Time to talk Cloud: What Atlassian ending Data Center means for you
Tempo Team
Atlassian has announced that it is shifting its full focus to the cloud, phasing out its Data Center (DC) products until they reach the end of life on March 28, 2029.
At Tempo, we’ve been watching this closely, and we know a lot of you depend on DC. So, here’s what’s going on, what it means for you – and how we're rolling out support to make the move to Cloud as smooth (and sensible) as possible.
First up, Atlassian’s current timeline for the three-year process from today is as follows:
March 30, 2026: Sales of new Data Center apps and subscriptions will end for new customers.
March 30, 2028: Last date for existing customers to purchase new Data Center licenses, Marketplace apps, and license expansions.
March 28, 2029: Data Center end of life. All Data Center licenses and associated Marketplace app licenses will expire and become read-only.*
Through March 28, 2029, Atlassian will continue to provide technical support, critical security bug-fixes, and connectors from Atlassian Data Center products to Atlassian Cloud for Data Center products.
According to Atlassian, support and bug fixes will no longer be available for your Data Center products and apps after March 28, 2029 and any renewals will be prorated to end on that date. Atlassian said extended maintenance can be available for an additional cost, but only upon exception.
What this means in simple terms
Put plainly – if you want to continue using Atlassian products, you need to move to the cloud. It’s a big shakeup – it’s also an upgrade.
Cloud can do more, adapt quicker, deliver more effectively, and grow with companies more effectively than ever before – and the knowledge and supporting infrastructure for using the Cloud has reached a critical mass point for it to become the default.
Things to consider:
If you have a lot of customisation, scripts, or integrations (with internal systems, other tools, etc.), moving to Cloud often means reevaluating those.
While there is a cost in moving – both direct (licensing, migration effort, possibly re-training) and indirect (disruption, downtime, user resistance) – there are also serious savings long term.
Cloud isn’t just “same-stuff, in another place”. There’s continual innovation with new features that won’t come to DC, faster releases, better scaling, more integrations, and tighter security.
You don’t want to be stuck with unsupported software. Staying put risks falling behind, and facing serious security concerns when your software no longer gets updated.
Why is Atlassian sunsetting Data Center?
According to their own data, almost 99% of their customers are using cloud already, and the process of migrating tools to the cloud has become more efficient than ever.
There are other major benefits to the cloud with Atlassian:
Rovo Agents – such as Tempo’s own free AI teammates that can automate parts of your workflows
More powerful app integrations and better functionality
Accelerated software delivery with built-in CI/CD
Improved code security and compliance with built-in DevSecOps tools
Now what?
Transforming your infrastructure to the Cloud is a journey – and we know it well because we’ve done it – shifting over our own tools like Timesheets, Structure PPM, and Capacity Planner.
We talked all about how we managed this process, which began back in 2016, and covered what it took, what we gained from it, and what it cost in a blog we posted last year.
Cloud journeys aren’t impossible, even for complex software – they just don’t happen overnight. There are plenty of resources to help you understand what is needed, what costs might be, and what your options are for taking the next step.
There are tools to support teams of all sizes, Atlassian’s own FastShift support team, and companies that specialize in taking complex environments and getting them cloud-ready.
We’ve even helped out a few people ourselves with a migration – such as our recent success with OTP Bank’s cloud transformation, which overhauled how work was planned, tracked, and governed across 40,000 employees and dozens of plugins.
Just like the end of Server beforehand – big changes in tech have happened but innovative companies always find their own way to keep things thriving. Cloud has already been the next step for thousands of companies in the last decade – and it has only been getting better.
This isn’t news to sit and wait on – if you are using Data Center, it's time to consider your next steps. For Tempo, the answer was in the Cloud. We’ll see you up there.
*Atlassian announced that Bitbucket Data Center will not be sunsetted. Instead, existing Bitbucket Data Center customers will gain access to a new license allowing them to use both Bitbucket Data Center and Bitbucket Cloud. Additionally, Jira Align Data Center is not included in Data Center end of life.
