Can we migrate from Azure Devops board to JIRA including historical data(Comments etc..)?

Question

Hello JIRA team. My name is Kiran Katkuri. Recently my client has decided that to Migrate from AzureDevOps and complete history should be migrated to JIRA including all the fields data in JIRA.  Please suggest any tool or process to do this. I have already tried 2 options.

1.  Export the work Item details from Azure to JIRA but there is no option to export comments from Azure DevOps.

2.  Have used "TFS4JIRA Azure DevOps Integration Tool which is not allowing to sync the comments of newly created data and also historical data.

Anybody, please suggest the relevant tools.

Brad Peterson · Answer

Hi @KiranKumar Katkuri

OpsHub Migration Manager can address the issues you describe above (migrating historical data, migrating comments). Before you embark on any such project, keep in mind that data migration is a complex proposition and needs careful planning for its smooth and successful execution, and there might be additional issues you have not thought about (see below).

If not planned well, a data migration project can result in data and productivity loss. Therefore, in addition to migrating comments and historical data, the following points should be considered before undertaking the ADO to Jira migration:

* Format Retention: Azure DevOps (ADO) and Jira use different rich text formatting standards, which are similar but not equivalent. ADO uses HTML text formatting, while Jira uses Wiki markup text formatting. As part of the evaluation phase, you will have to validate such format transformation strategies [i.e., how to convert HTML format to Wiki for the data being migrated]
* Two-step Sprint Migration: Jira does not let you schedule an issue in closed Sprint. If Sprints are being migrated, those need to be migrated with Open State until all other issue types are migrated. Finally, Sprint’s status needs to be migrated from ADO to Jira.
* Adaptation to the New Environment: ADO allows the creation of a work item hierarchy which is only available for Portfolio items in Jira, specifically for Epic and Deliverable. Understand the model/structural differences and plan how teams will adapt to the new Agile environment.
* Non-disruptive Migration: Depending upon the approach chosen, migration can cause massive disruptions to the operations by requiring ADO users to log out while the migration is going on. Often the cost of disruption can dominate all other explicit and hidden costs. So, factor in the disruption costs in your planning and bias towards solutions that minimize disruption to all aspects of current operations.
* High-fidelity Migration: In addition to comments and history, understand whether the tool can migrate attachments, inline images, user mentions, relationships, and Iterations.

Any migration solution must be able to address the above challenges.

OpsHub, an Atlassian partner, has rich experience in undertaking complex migration projects and can help you ease your agile migration journey. We are happy to help in your migration planning process. Please reach out to us for an initial free consultation on migration planning with our solutions architects.

Thanks,

Brad

Diana_Architect_ZigiWave · Answer

@KiranKumar Katkuri hi! I think that the most relevant approaches to your use case are already mentioned (CSV/3rd party tools). If you decide to opt for the latter, feel free to look at ZigiOps. It will connect your Jira& Azure instances bi-directionally & sync them so that the data migration can begin immediately. You can customize the data you want to migrate - ZigiOps offers that option. What's important to mention is that the tool does not store any of your data, there are no limitations to the migrated data, and the migration itself happens quite fast. Feel free to book a demo (it's free & non-binding) with our tech team to see how the migration can be handled.

Regards, Diana (ZigiOps team)

Mathieu Lepoutre _Exalate_ · Answer

Hi @KiranKumar Katkuri

As a pre-sales engineer with Exalate, I would like to suggest that you take a look at our decentralized solution for synchronizing all entity types between Azure Devops and Jira.

Exalate is easy to set up and allows you to control exactly which data you want to send and receive.

If you would like to see a  customized demo of the product, please let me know and I will be happy to schedule a time that works for you.

I look forward to the possibility of working with you.