Jira user management for < 10 users, is it worth it?

[Michael Woffenden]

We've just completed a test run of migrating our Jira Service Desk Cloud installation to JSD Server (Jira + Confluence). 

We've setup JSD, Confluence, SSL and created a reciprocal app link between Jira and Confluence.   Everything is working well.

We want to keep things as simple as possible so as not to invite any gremlins into the mix.

My question therefore is:

• It worth it to implement central user management via Jira for a small number of users (less than 10)?  Or might it be simpler to just keep the users in sync manually?

[Davin Studer · Accepted solution]

Do you already have a centralized user directory for computer logins such as LDAP or Active Directory? If you do I would recommend setting up access for both to be delegated though your LDAP/AD provider ... especially if you have any plans for giong larger than 10 users. If not, then for such a small user base I think it is reasonable to use JIRA for the user management.

[Michael Woffenden]

Ok, thanks for the reply.  What would be the alternative to using JIRA for user management?  Just that I would have to add the users twice -- into Jira and then into Confluence?  Or are there other ramifications to the manual approach?

[Davin Studer]

If you don't use a Jira, LDAP, or AD directory then yes you would have to manage the users and permissions separately. That's the only drawback that I can think of.

[Michael Woffenden]

Including customers, we have a lot more than 10 users, so we decided to go ahead and setup using Jira for user management.  The documentation is confusing -- to say the least -- but we got through it. 

[Dave Theodore [Coyote Creek Consulting]]

These tools have the tendency to get their tentacles in to other organizations as people start to realize that they can help solve problems. I would recommend planning for the future and using some form of centralized account management. Jira User Server is as good as anything to start with. My recommendation would be to evaluate how people will use the tools and set up your group permissions to support this. For example, if all Engineers will use Jira and Confluence, grant access to both applications with the same group. Each application comes with its own group for this purpose, but you don't have to use the group that comes with the tool.  If all your Engineers are in the "jira-users" group, there is no reason that you can't use that group to also grant login access to Confluence.

[Michael Woffenden]

Dave - Your answer does not actually address my question.