If you’re an Atlassian Jira or Confluence customer, there is a critical transition in store for you. Atlassian has announced the end of life for its Data Centre products, notably Jira, Confluence, JSM, and Bamboo. The Data Centre end of life will come into full effect on March 28, 2029 at 23:59 PST. Atlassian states that a slow transition will begin from March 30, 2026, at 23:59 PST, and will occur in stages across the three-year period.

But why retire the Data Centre? According to Atlassian, their latest decision is driven by a strategic goal — to enable customers to move towards a fully cloud-based future that accommodates AI, automation, business scalability, and flexibility.

Here’s the timeline of the most significant changes announced by Atlassian:

• March 30, 2026: New Data Centre subscriptions and marketplace apps will no longer be available for new customers.
• March 30, 2028: This is the last date for existing customers to purchase new licenses, apps, or expansions for the Data Centre.
• March 28, 2029: The final end-of-life date. All Data Centre subscriptions and associated apps will expire, and the products will become read-only. Technical support and security bug fixes will cease.

As Atlassian’s leading Gold Solution and Implementation Partner in Australia and the United States, Corptec understands that our customers would require guidance during this transition. Below, our experts answer the most common questions asked by our clients:

1. What does Data Centre End of Life mean? It means that after March 28, 2029, your Data Centre products and apps will become read-only. You would still have access to your data; however, you will not be able to add any new data or request any technical support. We, therefore, recommend backing up your data with our partner HYCU’s data backup-as-a-service platform to prevent any data loss.

2. Which products will be affected by Atlassian Data Centre End of Life? Atlassian Data Centre End of Life applies to Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Confluence, Bamboo, Crowd, and Data Centre mobile apps. (Please note that Jira Align Data Centre and Bitbucket Data Centre are currently not included in this End-of-Life announcement. Existing Bitbucket Data Centre customers will gain access to a Bitbucket Hybrid License, which will allow them to use both Data Centre and Cloud versions).

3. Why are these changes being made? At present, Atlassian is focusing its full attention on its cloud platform, which offers greater scalability, security, compliance, and innovation that a Data Centre can’t match. The company believes the cloud is better equipped to support the modern demands of teamwork and efficiency, particularly in the era of AI. As Atlassian states, the cloud offers a powerful combination of unified data, interconnected products, and enhanced security, which has enabled many of our customers to deliver value up to 80% faster and achieve a return on investment of up to 300% by consolidating solutions. Moreover, 99% of Atlassian customers are already using or in the process of moving to the cloud. This makes it a more viable option in comparison to the Data Centre.

4. How long will customers have to migrate? You’ll have a three-year transition window starting from March 2026. This will give you ample time to prepare and execute a phased migration.

5. How can Corptec/Atlassian customers prepare for this change? We recommend that you reach out to Corptec or your company’s Atlassian account manager to discuss your options and create a plan for migration.

6. What’s on Atlassian’s roadmap for the cloud? Atlassian is continuously adding to its cloud roadmap to meet the needs of even the most complex and regulated organisations. They are committed to providing an ‘Atlassian government cloud’ in the near future to address compliance requirements like FedRAMP.

How Will Atlassian Data Centre End of Life Impact Your Organisation?

The Atlassian Data Centre retirement is likely to have the following implications on your business workflows:

1. Governance Impact

One of the first areas that your organisation will need to address is data governance, security, and compliance. Moving to the Atlassian Cloud requires a careful review of your data residency needs, industry-specific regulatory requirements, and internal compliance controls. These should be validated for the cloud to minimise the risk of data loss. For organisations in regulated sectors, this step is critical to ensure that cloud migration does not create legal or security gaps.

Related: Learn what the causes of data loss are and how you can ensure optimal cloud data backup and recovery with HYCU in this blog.

2. Technical Impact

The Atlassian Data Centre End of Life also involves significant technical impact. Your IT teams would need to evaluate whether existing apps and add-ons are supported in the Cloud or not, and consider alternatives where compatibility is an issue. Custom workflows, third-party integrations, CI/CD pipelines, and identity management systems such as SSO and IdP must be reviewed — and in some cases, reconfigured for cloud compatibility.

3. Cost Impact

From a cost perspective, the financial model changes. Instead of Data Centre licenses and infrastructure investments, an Atlassian Cloud migration introduces subscription-based (OPEX) costs. Depending on your scale, app consolidation, and available discounts, the total cost of ownership may increase or decrease. Careful cost modelling during this transition phase is essential to avoid surprises.

4. Operational Impact

An Atlassian Cloud migration would definitely demand substantial operational effort. This includes taking inventory of your current systems, running pilot projects, carrying out the migration in phases, conducting thorough testing, training end users, and finally decommissioning your Data Centre environments. Each step requires planning and dedicated resources. Alternatively, you could reach out to your preferred Atlassian Solution partner for support, training, ad hoc consulting, and managed services.

5. Business Impact

As beneficial as it may be for your organisation to upgrade to the Cloud, there are inherent risks to consider as well. A cloud migration project can expose your business to application downtime or lead to feature parity gaps. You may also experience challenges in migrating marketplace add-ons that lack cloud equivalents. These risks must be managed with proper contingency and rollback plans.

6. Time Impact

Finally, there is the matter of timing. Atlassian has provided a three-year transition period to customers, beginning in March 2026. While this may sound generous, it is not unlimited. We recommend that you start planning early to avoid last-minute, Atlassian data centre end-of-life rush and gaps in marketplace support. A proactive approach will also help prevent the risk of being forced into an accelerated cutover as the end-of-life date approaches.

