Is Your Agency Ready for Atlassian Government Cloud? A Practical AGC Readiness Assessment

Moving to a government cloud environment is not something an agency should approach as a simple platform migration. The technology may be familiar, but the destination changes the planning equation. Data, users, applications, integrations, administration, and governance all need to be understood before migration work begins.

That is where an AGC readiness assessment becomes valuable. Instead of starting with what needs to be moved, agencies can first determine whether their current environment, operating model, and dependencies are ready for Atlassian Government Cloud.

AGC provides a dedicated environment for eligible U.S. government organizations and agencies working with the U.S. government. It currently supports core applications including Jira, Jira Service Management, and Confluence, with FedRAMP Moderate authorization. Atlassian also provides migration paths from both commercial Cloud and Data Center environments.

The decision goes beyond whether migration is possible. It comes down to whether the organization is ready to operate effectively in the new environment.

What an AGC Readiness Assessment Should Actually Tell You?

A useful assessment should produce more than a list of technical prerequisites. It should give agency leaders a clear picture of the distance between the current environment and the intended Government Cloud operating model.

A practical assessment should answer five questions:

• What are we running today?
• What needs to move?
• What dependencies could affect migration?
• What needs to change before migration?
• Who owns each decision?

This shifts the conversation from migration mechanics to decision-making.

For example, an agency may have hundreds of Jira projects but only a portion may be active. It may have Marketplace applications that are no longer required. It may have integrations built around its current environment that need a different approach in AGC.

Without this visibility, migration planning can become an exercise in reproducing the existing environment rather than creating the right one.

Start With the Current Atlassian Footprint

The first stage of an Atlassian Government Cloud readiness exercise is inventory. Before evaluating migration methods, document the environment that exists today.

That includes:

• Jira sites and projects
• Jira Service Management projects
• Confluence spaces
• Users and groups
• Permission structures
• Configurations
• Customizations
• Marketplace apps
• Integrations
• Data volumes
• Administrative dependencies

The goal is not to document everything indefinitely. It is to establish enough visibility to make informed decisions about the target state.

Atlassian's migration documentation provides guidance for transferring data from commercial Cloud to Government Cloud, including considerations around Jira, Confluence, Jira Service Management, users, groups, permissions, boards, filters, dashboards, and linked data.

That makes inventory work more than preparation. It becomes the foundation for migration scope.

Read More: What Is Atlassian Government Cloud (AGC)? A Guide for U.S. Public Sector IT Leaders

Validate The Dependencies Before Migration

Migration risk often sits outside the platform itself. External systems, authentication services, APIs, Marketplace apps, automation rules, and custom integrations can determine whether critical workflows continue working after the transition. A government cloud migration assessment should establish the dependency landscape before implementation begins.

A practical review should identify:

• Critical integrations: Systems that directly support service delivery, workflows, notifications, reporting, or operational processes.
• Authentication dependencies: Identity providers, provisioning mechanisms, service accounts, and access configurations that need to work in the target environment.
• Marketplace applications: Third-party applications that support essential functionality and require compatibility or security validation.
• Custom automation: Scripts, APIs, webhooks, rules, and workflow extensions that may require redesign or replacement.
• Business-critical dependencies: Processes that rely on multiple systems working together and therefore require end-to-end testing.

This assessment creates a dependency map for the target environment, helping teams identify technical blockers before they become migration-day problems.

It also gives leadership a clearer view of what must be validated, what may need redesign, and where contingency planning is required before the new environment goes live.

Identity is an Early Readiness Test

Identity should be addressed before migration planning becomes too detailed.

The question is not only how users will authenticate. Agencies also need to understand how users, groups, permissions, administrators, and organizational structures will operate in Government Cloud.

The assessment should examine:

• Current identity provider arrangements
• Managed users and domains
• Group structures
• User lifecycle processes
• Administrative roles
• Permission schemes
• Service management customer access
• Authentication requirements

This is particularly important because migration can change how users and groups are represented or transferred. Atlassian's Government Cloud documentation includes specific guidance around organizations, administration, users, apps, and transferring data. A readiness assessment should identify these dependencies before they become migration blockers.

Marketplace Apps Can Change the Migration Scope

Marketplace applications deserve their own workstream. An application may be deeply embedded in the current Atlassian environment, yet that does not automatically mean it belongs in the Government Cloud target state.

For every app, ask:

1. Is it still needed?
2. Is it supported in the target environment?
3. What data does it access?
4. What permissions does it require?
5. What business process depends on it?
6. Is there a supported alternative?

Atlassian maintains specific Government Cloud guidance for managing Marketplace apps, which makes application assessment an important part of the broader readiness exercise. This is one area where an inventory can quickly expose hidden migration complexity. An application may seem simple in isolation, but its dependencies across workflows, permissions, and integrations can make migration significantly more complex.

Integrations Reveal the Real Complexity

The visible Atlassian environment is only part of the architecture.

Identity systems, development platforms, monitoring tools, enterprise applications, notification services, data sources, and other systems may connect to Jira or Confluence.

A good government cloud migration assessment therefore maps the systems surrounding Atlassian, not just the Atlassian applications themselves.

For each integration, capture:

• Source system
• Destination system
• Data exchanged
• Authentication method
• Business owner
• Technical owner
• Frequency of exchange
• Criticality
• Current failure or dependency points

The result should be an integration map that makes dependencies visible before migration begins.

