Is Your Jira Cloud Migration Stuck in First Gear? Learn How Agile Delivers Value Over Lift & Shift

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In today's innovation economy, businesses are constantly seeking ways to reinvent and enhance their digital core.   

Modernizing the application infrastructure to leverage best-in-class tools like Jira Cloud has become a strategic imperative for several forward-thinking enterprises.  

However, with many different approaches available, selecting the right migration strategy which ensures minimal disruption, and no data loss can be a challenge.  

Two prominent methods – lift and shift and agile data migration – offer distinct advantages and considerations.  

This blog delves into these two popular data migration approaches, helping you choose the best fit for your Jira Cloud migration journey.  

Lift and Shift Migration: Fast Start, Slow Finish 
Lift and shift, also known as rehosting, involves migrating existing applications and their associated data "as-is" to a new environment. It's a straightforward approach that minimizes configuration adjustments.   

Imagine moving your entire system, data and all, into a new truck. Sure, it gets there fast, but you haven't addressed any inefficiencies or optimized anything for the new environment. Lift and shift can minimize downtime, but it doesn't necessarily unlock the full potential of Jira Cloud. 

Agile Data Migration: Steady Pace, Sustainable Growth 

Agile data migration takes an iterative, step-by-step approach. Think of it like a carefully planned road trip. You can migrate data in manageable chunks, keeping both your old and new systems running in parallel. This minimizes disruption and allows for continuous testing and feedback. 

This approach can help reduce risks, productivity loss, and business continuity concerns. It also allows teams to use both systems until the switchover, and to migrate data at a pace that's comfortable for the organization. 

Agile vs. Lift and Shift Migration: Which is better?  

There is no one-size-fits-all approach which works for every business need. However, a clear understanding of how each approach defines some of the most critical business objectives is important before choosing a data migration approach.  

Let's understand better: 

Maximize your ROI of adopting new tool:  

• Lift and shift: Moves applications "as-is" with limited opportunities for improvements like data cleansing or enhanced governance. 

• Agile: Enables integration of modernization efforts within the migration process, leading to a more optimized application landscape in the long run. 

Application Complexity:  

• Lift and shift: Works well for applications from same vendor. 

• Agile: Works well for cross-vendor applications with diverse data structures or part-transformation for same-vendor applications. 

Team Size:  

• Lift and shift: Smaller teams with strong technical understanding of the existing application and target environment can manage the process. 

• Agile: Best suited for medium-large companies due to its non-disruptive, iterative approach. Allows room for risk mitigation, easily incorporates new functionalities. 

Project Budget:  

• Lift and shift: Lower upfront costs, but higher long-term costs due to post-migration expenses, high operating costs, and can result in a sunk cost in case of no performance improvement after project completion.  

• Agile: Relatively high license costs, but costs are offset in the long run because of minimized rework or performance issues, stronger data infrastructure and overall reduced maintenance costs or after-the-fact tweaks.  

Return on investment  
 

• Lift and shift: Simply moving an application "as-is" doesn’t unlock the complete value of the new environment. This can lead to a rigid data infrastructure which fails to scale with the business. 

• Agile: Agile data migration allows for continuous testing and feedback, ensuring optimal application performance in the new environment. The risk of business disruption is eliminated because of controlled migrations with smaller-scale deployments and planned downtime windows. 

Agile vs. Lift and Shift Data Migration: Business Value Comparison  

Note: This table summarizes key considerations for data migration approaches, based on internal assessments and project experience. The goal is to provide a clear comparison framework, not to dictate specific choices. 
 

Aspect	Lift and Shift	Agile Data Migration	Why Agile
Non-disruptive Migration	Potential outages	Zero Downtime (planned)	Agile allows for smaller, planned migrations minimizing disruption.
Application Support	Limited to simple	Handles complex well	Agile's granular approach tackles intricate data structures and integrations smoothly.
Team Size	Good for smaller Teams	Best for medium size-enterprise-grade teams	Medium to large sized teams can benefit from Agile’s ability to minimize risk and disruption, allowing smoother transition and user management.
Compliance	Doesn't evaluate existing security vulnerabilities	Ongoing security assessments, high data fidelity	Agile allows for incorporating compliance considerations with each data-set (data cleansing, encryption, access controls) during migration.
Return on Investment	Limited Value	Unlocks Complete Potential of New Environment	Agile minimizes rework, optimizes infrastructure, and delivers long-term cost savings for the business.

Getting Started with Agile Migration to Jira Cloud 

In today's innovation-driven economy, the urgency to modernize with agility and minimal disruptions is paramount. An intelligent operating model that’s built for scale, not just for efficiency, largely dictates an enterprise’s ability to succeed.  
 

1. Jira Cloud Migration Assistant (JCMA): JCMA is a powerful built-in tool from Atlassian, offering a user-friendly approach to migrate your data to Jira Cloud. JCMA supports migration from Jira Data Center or Jira Server to Jira Cloud.  
 

2. OpsHub Migration Manager (OMM): OMM is an Atlassian Silver Partner, and an enterprise-scale platform that facilitates non-disruptive data migration. It allows for agile, incremental migration, guarantees zero downtime, and supports complex migrations with high data fidelity. 
OMM supports migration from 60+ tools to Jira Cloud, including Jira Server and Jira Data Center. 
 

4. CSV Import: This is a limited lift-and-shift approach using spreadsheets. It can be a good option for migrating small amounts of simple data. But it requires extensive data formatting beforehand and can lead to errors during import. Not suitable for complex data structures or custom fields. 
 

The best option depends on your specific needs: 

• For small-scale migrations: JCMA or CSV import might suffice. 

• For enterprise-scale migrations: Agile data migration tools like OMM are the way to go.