The destination is worth the drive: savings, speed, and satisfaction after WillowTree’s cloud migration

Seeing the Confluence Cloud migration go so smoothly made WillowTree even more optimistic about moving their largest and most-used solution, Jira Software, to the cloud. Creative and IT departments use Jira Software for agile design and development. Similar to their Confluence Cloud preparations, the migration team cleaned up the server-based data, mapped it to the new instance, and audited their apps to be sure they were bringing the most important, highly used apps to the cloud. A few of the apps they used on Server didn’t need to be migrated, since the same functionality is available natively in Atlassian Cloud (like JSU Automation Suite). 

Kenneth says his team over-communicated with employees so they knew exactly what was happening, when, and why, and what they would need to do after the migration was complete. Talking with them also helped coordinate calendars and ensure the migrations were executed during a time period that didn’t pose an issue for end users.  

And again, WillowTree’s preparation paid off. “There wasn't really much to the actual migration,” Kenneth says. “The migration wasn’t complex. It was the preparation and troubleshooting that ended up being the most important parts of the process: giving people access, getting links working correctly.” 

Since launch, WillowTree has been enjoying several cloud-only features and apps, including Roadmaps for program increment planning, a faster and more modern user experience, the native JSU Automation Suite app for cloud workflows, and advanced permission schemes. The team also added Jira Service Management Cloud and set up service desks for IT, Security, HR, and Global Support. With this expanded, cloud-based suite of solutions, the whole company can work more efficiently and collaboratively than before, trickling down into even faster, better delivery and service for their clients.

Four tips for a smooth migration

Having reflected on their own migration, Kenneth and his team drummed up four key tips for others who are considering upgrading to the cloud:

1. Consolidate migration efforts to “optimize and shift” everything at once.
WillowTree chose to migrate one solution at a time, but they would do it differently if they could go back. “Migrating in a piecemeal way created a few problems, like issues with duplicate fields that needed to be merged,” Kenneth says. “That pain was a bit self-inflicted. If you can, use test instances over and over until you get a clean slate, and then do the migration all in one go, with a team on standby that can handle any issues.”

2. Investigate proactive solutions to unique challenges. 
Every company has its own distinct setup and customizations that could make a migration more complex. For example, migrating one particular app’s data from servers to the cloud was more complicated than WillowTree expected, so they built a custom script to solve the issue. Kenneth recommends building in time to address unforeseen challenges that could arise like this, and collaborating on solutions with Atlassian or other companies who have faced similar issues.  

3. Over-communicate who, where, when, why, and what to expect.
Prioritizing transparency around the migration process made a huge difference for WillowTree. Kenneth says, “We recommend over-communicating as much as possible to the entire organization. We have a Slack channel where we post updates about Jira and Confluence so we can set expectations and iron out all the kinks. That way, there weren’t any surprises.”

4. Demonstrate how to use cloud solutions through documentation and training.
WillowTree employees were ultimately happy with the migration process and cloud improvements. Kenneth admits that providing more support upfront would have made the transition even smoother and easier on everyone. “We didn’t have a lot of documentation,” he says. “We should have built more resources for employees to help them learn how to do things.”

Doing the work that matters

Although there are a few things Kenneth and the team would do differently in hindsight, the migration experience as a whole was simpler than they expected, and well worth the effort. Now, WillowTree is enjoying the savings, speed, and satisfaction that come with a robust, integrated suite of cloud-based solutions.

Kenneth and his team love the time and cost savings of having a streamlined system and automatic updates. “We’ve already saved money by optimizing our use of apps and add-ons. It’s also been nice to spread out the costs each month rather than paying per year,” Kenneth says. “And before, we had to ask for updates, back up the database, and follow an old-fashioned way of doing things. Now with the cloud, you get the latest and greatest all the time. It’s done in a snap, and we don’t have to worry about doing anything. It just works.”

The only thing better than seeing improvements on the back end has been seeing them on the front end. Kenneth has been pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback he’s gotten from employees about performance. “The team is saying really positive things about performance and the experience,” he notes. “Everything is faster on the cloud: logging in, searching, loading pages, API queries, and more. We also hear from the team that the UI/UX of Jira Cloud and Confluence Cloud are much, much better – sleeker, faster, more user friendly. People like to use them more than they did before, which is key.”

That’s what means the most to WillowTree: supporting their team’s happiness as they do the work that matters. They believe satisfied employees lead to satisfied customers, and they go out of their way to support both. “WillowTree is the greatest company I’ve worked with,” Kenneth says. “They care, listen, and go above and beyond to make sure everyone is happy and heard.” With Atlassian Cloud products, WillowTree has tapped into yet another way to keep this promise and deliver on their mission.