Why I believe every Marketplace app deserves an exit strategy – before we even install it.
Let's be honest. Discovering a great app on the Atlassian Marketplace can be pretty exciting.
It solves a problem we've been struggling with, the reviews look promising, and someone has already calculated how many hours it could save.
Perfect. Let's install it!
Well, almost.
We might check security, permissions, data residency and compliance first. Especially if someone from IT security is in the room. 😉
But there's one question I rarely hear:
What happens if we want to stop using this app in three years?
I recently brought this question to the Atlassian Community Event in Zurich. And judging by the number of people nodding, I wasn't the only one who hadn't thought enough about it.
The Marketplace is amazing. And it's getting even more exciting.
I'm a huge fan of the Atlassian Marketplace. It's one of the reasons why Jira and Confluence are so powerful. We can extend their functionality without having to build everything ourselves.
And Atlassian is doing a lot to make the ecosystem even better.
With Forge, developers can build apps using Atlassian-hosted infrastructure. Trust programs such as Runs on Atlassian and Atlassian Enterprise Certified help customers make more informed decisions. And the Privacy & Security information on Marketplace listings provides valuable transparency.
These are great developments!
But something else is changing too.
Building apps is becoming easier. Much easier.
I've recently started developing my own apps, and with AI-assisted development, it's honestly fascinating how quickly an idea can become a working solution.
A few years ago, I wouldn't have imagined building an app myself. Today, I'm doing exactly that.
And while I absolutely love these possibilities, they also made me think.
If apps can be developed and launched faster, priorities can change faster too. Not every product will necessarily be maintained forever. Companies change direction, solutions evolve, and sometimes an app simply reaches the end of its journey.
That's not a criticism of Marketplace Partners. It's how software development works.
But what happens to the customers who depend on those apps?
Uninstalling an app doesn't necessarily remove the dependency
Imagine you've been using a Confluence diagramming app for years.
Hundreds of pages contain diagrams created with it. Everyone is happy.
Until one day, you decide to switch to another solution.
You uninstall the app.
And suddenly, some of those beautiful diagrams are no longer displayed or editable.
Oops.
Depending on how an app is built, the underlying information might still exist, but without the app, you may no longer be able to use it as intended.
And it's not just about Confluence macros.
Think about Jira apps that add information to issues, support workflows or modify configurations. What happens when those apps disappear?
The real question isn't whether we can uninstall an app. It's whether our content and processes still work afterwards.
That's quite a difference.
Cloud migrations are the perfect opportunity to ask uncomfortable questions
During Cloud migrations, we spend a lot of time assessing Marketplace apps.
Which ones do we use? Which ones do we still need? Are Cloud alternatives available?
And occasionally: Who installed this app eight years ago, and why is everyone afraid to remove it? 😅
But I believe we should go one step further.
A migration shouldn't only help us decide which apps to take into Cloud. It should also help us understand our dependencies.
And this doesn't stop once we've migrated.
Even in a Cloud-only environment, our requirements will change. We might replace an app, consolidate solutions or discover that Atlassian has introduced native functionality that meets our needs.
That's a good thing! The ecosystem is evolving.
We just need to make sure we can evolve with it.
Three questions I would ask before installing an app
I'm definitely not suggesting a 30-page assessment for every little Marketplace app. Nobody wants that. Especially not the person who just wanted a simple feature. 😉
But alongside security, privacy and compliance, I think three questions deserve more attention:
1. What will depend on this app?
Does it create content, store additional information or influence important business processes?
2. Can we take our data with us?
And I don't just mean whether an export button exists. Can we actually reuse the information without the original app?
3. What happens when we say goodbye?
Will our content remain accessible? Will our workflows still function? What happens to stored data after uninstalling?
These questions aren't reasons to avoid Marketplace apps.
Quite the opposite. They're opportunities to have better conversations with Marketplace Partners and make more confident decisions.
Let's talk about the exit before we need one
I love how quickly the Atlassian ecosystem is evolving. Forge, AI-assisted development and the growing Marketplace are opening up incredible opportunities.
And I want organizations to take advantage of them.
But I also believe that the flexibility we gain by installing an app shouldn't become a dependency we don't understand.
An exit strategy isn't about expecting an app to fail. It's about staying in control when our needs change.
Sometimes, the best moment to think about saying goodbye is before we've even said hello. 😉
Now I'm curious:
Have you ever discovered an unexpected dependency when uninstalling a Marketplace app or migrating to Cloud?
And do you already consider exit strategies when evaluating new apps, or is that something we should talk about more often?
I'd love to hear your experiences!