This also creates an opportunity to challenge assumptions. An integration that was essential three years ago may no longer be required. Another may need redesign because the target environment changes the way the connection can be established.

JSM Requires a Service Management Lens

Jira Service Management deserves separate consideration because its readiness requirements extend beyond project data. An agency moving JSM into Government Cloud should examine the service-management model itself.

That includes:

• Service projects
• Request types
• Workflows
• SLAs
• Queues
• Knowledge connections
• Customer organizations
• Permissions
• Automation
• Assets-related requirements
• External integrations

The concern is not simply whether existing JSM data can be transferred. It is whether the existing service model still makes sense in the target environment.

Atlassian identifies Jira Service Management as one of the core applications available in Government Cloud and positions service management as one of the primary government use cases for the platform.

That creates an opportunity to treat migration as a service-management modernization exercise rather than a technical copy operation.

Governance Determines Whether the Environment Stays Ready

Readiness should not end when the migration starts. Government Cloud needs an operating model that defines who makes decisions after implementation.

At minimum, agencies should establish ownership for:

• Platform administration: Who manages the environment and configuration?
• Security: Who reviews security-related changes and access?
• Applications: Who approves Marketplace applications?
• Integrations: Who owns new and existing connections?
• Data: Who determines what should be retained, moved, or removed?
• Governance: Who establishes standards across projects, services, users, and configurations?

Without clear ownership, even a technically successful migration can become difficult to manage.

Use a Readiness Scorecard Before Setting a Migration Date

A simple scorecard can help leadership see where the organization stands.

The purpose is not to achieve a perfect score. It is to identify the decisions that need to be made before migration effort accelerates.

What Atlassian's Government Cloud Customer Experience Shows

Readiness is ultimately about creating an environment that supports the work an agency needs to deliver.

Atlassian Government Cloud is designed to combine government-specific security requirements with the operational capabilities needed to run mission-critical work. Atlassian reports 99.95% monthly uptime for the environment and describes support for Jira, Jira Service Management, and Confluence, alongside capabilities spanning DevSecOps, service management, program management, and knowledge management.

For public-sector IT leaders, this makes AGC more than a compliance-driven cloud option. The decision also involves evaluating how the environment supports collaboration, service delivery, program execution, knowledge access, and long-term platform operations. Atlassian also notes that AGC carries a 25% premium over Cloud Enterprise, reflecting the additional FedRAMP Moderate controls and requirements.

For agencies considering AGC, the lesson is broader than the number. A successful cloud strategy should make the environment easier to understand, operate, and more useful to the teams relying on it.

The AGC Migration Checklist Should End With Decisions

A strong AGC migration checklist should not simply contain technical tasks. Each stage should produce a decision.

• Inventory: Know what exists.
• Classify: Determine what belongs in the target environment.
• Assess: Identify security, identity, application, data, and integration dependencies.
• Design: Define the target architecture and operating model.
• Validate: Confirm that the target environment supports the required applications and capabilities.
• Migrate: Move approved data and configurations according to the agreed scope.
• Govern: Establish the processes that keep the environment controlled after go-live.

This sequence creates a more deliberate migration path and reduces the temptation to treat the existing environment as the blueprint for the new one.

When is an Agency Actually Ready for AGC?

An agency is closer to migration readiness when it can clearly define both its current Atlassian environment and its intended future state. This includes understanding which Atlassian applications are in scope, what data needs to move, which users and groups require access, and which applications need replacement or validation. It also means identifying business-critical integrations, determining which JSM processes require redesign, understanding applicable security requirements, establishing governance ownership, and defining what the target environment should look like. If some of these areas remain unclear, the organization does not necessarily need to delay the entire program; instead, it can focus on closing the specific readiness gaps before committing to migration execution. That distinction matters.

Turn AGC Readiness Into a Migration Strategy

Atlassian provides migration paths for organizations moving from commercial Cloud and Data Center into Government Cloud. The technology path is important, but the quality of the outcome depends on the decisions made before that path begins.

A thoughtful AGC readiness assessment gives agencies a structured way to examine their environment, identify dependencies, define the target state, and prioritize the work required for migration.

For federal CIOs, PMO leaders, security teams, and Atlassian platform owners, that creates something more useful than a migration checklist - a shared view of what the organization is moving toward.

How Clovity Can Help

Clovity brings deep Atlassian expertise to government cloud transformation, combining platform knowledge with practical experience across Jira, Jira Service Management, Confluence, workflows, integrations, automation, and enterprise governance. The focus is on understanding how an agency operates today and translating those requirements into a Government Cloud environment that is structured, scalable, and aligned with public-sector security and operational needs. From assessing the existing Atlassian footprint to identifying dependencies, validating applications, and defining the target architecture, Clovity helps teams make technically sound decisions before migration execution begins.

As an Atlassian Platinum Partner, Clovity can support the journey beyond initial assessment and migration planning. Its expertise spans JSM process design, service management modernization, integration strategy, workflow optimization, automation, migration readiness, and post-migration enablement, helping agencies establish an operating model that can evolve after go-live. This means government teams can approach AGC adoption with a clear roadmap, stronger governance foundations, and the technical expertise needed to turn the platform into a sustainable environment for service delivery, collaboration, and mission-critical work.

Take the AGC Readiness Assessment