Announcing a new approach for Data Center feature releases

[#1]

Hi Community

We're announcing a change to how we deliver new features for Data Center products in between major releases. Following the most recently released LTS (eg. Jira 11.3, Confluence 10.2) version of each respective Data Center product, we will be pausing feature releases and instead providing Early Access Program (EAP) releases ahead of our next major release.

What does this mean for you?

This change applies to the following Data Center Products: Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Confluence. This change will not impact Bitbucket, Bamboo, or Crowd.

For customers who currently track feature releases, this change gives you the opportunity to gain access to new features on an opt-in basis to the latest LTS version, meaning we will more readily backport them - either through a flag or a plugin - to avoid behavior changes. This gives you the flexibility to recognize new feature value, without having to give up the stability and other benefits that an LTS release guarantees.

This has no effect on the support schedule for LTS versions. They will receive bugfix updates until they go out of support two years after their initial release.

Why are we making this change?

We’re making this change because each year the vast majority of Data Center customers choose the stability of our LTS releases instead of tracking periodic feature releases. This change will help ensure a better product for our customers: a more stable and predictable major version, while still exposing changes to integrators and other partners.

Additionally, with the announcement of Data Center End-of-Life (EOL), we made the strategic decision to focus our investment on technical support, security updates, and capabilities that make a move to cloud smoother for all customers. Any new capabilities will be delivered as optional components on top of the existing LTS releases through the EAP releases.

When will this change take effect?

You may be aware that this approach is already in effect for Confluence Data Center, and for other Data Center products we will immediately start making EAP versions of their next platform release available.

If you have any questions about these changes, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below, or reach out to us directly.

Cheers!

The Atlassian Data Center Team

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the different kinds of releases/versions that Atlassian Data Center provides?	Feature release: A regular release on a roughly 8-week cadence that introduces new features and enhancements. It increments the minor version number (e.g., Confluence 9.1, Jira 10.6). Early Access Program (EAP) release: A pre-release build of the next major version that helps customers and partners prepare early, but is not the same as a supported feature release. Major (version) release: Also known as a platform release, this is a larger release focused on breaking changes for infrastructure and platform modernization (security hardening, dependency upgrades, etc.) that occur roughly once a year. Major releases lay the foundation for the feature and LTS releases that follow (eg. Confluence 9.0, Jira Software 10.0) LTS (Long Term Support) release: A specific feature release designated to receive extended support (2 years), including backported critical security fixes, stability fixes, and data integrity fixes. These are designed for larger, complex instances that can only manage one major upgrade per year.
Are feature releases going away entirely?	No. The change is that there are no more feature releases on the current major version after the latest LTS for affected products. Teams then move to EAPs of the next major version. After that major version reaches general availability, normal feature releases on that new major can still happen before its later LTS release.
Can EAPs be run in production?	No. EAPs are for preview, preparation, validation, and ecosystem readiness. They do not carry the same stability or compatibility expectations as supported production releases.
Are there any guarantees on what is being released as an EAP?	There are no guarantees on EAP features. Features delivered as optional on top of LTS releases will be maintained as LTS features or marketplace plugins, depending on which way they are delivered.