Atlassian Data Center EOL for Government: Building the Path to Atlassian Government Cloud Before 2029

For government organizations running Jira, Jira Service Management, Confluence, or related Atlassian products on Data Center, 2029 is now an important planning milestone.

Atlassian has confirmed that affected Data Center products will reach end of life on March 28, 2029. At that point, affected Data Center subscriptions and associated Marketplace app licenses will expire and become read-only. Atlassian is winding down Data Center in phases, giving existing customers time to assess their environment, test migration paths, and move to cloud.

For public sector organizations, that timeline should not be treated as a last-minute migration deadline.

Moving from Data Center to Atlassian Government Cloud (AGC) can involve applications, integrations, identity, security, Marketplace apps, data, governance, testing, procurement, and operational planning. Agencies that start early have more time to make deliberate decisions about what should move, what should change, and what should not be carried forward.

Understand the Data Center Timeline

Atlassian's current Data Center timeline includes several important dates:

• March 30, 2026: New customers can no longer purchase affected Data Center subscriptions or associated Data Center Marketplace apps.
• March 30, 2028: Existing customers can no longer purchase new affected Data Center licenses, Marketplace apps, or license expansions.
• March 28, 2029: Affected Data Center products reach end of life. Licenses and associated Marketplace apps expire and become read-only.

This gives government organizations a defined window for planning.

But the amount of work involved can vary considerably depending on the size and complexity of the environment.

A small Atlassian footprint may be relatively straightforward. A large agency environment with years of customization, multiple Marketplace apps, identity dependencies, external integrations, service workflows, and mission-critical projects may require a much more structured approach.

Start With a Full Assessment of the Current Environment

Before planning the move, agencies need to understand what they are actually running today.

That assessment should include:

• Jira projects and workflows
• Jira Service Management portals and service projects
• Confluence spaces and content
• Marketplace apps
• Custom fields
• Automation rules
• User groups and permissions
• Identity integrations
• APIs and webhooks
• External systems
• Data retention requirements

The objective is not simply to create an inventory.

It is to understand dependencies.

A Marketplace app may support a critical workflow. A custom field may feed an external reporting system. An integration may connect Jira Service Management with another operational platform.

Those dependencies influence both migration sequencing and testing.

Decide What Should Move Forward

A Data Center migration is also an opportunity to review years of accumulated configuration.

Not every project, workflow, app, custom field, or piece of content needs to move into the future environment.

Government teams should consider placing existing components into categories such as:

• Retain - still required and suitable for the target environment.
• Modify - still needed, but should be redesigned before or during migration.
• Replace - the capability is required, but a different solution may be more appropriate.
• Retire - no longer needed and should not be migrated.

This decision process can reduce migration scope and help create a cleaner target environment.

Assess Marketplace Apps Early

Marketplace apps can have a significant impact on an AGC migration.

Atlassian Government Cloud currently supports Jira, Jira Service Management, and Confluence, along with a subset of Marketplace apps. Atlassian also requires customers to conduct a security assessment for each Marketplace app they want to use in AGC.

For every app in the current Data Center environment, agencies should determine:

• Is the app available for AGC?
• Is its current functionality still required?
• Can the associated app data move?
• What workflows depend on it?
• Does it connect to external systems?
• Does another capability now meet the same requirement?
• What security review is required?

Waiting until late in the project to assess apps can introduce unnecessary risk.

App decisions should be made early enough to influence migration architecture and testing.

Design Identity and Access Before the Move

Identity is another area that should be planned before production migration.

Government organizations may already have established identity providers, SSO standards, group structures, privileged-access controls, and user lifecycle processes.

The future AGC environment should account for:

• Authentication
• SSO
• User provisioning
• Group structure
• Administrative roles
• Permissions
• Least-privilege access
• External access
• Access reviews

Identity should not be treated as a configuration task that happens after the data migration.

It affects how users enter the environment and what they can access once they arrive.

Map Integrations and External Dependencies

Most mature Atlassian environments do not operate in isolation.

They may connect with:

• Identity providers
• Monitoring platforms
• Development tools
• Reporting systems
• APIs
• Webhooks
• Email services
• Service platforms
• Internal applications
• Security systems

Atlassian notes that integrations available in Government Cloud are evaluated for FedRAMP compliance and organizations should assess external URLs used with webhooks and related integrations.

For each dependency, agencies should understand:

What connects to Atlassian?
What data moves through the connection?
What changes in AGC?
Does the integration need redesign or replacement?

Creating this map before migration helps teams avoid discovering critical dependencies during cutover.

Build Testing Around Mission-Critical Work

Migration testing should go beyond confirming that projects and pages exist in the new environment.

Government teams need to test how people actually work.

That includes:

• User access
• Workflows
• Approvals
• Jira automation
• JSM request forms
• SLAs
• Notifications
• Knowledge links
• Permissions
• Integrations
• Marketplace apps
• Reporting

Mission-critical processes should receive additional attention.

A workflow may appear correct technically but still behave differently for end users. Testing should therefore include real business scenarios and participation from service owners and operational teams.

Plan Cutover as an Operational Event

The final migration should be treated as more than a technical data move.

A cutover plan should define:

• Migration sequence
• Change windows
• Data freeze requirements
• User communications
• Validation steps
• Escalation paths
• Go/no-go criteria
• Rollback considerations
• Post-migration support

Government organizations should also identify which services cannot tolerate extended disruption and plan accordingly.

The more important the Atlassian environment is to daily operations, the more structured the cutover should be.

Why Atlassian Government Cloud Matters for Government Teams

Atlassian Government Cloud is a separate government cloud environment designed for eligible U.S. government organizations and contractors supporting government-related work.

AGC is FedRAMP Moderate authorized and currently includes Jira, Jira Service Management, and Confluence.

For agencies already planning around the Data Center timeline, AGC creates a path for continuing Atlassian-based work in a government-focused cloud environment.

The important point is timing.

2029 may appear distant, but large migration programs require time for assessment, architecture, security review, procurement, remediation, testing, training, and cutover.

Start Planning Before the Deadline Drives the Project

The strongest migration plans begin with decisions, not deadlines.

Agencies should understand the existing environment, define the target architecture, assess apps and integrations, plan identity, clean up unnecessary configuration, test critical workflows, and create a structured cutover plan well before 2029.

Starting earlier gives public sector teams more room to evaluate options and address dependencies without forcing every decision into the final months of the Data Center lifecycle.

How Clovity Can Support the Path from Data Center to AGC

As an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner, Clovity works with public sector organizations across Atlassian Government Cloud, migration, Jira, Jira Service Management, Confluence, governance, and modernization.

Clovity can support agencies with:

• Data Center environment assessments
• AGC readiness planning
• Marketplace app assessments
• Integration mapping
• Identity and access design
• Data and configuration cleanup
• Migration architecture
• Test planning
• Cutover planning
• Post-migration governance and support

Clovity was also the first Atlassian partner to deploy Atlassian Government Cloud for HHS and was named Atlassian Partner of the Year 2026 – Government Americas.

The goal is to give government teams a structured path from the current Data Center environment to AGC while protecting the workflows, services, and mission work they depend on.

Contact us at info@clovity.com or visit www.clovity.com to get started today.