Atlassian Cloud vs Data Center: Which Should You Embrace?
With many existing Atlassian users already on the Cloud and Data Center plan, the rate of users adopting Atlassian Cloud and Data Center is expected to keep increasing due to the end of server support that will kickstart in 3 months.
Despite Atlassian Cloud being the popular option among new and existing users, Data Center is still a viable option for many, and in specific cases --- maybe the optimal choice.
Should your enterprise embrace Atlassian Cloud or Data Center? We lay out the extensive capabilities of both and break down the best situation to adopt either.
The Atlassian Cloud model.
Atlassian Cloud is an alternative to Data Center and Atlassian Server that offers features similar to its alternatives as well as distinctive features.
As opposed to the other two, Atlassian Cloud provides functionalities that are intuitive and can be easily managed by non-specialists. Its advantages reside in how it limits the burden placed on administrators and IT teams, which leads to them channelling organizational resources and attention to other essential aspects of the company.
In 2020, Atlassian data showed that 95 per cent of new users chose Atlassian Cloud and further research shows that existing users that have migrated to Cloud are raving about their improved experience.
The Atlassian Data Center model.
Data Center is a self-managed deployment option that allows organizations with complex demands and stringent needs to facilitate necessary provisions while using Atlassian tools.
It is an improved version of Server that offers enhanced features like the ability to run software on multiple nodes and zero-downtime upgrades.
Despite how Cloud has emerged as the leading Atlassian model and the speedy way in which it is being adopted by users, Data Center is still significantly used and is set to be so for a while.
Similarities and differences between both models.
Similarities
Being two different models with variances does not stop Atlassian Cloud and Data Center from sharing similarities. Atlassian offers similar features and functionalities for all their applications in both models, core features such as issue tracking — wiki documentation — and code repository management are available in both deployment options.
Atlassian usually ensures that the user interface of their flagship products is similar in both models to ensure that users familiar with one deployment can easily adapt to the other.
Also, Atlassian supports third-party integrations with various tools in both models (em… there are relative limitations), allowing users to extend the capabilities of their applications.
Differences.
There are various distinctive qualities and limitations in both models that make them unique and contrasting. Such characteristics range from how infrastructures are managed in both models to how much altering you can do to your applications to cater to specific needs.
The differences are described under varying categories as below:
A. Hosting.
• Cloud:
Hosting is entirely managed by Atlassian and your storage and data reside on remote servers operated and maintained by Atlassian.
• Data Center:
Hosting is managed by you or a third-party hosting provider you choose. You are responsible for procuring and managing the necessary hardware or cloud infrastructure needed to run Atlassian applications.
B. Customization.
• Cloud:
Cloud has limitations in terms of customizations and the use of external applications. The limitations stem from multiple reasons such as shared infrastructure, the need to avoid security vulnerabilities and ensure stability, ease of maintenance, and support consideration.
However, Cloud users can still extend the functionalities of their Atlassian applications with hundreds of cloud-enabled applications available on the Atlassian marketplace.
• Data Center:
Atlassian Data Center allows for more extensive customization and add-on usage, making it suitable for organisations that want their applications to cater to specific needs.
C. Scalability.
• Cloud:
Atlassian Cloud provides a scalable solution in that Atlassian ensures that your infrastructure can automatically handle increasing amounts of resources and users without compromising performance.
Atlassian offers both automatic and manual scaling for its cloud options. With automatic scaling, your cloud infrastructure adapts to increasing demand efficiently while manual scaling requires you to send a request and get an approval before scaling. Though manual scaling is relatively swift, delays are not unexpected.
• Data Center:
Atlassian Data Center's scalability depends on your organization's infrastructure and its ability to handle increased demand. Automatic scaling is only possible on Data Center if you are using a third-party hosting provider.
In a situation where your self-managed infrastructure demands an improvement of its capacity, you have to scale manually by implementing vertical scalability or horizontal scalability.
Vertical scalability means scaling your infrastructure by adding hardware components to your server to increase its capacity while horizontal scalability means adding servers to your cluster to distribute the system’s workload.
D. Data Control.
• Cloud:
Atlassian offers data residency options to Cloud users, allowing them to choose the region where their data will be stored. Cloud users on enterprise, standard, and premium plans can request that their data be stored in any of the regions where Atlassian servers are present.
• Data Center:
With Atlassian Data Center, your organization has greater control over data storage and can implement its preferred data residency and backup solutions.
E. Administration.
• Cloud:
Atlassian Cloud streamlines the functions of administrators and limits their responsibility, enabling your organization to extend the use of human resources. Functions such as software upgrades and software maintenance are carried out automatically on Cloud.
• Data Center:
Administrators are vital on Data Center because your organisation is responsible for managing and controlling all aspects of your Atlassian application.
F. Security and Compliance.
• Cloud:
The security of your cloud infrastructure is handled by Atlassian. Atlassian ensures that your applications are secure and maintain stability by providing a real-time status update and informing you about possible downtime. It also guarantees its cloud users 99.90% uptime for the Premium plan and 99.95% uptime for the Enterprise plan.
Atlassian also ensures that the infrastructure of cloud users complies with various industry standards. It does this by constantly improving its infrastructure and extending its scope. However, despite already attaining compliance with many of the standards, compliance is still limited in Atlassian Cloud and users are encouraged to verify before adopting Cloud.
• Data Center:
You are responsible for the security and compliance of your infrastructure on Data Center. You can adjust your infrastructure to meet up with specific standards or attain maximum security.
G. Limit.
• Cloud:
Cloud allows a maximum number of 35,000 users on its most elegant plans, which is restrictive for an enterprise that has users beyond such a limit. On the plus side, storage is unlimited on its most elegant plans.
• Data Center:
Data Center allows unlimited users on several Atlassian applications and organisations can adjust their cost to accommodate the increasing number of users.
So… Cloud or Data Center?
It is probably obvious by now that both models have upsides and downsides, and your choice should be centred primarily on organisational needs.
Factors like the number of users, industry standards, and internal requirements are essential when trying to choose between the two models.
For instance, an early-stage startup with no industrial or internal requirements to comply with certain standards that are not guaranteed by Atlassian will be better suited to Cloud. Reason being that Atlassian offers various plans for Cloud users and the company can adopt a lower-tier plan to save cost and then adjust based on growth.
Precisely, a start-up with 10 users or fewer using Jira Software, Jira Work Management, and Confluence can spend over a hundred thousand US Dollars annually on setting up deployment and purchasing Data Center licences, the same start-up can spend zero US Dollars on Cloud if it adopts the free plan.
On the other hand, a company with more than 10,000 employees and a need to abide by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will be better suited to Data Center. Reason being that such a company would have to subscribe to Cloud premium or enterprise plan (which is significantly more expensive than the Data Center equivalence) to cater for that level of users and ensure the necessary storage needed while still being concerned about complying with HIPAA. On Data Center, the company can spend less and control its security and compliance.
Conclusion.
The decision on whether to embrace Atlassian Cloud or Atlassian Data Center depends on the kind of organisation involved. Organisations seeking to migrate away from Server or newly adopt the Atlassian software should read through this analysis and examine key metrics. Both models are essential to the Atlassian ecosystem and their continuous existence is necessary due to the diversity they offer. At the moment and in the near future, there will always be instances that require embracing Cloud and ones that require embracing Data Center.
