

Your migration will be more successful if you take time to research what apps you currently use, evaluate which apps are critical and decide which apps you may or may not need in Cloud.

Identify all your current apps

You’ll first need to find out:

• which apps you have currently installed in Server or Data Center

• the cost of each app

You can do this by:

• using the Cloud Migration Assistant (if installed), or

• manually identify apps through your admin settings.

The table below explains these options.

Identify apps you use

As you continue auditing your apps, you'll want to find out which ones are actually used, and which aren't. Below are some common strategies to identify if and how your apps are used.

Use ‘App Usage for Jira’ for app usage assessments

App assessment is easier when you have clear insights about how your apps are used. To help provide you with this capability, JCMA prompts you to install and use the App Usage for Jira app to get detailed information on how your apps being used in Jira.

What you’ll need to do

To view your app usage data:

After you’ve installed App Usage for Jira, the app begins to assess the usage of apps installed on your instance. Ensure that you’ve refreshed the screen after App Usage for Jira’s install is complete.

1. Return to the ‘Assess your apps’ screen of the Cloud Migration Assistant. The screen displays a new App usage column.

2. Select Usage details for an app, and view the app’s usage details within the Administration > Manage apps tab.
   
   

Troubleshooting

• Not seeing the new ‘App usage’ column on the ‘Assess your apps’ screen?
  
  

  • Check that you’ve installed App usage for Jira.

  • Ensure that App usage for Jira app is enabled. You can verify this within Administration > Manage apps.
    
    

• The ‘Usage details’ link is disabled for an app?
  
  

  • Ensure that the respective app is enabled. You can verify this within Administration > Manage apps.
    
    

• Want to know more about the App usage for Jira app?
  
  

  • Get detailed information about using App usage for Jira.

Determine apps you need in Cloud

Once you have a list of your current apps and an understanding of how they're being used, it's time to decide the apps you need, and those that aren’t needed. It's common to find that not all of your apps are being used, or that even those being used are not mission-critical.

Even when apps are being used heavily, many customers choose to use a migration as a chance to clean up. For example, you may want to simplify things like overly complicated workflows in Jira. App audits provide Server admins a great opportunity to make people aware of the problem, ask questions, and give them the opportunity to decide if they want to keep everything or consider alternatives.

In some cases, the features offered by Server apps are either not needed in Cloud or are already available as features in our Cloud products.

Compare your Cloud and Server apps

Starting with your essential apps, determine if each offers a cloud equivalent, and assess feature parity. Below are some common questions you may have as you complete your comparison.

Assess app privacy and security postures

Marketplace Partners (app vendors) are accountable for app data security in Cloud. For this reason, it is important that you contact your individual Marketplace Partners while auditing and assessing your apps, to determine if their Cloud app meets your security, privacy, reliability, legal and compliance standards.

To begin assisting you with this assessment:

• Atlassian’s Marketplace trust programs provide signals to identify the trust postures of apps in Cloud.

• Atlassian has also implemented strict requirements for every app listed in the Atlassian Marketplace. Third-party apps are expected to comply with industry aligned security self-assessment, and GDPR and European regulations on data and privacy.

• The Cloud Fortified Apps program can help you find Atlassian Marketplace Cloud apps with advanced security, reliability and support.

• Atlassian provides a ‘Cloud Security Participant’ badge in the Atlassian Marketplace listing for apps that have chosen to participate in Atlassian’s public bug bounty program, and are tested by security researchers.

Learn more about app security in the Cloud migration guide

Decide which apps to migrate

After completing your audit, you should have a good understanding of your current app landscape and what your options are for moving them to Cloud. Now it's time to review your audit with stakeholders and decide what to do going forward. Again, we recommend starting by determining what's essential, what isn't, and prioritising from there.

Help your team understand the following:

• Which apps and functionality will be available in Cloud after you migrate, and what does this mean for the day-to-day work of the team?

• How does your app migration timeline fir into Atlassian discontinuing selling server licenses? Learn more about server licenses

Keep in mind as you evaluate that you may also have custom apps or integrations to consider. In most cases, the same guidance will apply. 

What happens after auditing apps

Below are the two processes we recommend after auditing your apps.

Decide on your app migration strategy

The two most common app migration strategies are selective migration and clean slate migration.

Selective migration

Migrating to Cloud gives you the chance to simplify and remove apps from Server instances that have grown organically, were acquired by acquisition, or that lacked strong app governance. This approach involves using the audit process outlined in this guide to: 

• work out which Server apps are needed in Cloud 

• determine the migration paths available

• migrate app data to the Cloud app, leaving anything you don't need

Clean slate migration

Instead of first auditing your apps, you may choose to remove all of your apps when migrating to Cloud, and then adding apps you need in Cloud after you migrate. You might consider this if:

• you have a Server instance that you'd like to simplify in Cloud, or

• if you only have a few non-critical apps. 

Develop your app migration plan

After you've decided on the apps and functionality to migrate, you'll need to develop your app migration plan and consider the recommendations in this section.

Help Atlassian prepare your Marketplace Partners

After you’ve started assessing your apps in the Cloud Migration Assistant, Atlassian can help prepare your Marketplace Partners (app vendors) for your app migration.

