Should We Renew our Server Subscription after February 2021?

by | Jan 26, 2021 | Atlassian, Jira

In 2020, Atlassian announced some big changes to their product offerings. On February 2, 2021, Atlassian will be ending the sale of new licenses for Jira Server in favor of Cloud and Data Center offerings. For those who are already licensed for the Server version, you will have until February 2, 2024 to use it with support. In addition, if you are looking to purchase Advanced Roadmaps (formerly Jira Portfolio) for Jira Software, Team Calendars for Confluence, Analytics for Confluence, or Insight Asset Management and Insight Discovery for Jira Service Management Server, you will no longer be able to purchase these products as new Server Apps after February 2, 2021, though you will be able to renew them if they were already purchased. These Apps will be free to use as a Data Center or Cloud Premium / Enterprise level customer for Jira Software, Confluence, and Jira Service Management. Also, effective February 2, 2021, any renewals for Server products that take place after this time will see price increases. Atlassian is offering financial incentives to switch to Data Center and Cloud as well. If you are considering moving to Cloud, if you meet certain criteria, you may be eligible to use a free trial for up to 12 months. This can provide a good parallel period if needed. More information is available at Atlassian.com.

After February 2, 2021, you might be wondering what the best path would be as a current Jira Server customer? This will depend on several factors on which you can weigh in:

  1. Does your company currently use any of the Apps that will now be included with Data Center or Cloud Premium / Enterprise? These Apps include Advanced Roadmaps (formerly Jira Portfolio), Insight Asset Management, Insight Discovery, Team Calendars for Confluence, and Analytics for Confluence. You may want to check to see if the price of the Server Renewals plus the App Renewals are greater than switching to Data Center or Cloud (including the migration discount) where they are now included. For example, Automation for Jira is included with Jira Service Management (formerly Jira Service Desk) for Cloud Premium / Enterprise, but not Server. It can currently be purchased separately as a Server or Data Center App. Jira Service Management Cloud Standard has Automation, but not Global and Multi-Project Automation.
  2. Does your company currently only have Jira Server, but you will need to use the Apps mentioned above after February 2021? You will only be able to access these Apps with Cloud Premium / Enterprise or Data Center (Except Automation for Jira).
  3. Are you able to continue using your Marketplace Apps for Jira Server? Though every vendor will differ, support of Apps for Server may lapse over time. Conversely, there may be some Apps that are not yet available for Cloud. In most cases, Apps that are available for Server are also available for Data Center. There also may be more Apps that are exclusive to Cloud as this option becomes more popular. Some Apps that you were using for Jira Server may also become deprecated if a Feature becomes available with Data Center or Cloud.
  4. Does your number of users for Jira Software Server exceed 500 at the time of renewal? The economics per user get better at higher tiers and Data Center starts with the 500 user tier. There are also incentives for renewals vs new subscriptions with the same tier, migrating to Data Center or Cloud as an existing customer, App renewals vs new subscriptions, and discounts for upgrading to a new tier, and discounts for Annual vs Monthly pricing.
  5. Do you value better performance? Jira Cloud offers Standard, Premium, and Enterprise levels of service to provide better levels of service and support. While it’s true that Data Center allows more control, it may be more economic to rely on Atlassian support than to put out fires when they occur on your own infrastructure.

Licensing can be a complicated process and different scenarios can play out that can make a big difference in your costs. Ascend Integrated can provide a free licensing consultation so we can help you determine the best course for your company and look for the best discounts. Contact licensing@ascendintegrated for more information.