Atlassian Server End-of-Life — So What?

Most of the organizations that use Atlassian solutions, (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, Jira Align, and more) have come to rely on them heavily as core applications, integral to multiple workflows. Moving to a different solution would dramatically alter their tool stack and processes, causing significant disruption.

Which is why it’s puzzling when some of these same organizations don’t seem concerned about the fast-approaching end-of-life for Atlassian Server products.

 

I’m ready to stop putting it off and do something about it NOW

 

If your organization relies heavily on one or more Atlassian tools that are currently running as on-premises Server instances, we can’t stress this enough:

 

**On February 15, 2024 Atlassian will officially stop supporting Server applications. That’s the actual END. It’s been happening in phases since February 2021, but on February 15, 2024, Server will be cut loose.**

 

 

What does Atlassian Server’s End-of-life mean for you?

It’s already been over two years since Atlassian stopped selling new Server licenses and stopped building new features for Server products. So, you’re running applications that haven’t been improved at the code level in years.

In 2022, tier upgrades and downgrades came to an end. So, for over a year, you’ve been running applications that haven’t been able to scale with your ever-changing company.

And, this past February, you lost the ability to purchase new apps to augment and customize the Server solution you rely on every day. Not a problem if your business needs always remain the same, but you know that hasn’t been the case.

But now, we want to focus on the big one: this coming February, 2024. On the 15th of that month, the following changes will occur:

No more technical support

Have you ever called, emailed, or chatted with Atlassian Support representatives regarding a thorny issue or bug that’s impacting how well your Server product functions? Or reached out to get advice on an app or integration that isn’t working quite right?

As of February 15, 2024, you can kiss that helpful privilege goodbye.

You’re on your own.

No more security updates

According to one source, “We have counted 41 incidents in Bitbucket and 53 incidents in Jira mentioned in Atlassian Status” in 2022 alone. And that’s just two of 19 Atlassian tools. Some were minor, but others involved serious issues that could have left your organization vulnerable to threat from bad actors. Fortunately, Atlassian does an excellent job staying on top of these incidents with weekly (or more frequent) security advisories and, as needed, security updates to their applications.

As of February 15, 2024, security updates and advisories will cease for Server products.

You’re on your own.

No more bug fixes for critical vulnerabilities

Taking that a step further, Atlassian pays special attention to vulnerabilities that are discovered and deemed most dangerous or destructive, and they prioritize sending out bug fixes that can immediately mitigate the risk for their customers. This is true whether the impact involves one or a thousand licensees. They take this so seriously, they run the Bug Bounty program to incentivize users to test for and report any bugs they find.

As of February 15, 2024, Atlassian will no longer seek out or fix any more bugs for Server products, even if they spell dangerous vulnerability for users.

You’re on your own.

Are you comfortable taking on all the risk and responsibility that comes with basing your enterprise’s core activities on a software that offers no technical support, and no security protection?

You shouldn’t be.

So what can you do right now?

Now is the time to act. Speak to an Atlassian migration specialist about migrating from your current Server instances to either Data Center or Cloud.

While Cloud is the future for Atlassian, and the best choice for most users at this point, it’s not perfect for everyone. If that includes you, Data Center offers an environment that is very close to what you’re already used to. And, moving to Data Center is a good interim option for enterprises that want to move to Cloud but won’t be able to make the move prior to February.

Cprime is the Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner with the most experience planning and executing migrations from Server to Cloud or Data Center, with hundreds of successful migrations under our belt. We’d love to discuss getting you moved off of Server as soon as possible—you are NOT on your own.