The Atlassian Data Center End-of-Life & Your Migration Roadmap

Table of Contents

1.  Why the Atlassian Data Center Phase-Out Matters  

2.  Key Milestones You Must Know

3.  What Happens When You Run an Atlassian Data Center Instance After EOL?  

4.  Choosing Your Next Path: Cloud, Hybrid or Alternative  

5.  Practical Steps to Prepare for the Transition  

6.  The Business Case: Why Moving to Atlassian Cloud Makes Sense  

7.  What This Means for You at Empyra

8. Conclusion
    

In an era where agility, scalability and innovation drive competitive advantage, the way teams work with collaboration platforms matters more than ever. For many enterprises who have been relying on the Atlassian Data Center deployment model, there is a significant shift on the horizon. Atlassian has announced that Atlassian Data Center products will reach end-of-life (EOL) on March 28, 2029 — a change that signals the end of on-premises, Data Center-style licensing and the full move toward Atlassian cloud.

For organisations running Atlassian Data Center today, this isn’t simply a product update—it’s a strategic inflection point. The clock is ticking on when licenses will no longer be sold, when expansions will end, and when systems will transition to read-only. If you’re operating in a Data Center environment, now is the time to plan proactively.

1.  Why the Atlassian Data Center Phase-Out Matters?  

When use of Atlassian Data Center stops being a default option for new organisations, and when support winds down for existing ones, many teams will feel the impact. The move away from Atlassian Data Center has several key drivers:

• Innovation pace: Atlassian is concentrating on its Cloud platform—new features, built-in AI, shared data services and scale optimisations live in the cloud much more than in Data Center.
• Operational overhead: Self-managed or hosted Data Center environments demand significant infrastructure, maintenance and upgrade costs. Cloud offers a more streamlined model.
• Security/compliance & global scale: For many enterprises, the cloud-platform path enables stronger global compliance, multi-region data residency and enterprise-grade SLAs.
• Ecosystem evolution: The Marketplace for apps is evolving to cloud-first models; the Atlassian Data Center model is winding down.

In short: if you’re still relying on Atlassian Data Center as your long-term platform, you’re facing the reality that your version of “future” will require change 

2.  Key Milestones You Must Know

Understanding the timeline for the Atlassian Data Center end-of-life is critical for planning, budgeting, and stakeholder alignment. Below are the major dates:

• March 30, 2026 — New customers will no longer be able to purchase new Data Center subscriptions or new Marketplace apps for Data Center.
• March 30, 2028 — Existing customers must complete any new Data Center license purchases, expansions, or Marketplace apps. After this date, you can’t expand Data Center deployments.
• March 28, 2029, at 23:59 PST — Final end-of-life date for Atlassian Data Center products: subscriptions and associated Marketplace apps expire, and the environment becomes read-only.

It’s vital to mark these dates in your internal roadmap. Delaying until the last moment may force rushed migrations, unplanned costs or operational disruption. 

3.  What Happens When You Run an Atlassian Data Center Instance After EOL?  

When the cut-off comes for Atlassian Data Center, organisations will face several outcomes:

• Your Atlassian Data Center licenses will expire, and your site will become read-only, which means no new data, no issue creation, and no workflow change.
• Support and product updates will cease (except for critical security bug-fixes prior to that date). Running unsupported infrastructure introduces significant risk.
• Marketplace apps for Data Center deployments may no longer be sold or supported; compatibility will degrade.
• If you do nothing, you risk increased exposure to audit failure, security vulnerabilities, and potential downtime or data lock-in.

In short: staying on Atlassian Data Center after EOL is not a viable long-term strategy.

4.  Choosing Your Next Path: Cloud, Hybrid, or Alternative  

As you plan ahead for Atlassian Data Center end-of-life, you have distinct strategic options — each with pros and cons.

Migrate to Atlassian Cloud 

This is the primary path Atlassian is steering customers toward. Benefits include: global scale, automatic upgrades, tighter integration across tools, built-in AI and modern architecture. Organisations using Atlassian Data Center can tap migration programmes like FastShift and Solution Design Acceleration.