If you’ve marked at least 1 app as Needed in Cloud on the ‘Assess your apps’ screen, the Cloud Migration Assistant homepage displays an option as shown in the screenshot that follows. This feature allows Atlassian to help prepare your Marketplace Partners (app vendors) for your app migration.

Marketplace Partners can support your app migration better when they know more about your migration plans, the decisions you’ve made in the Cloud Migration Assistant, and the information you provide Atlassian support.

What gets shared with Marketplace Partners

By allowing Atlassian to share relevant information with your Marketplace Partners, you can help us prepare them for your app migration. As part of this initiative, we’ll be sharing only relevant details related to your planned migration as listed below:

• Details from the Cloud Migration Assistant, that’s limited to:

  • whether you’ve marked the Marketplace Partner’s app as Needed in Cloud in the ‘Assess your apps’ screen

  • the app version you’ve installed

• Information about your migration plans as provided in your support ticket raised via support.atlassian.com, that’s limited to the following:

  • your customer domain

  • the Atlassian Server or Data Center products you’re planning to migrate (Confluence / Jira Software / Jira Service Management)

  • the number of users you’re planning to migrate

  • the date by when you plan to complete the migration

  • your current migration phase (assess, plan, test, migration or post-migration)

  • your solution partner (if applicable)

• Metadata related to specific app usage

  • This refers to information about your use of certain apps. It will not include your actual in-product data. Marketplace Partners may request this metadata to proactively identify and address potential migration issues. The specific metadata collected can vary depending on the app in use.

  • Examples: This can include details such as the total number of objects or attachments within your instance.

Inform your Marketplace Partners

After completing your app assessment in the Cloud Migration Assistant, the next important step is to inform individual Marketplace Partners / app vendors of your migration decision. More specifically, ensure that you have contacted the Marketplace Partners of all the apps that you’ve marked as ‘Needed in Cloud’ in the Assess your apps screen of the Cloud Migration Assistant.

Informing Marketplace Partners early about your intention to migrate their app helps them to understand, plan, schedule and prepare for the size and complexity of your app migration.

Provide the Marketplace Partner with:

• your planned migration schedule (including updates about changes to your migration plans)

• security considerations

• the level of support you require, and

• any other app specifics that would be valuable for them to know before you continue to install, test and migrate the app to Cloud.

The migration of app data is highly dependent on the Marketplace Partner (vendors/app developers) of each app, as they will need to provide a migration path to move app data to cloud. We recommend you work with Marketplace Partners of the apps you intend to migrate to review their documentation and determine the best way to migrate each app.

Apps do not need to be disabled or uninstalled from Server before migrating. If your apps are still active when the migration occurs, the migration will still be successful.

Learn more in the Cloud migration guide

Frequently asked questions

How can I tell if Server and Cloud apps offer the same features?
The best place to start is by looking at your Server apps to see if they have a comparable version for Cloud. Keep in mind that like Atlassian's products, Cloud apps can differ in features and functionality from the Server version, so you'll want to check that the Cloud version has the primary features you need.

You can do all of this using the app assessment feature in the Cloud Migration Assistants if you have them installed on your Server.

We also recommend carefully reviewing the Marketplace listing for each app, and contacting the Marketplace Partner with any questions.

What if an app isn't available in Cloud?
There are a few things you can do if the app you need isn't available in Cloud. You can:

• Contact the Marketplace Partner (vendor): Reach out to the Marketplace Partner to see if they're currently working on a Cloud version. It may be possible that they're planning to release one soon, in which case you'll want to find out what functionality it will offer and what their timelines are. 

• Research alternatives:

  • Check the list of alternative apps you could switch to. Learn more about Cloud alternatives to Server and Data Center apps

  • See if there are similar apps available in Marketplace.

• Look up alternatives in the CMA: If you are using the Cloud Migration Assistant, apps that you select Choose alternative option will automatically show you Marketplace alternatives in the next screen. It's important to understand that these are not recommended by Atlassian, and are selected based on similarity in functionality.

• Decide not to migrate the app: If the app isn't essential or isn’t being used, you may choose not to migrate the app.
  
  

Why can’t I see my app on the app assessment screen?

Your app might already be included as a feature in Confluence Cloud Premium and Enterprise.

How can I compare pricing between Server and Cloud?

1. For each app, check the pricing tab on the Marketplace listing to see if there's a Cloud equivalent and calculate Cloud costs.

2. If your app doesn't have a Cloud version, review alternative apps and pricing information. Keep in mind there may be multiple alternatives to consider.

3. Record costs for Server and Cloud in our app audit template to compare pricing. Learn more about the app audit template
   
   

How can I test apps in Cloud to see if they have what we need?
You can test the apps you need in Cloud by starting a free app trial on your test Cloud instance. Your testing options include any of the following:

• a free migration trial

• a Standard 7 day trial (this will revert to a Free plan after the trial)

• a Free plan, with a maximum of 10 users (recommended for small teams)

Learn more about testing your migration

More information

We have a number of channels available to help you with your migration:

• for migration planning information, visit the Atlassian Migration Program website

• for technical issues or support with strategy and best practices, get in touch with our support team

• for peer advice, ask the Atlassian Community

• for expert guidance, work with an Atlassian Partner