Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning
Winston Churchill
For those who are still on server – there’s naturally some trepidation about making the move to cloud. This post will cover just how comprehensive cloud has become and why you need to get there fast.
Why it is Time to Act
The writing is on the wall if you’re still on server. Here are some of the key milestones which are critical in terms of understanding support and flexibility in the few years left of server. Take note that in two months server customers will not be able to upgrade or downgrade their users and hence their costs are locked in.
Atlassian’s announcement that they were gradually phasing out the sale of and support for Server licenses in October 2020 was a controversial one to say the least. However, recent trends around the growth of cloud imply that Atlassian is fully committed to its “journey to cloud”.
Atlassian 2022 Q1 Earnings Report
Atlassian’s 2022 Q1 Earnings Report, released at the end of October, shows that by a number of key metrics, Atlassian’s cloud platform is going strong.
Firstly, almost all new customers are opting to join Atlassian on the cloud with over 99% of Atlassian’s 11,746 new customers in Q1 choosing to land on the cloud.
Secondly, larger organizations (typically the most hesitant to move to the cloud) are increasingly seeing it as a viable option. With improvements in data residency (including the ability to host in Australia with many more countries to come) and the release of the consolidated Migration Center, large organizations like Commonwealth Bank (Australia’s largest bank) are choosing to migrate to cloud.
Thirdly, existing customers are upgrading their existing cloud platforms at record rates as they look to get more value out of tools such as Automation for Jira.
These three factors: new customers opting for Cloud, existing larger users increasingly migrating to the Cloud, and existing Cloud customers upgrading show that for customers of every size and at every stage of their Atlassian journey, the future is looking cloud.
MARS (Marketplace Analytics Research Service)
While other Atlassian Partners focus on making their own applications, we believe that we can bring significant value to our customers and the Atlassian community through our quantitative and objective database on every facet of the Atlassian Marketplace. At Contegix, we can be relied upon for unbiased, up-to-date, and data-driven assessments of the state of the market.
Since one of the data points we collect through MARS is the Platform that the respective apps run on (e.g. an app can run on all of Cloud, DC, and Server, just Cloud, DC and Server etc…) we can derive insight into where the action is happening in terms of app growth by platform.
All three app platforms that feature cloud (Cloud, DC, Server ; Cloud only ; Cloud, Server) are growing very well. In particular, Cloud-only apps have grown by nearly 50% just this year. On the other hand, apps on DC and Server and Server only apps have had a pretty disappointing year, both showing negative growth.
From these data points we can infer that most of the growth is coming from Cloud.
Furthermore, in terms of the fastest-growing apps this year in percentage terms:
- GitHub integration for Jira
- Cards & Panels
- Process visualization & Team collaboration for Jira
- Project Notes for Jira
- Miro Integration for Confluence (Miro Boards)
- Time in Status Reports
- SurveyMonkey for Confluence
all of them run on the cloud only.
Forge
Cloud apps are doing well then, and the good news doesn’t stop there. Atlassian announced “Forge” this year which is “an app development platform designed to revolutionize how Atlassian cloud products are customized, extended, and integrated.”
Essentially Forge brings 3rd party apps to run on the Atlassian cloud infrastructure whereas without Forge, cloud apps run on vendor-selected infrastructure. This is crucial in terms of overcoming data residency issues that act as a barrier to cloud adoption for many Atlassian customers.
Furthermore, by lowering the barrier to entry of developing Atlassian add-ons Forge is more tailor made for smaller app makers who want to focus solely on developing their apps without dealing with issues and costs around infrastructure, maintenance, and regulations such as GDPR. Apps built in Forge can also be scaled up easier since they are run on the same infrastructure as all of Atlassian’s cloud products.
This is potentially great news for developers and customers alike. We are curious to understand in more detail how fast the pickup will be around Forge adoption as rebuilding their products will obviously be a major expense for vendors. We will be doing more research on this topic, more soon.
Forge, therefore represents yet another reason to consider moving to cloud in the future…
For all the information you need to migrate to cloud, click here for resources.
Feel free to reach out to us at sales@contegix.com.