Maintain the Data Center temporarily with an extension

For organisations with strict compliance, regulatory or security constraints (e.g., government, defence, high-data-sovereignty sectors) a phased migration may be needed. Atlassian has committed to “extended maintenance by exception” beyond March 28, 2029 for some customers.

Consider alternative platforms or hybrid models 

Some customers may examine vendors or platforms that offer self-managed, hybrid or sovereign cloud options if they feel standard cloud doesn’t align with their requirements. (E.g., some commentary in the market comparing Atlassian’s strategy to other tools).

Choosing the right path means assessing tools, data, culture, governance and compliance — not just checking a migration box.

6.  Practical Steps to Prepare for the Transition   

To make your move from Atlassian Data Center smooth and low-risk, here’s a pragmatic roadmap:

Inventory your environment 

Audit current Data Center usage: number of users, projects, apps (Marketplace apps), integrations, customisations. Identify any heavy-use apps or custom plugins that may not yet have cloud equivalents.

Evaluate your licensing & budget

Understand how your Atlassian Data Center renewal schedule aligns with the EOL timeline. Assess cost differences between staying and migrating to Atlassian cloud. Avoid paying double-licensing by planning ahead.

Identify risk & compliance constraints

For teams in regulated industries (finance, healthcare, government), confirm data residency, identity management, encryption, audit logs and control frameworks. These may drive a more cautious migration path.

Map your migration strategy 

Decide whether to move in phases (e.g., user subset or one product at a time) or as a big-bang. Leverage Atlassian’s programs (FastShift for >1000 users, etc.)

Check Marketplace apps and customisations 

For your Atlassian Data Center deployment, many third-party apps may require review: Are they cloud-ready? Are there feature gaps? Will data migration be seamless?

Build change-management & training plans 

Your teams are used to Data Center admin, management, and workflows. Migration to the cloud means process changes, user training, and new governance. Start early.

Monitor progress and iterate

As you move, track your metrics: downtime, user adoption, cost savings, and incident rates. Use insights to adjust the remainder of your migration.

7.  The Business Case: Why Moving to Atlassian Cloud Makes Sense      

From Empyra’s perspective (as an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner), helping clients transition off Atlassian Data Center toward cloud unlocks tangible benefits:

• Reduced infrastructure burden: No more server patches, upgrade scheduling, hardware refreshes — cloud takes that off your plate.
• Faster innovation & time to value: Features land sooner, integrations get smoother and teams move quicker.
• Unified ecosystem & strategy: With cloud, you move from fragmented on-prem deployments toward shared platforms, easier onboarding, and smarter analytics.
• Improved compliance & security posture: Thanks to built-in cloud controls, global data centres, single sign-on, audit log,s and more.
• Future-proof architecture: As technology evolves (AI, automation, low-code agents), the Cloud platform gives you the headroom to adopt emerging capabilities — whereas Atlassian Data Center’s architecture is locked-in.

In many cases, the decision to stay on Atlassian Data Center becomes a cost risk rather than a cost saving. The question is not just “when do we migrate?” but “can we afford not to?” 

8.  What This Means for You at Empyra  

At Empyra, we understand that migration isn’t just about moving data—it’s about transforming how teams work. If you are using Atlassian Data Center today, we’re here to walk you through:

• A readiness assessment
• A tailored migration plan aligned to your business goals
• Platform architecture design (whether full cloud or hybrid)
• App and integration rationalisation
• Training and change management for your users and administrators
• Continuous optimisation after cut-over

We believe the move off Atlassian Data Center is an opportunity — not just a compliance exercise. It’s a moment to re-think your collaboration stack, to streamline operations, eliminate technical debt, and elevate how your people deliver value.

9. Conclusion: 

The deadline on Atlassian Data Center may still feel distant, but the journey begins now. Waiting until the final year introduces risk: higher cost, tighter timelines, limited partner availability, and potential disruption. By planning early, acting now, and making strategic decisions with clarity, you can turn this phase-out into a catalyst for innovation—not a burden.

Your next chapter begins with readiness. If you’re using Atlassian Data Center, let’s talk about how to make your migration to the cloud smooth, cost-effective, and aligned with your growth strategy.