Your Action Plan: Suggested 3-Year Atlassian Cloud Migration Roadmap

We understand that the upcoming end of Atlassian’s Data Centre in 2029 is a significant change. But Atlassian has provided a three-year transition period starting March 30, 2026, so that customers have sufficient time to prepare. This phased approach will allow you to plan carefully, test your environments, and minimise business disruption. And while every business will have its own priorities and calendar, we would like to suggest a high-level roadmap to help our customers transition to the Atlassian Cloud with confidence:

2026 (Q2 – Q3)

• Take inventory of your Atlassian environment
• Align key stakeholders on both your business goals and potential risks
• Run initial cost and compliance assessments
• Register for Corptec-Atlassian-HYCU partner resources, newsletters, and webinars to stay ahead

2026 (Q4) – 2027 (Q1 – Q2)

• Launch a proof of concept by migrating a low-risk instance
• Test marketplace app/plugin compatibility
• Validate compliance and security controls in the Cloud environment

2027 (Q3 – Q4) – 2028 (Q1 – Q2)

• Move non-critical projects and teams to the Atlassian Cloud
• Address integration or performance challenges early
• Refine your internal migration playbook for scale

2028 (Q3 – Q4) – 2029 (Q1 – Q2)

• Begin migrating core and business-critical workloads
• Run parallel operations where needed
• Complete data validation, user training, and adoption programs

2029 (Q3) (before 28 March 2029)

• Execute final migrations and cutovers
• Decommission your Atlassian Data Centre infrastructure
• Confirm rollback plans and complete readiness checks

Note: This roadmap is only a suggested phased migration approach to reduce any risk, spread out costs, and ensure smoother cloud adoption within your company. Make sure to adjust the suggested timelines to your business calendar and risk appetite.

Data Centre End of Life: Is Migrating to the Atlassian Cloud Truly the Smarter Choice?

When Atlassian first introduced Jira and Confluence Cloud in 2011, it marked the beginning of a long-term investment in building a secure, scalable, and future-ready platform. Over the years, Atlassian has poured resources into strengthening the Atlassian Cloud with enterprise-grade compliance, performance, and innovation. Today, as industries are reshaped by AI, automation, and growing demands for speed, Atlassian’s strategic shift away from its Data Centres makes one thing clear: the future is in the Cloud.

Let’s look at what makes the Cloud a smarter option over the Atlassian Data Centre:

1. Enterprise-grade scale and security

Atlassian has doubled down on compliance standards, data residency, and flexible deployment options, making the Atlassian Cloud a strong fit, even for highly regulated sectors like finance, healthcare, and government.

2. Widespread adoption

Already, 75% of enterprises and regulated organisations have embraced the Atlassian Cloud. 99% of all Atlassian customers are either there or actively planning their migration. This is no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.

3. Proven ROI and efficiency gains

Companies that migrate to the Atlassian Cloud report up to 300% ROI—largely gained from consolidating tools, reducing infrastructure spend, and streamlining operations. Teams deliver value up to 80% faster—this helps cut down project timelines and unlock measurable business outcomes.

4. Resilient infrastructure

With the Atlassian Cloud, performance, availability, and disaster recovery are managed by Atlassian (as mentioned in their Shared Responsibility Model*). This helps free IT teams from server patching, upgrades, and downtime risk.

*The Shared Responsibilities Model states that while Atlassian is responsible for ensuring the security, compliance and reliability of the applications, the systems they run on and the environment those systems are hosted within, the customers remain responsible for managing the data within Atlassian products and the users who can access them. Read what Bogdan Viher, Global Channel Director at HYCU, says about this topic.

And the best part? Migrating to the Atlassian Cloud would mean:

• No more infrastructure headaches: Eliminate the cost and complexity of managing servers, scaling hardware, or troubleshooting outages.
• Faster innovation cycles: Access AI-powered features like Atlassian Intelligence, agentic AI agents via Rovo, advanced automation, and continuous product improvements — all rolled out automatically in the Atlassian Cloud.
• Enhanced collaboration: Cloud tools reduce context-switching, improve integrations, and empower distributed teams to work seamlessly across locations and time zones.
• Predictable and scalable costs: Move from unpredictable capital expenses to transparent, subscription-based pricing that scales with your business needs.
• A future-proofed Atlassian ecosystem: Avoid the risk of falling behind as the Atlassian Data Centre phases out and app vendors focus their innovation on the Cloud.

Is It Time to Leave the Atlassian Data Centre Behind?

Atlassian’s decision to retire its Data Centre wasn’t made lightly. But with the pace of digital transformation and AI ventures accelerating, the reality is clear—Atlassian Cloud delivers more value, more innovation, and more security than legacy infrastructure ever could. Continuing with Data Centre deployments may feel comfortable in the short term, but it exposes organisations to physical and digital risks, higher internal resource costs, and technical debt.

As Atlassian’s trusted Gold Solution & Implementation Partner since 2018, Corptec Technology Partners is here to help you reduce the impact of the upcoming Data Centre End of Life and ensure that this change won’t disrupt your business. Whether you’re dealing with complex custom workflows, stricter security requirements, rising license costs, or concerns around user adoption, Corptec has you covered. Our in-house developers can rebuild and optimise your unique use cases for the Atlassian Cloud, while our partner HYCU’s advanced hybrid, multi-cloud, and SaaS data backup solutions can ensure rock-solid security and compliance. And with training and adoption programs tailored to your teams, we can help you ensure that you stay ahead in the cloud race.

Interested in turning Atlassian’s Data Centre end of life into a growth opportunity? Get in touch with us for a free consultation today!

If you are interested in learning how Corptec can help you empower your business with Atlassian solutions, book a meeting with our Atlassian expert now!