About Atlassian Step-up Credit and how it works

Fact is: As of February 2, 2021, Server products from Atlassian can no longer be purchased. And more importantly, as of February 2, 2024, support as well as bug fixes for the Server version of Jira, Confluence and the other Atlassian Server tools will be discontinued. At the latest, this is the time for all Server customers to initiate their migration process to Data Center or Cloud.

Some Server and Data Center customers are already jumping on the bandwagon and move to Cloud to ensure a timely, complete and, above all, as stress-free a switch as possible. Usually, this happens a few months before the end of the maintenance period, which means that there is no seamless transition from the exact end of the Server or Data Center runtime and the start of the Cloud runtime. Ergo: Unused Server or Data Center services remain.

These remaining services are one of the main reasons why many server and data center customers delay switching to the cloud for as long as possible. In the past, credits for payments already made did not apply between Cloud and Server or Data Center. This means that if a customer migrated to the Cloud without having fully utilized the term of their on-premises instance, money was effectively given away, as the "overpayment" was not credited. Until now!

From April 4, 2022 to March 31, 2023, Atlassian is offering a Step-up credit to all on-premises customers who migrate to Cloud and still have unused Server or Data Center maintenance. The Step-up credit is toward an annual Cloud purchase and is based on the value of unused Server or Data Center maintenance.

The Atlassian Step-up credit is applicable to customers who ordered

• at least 201+ (201-300) users in Jira, Confluence, or Bitbucket Cloud (annual licenses)
• at least 51+ (51-100) agents in Jira Service Management (annual licenses)

and who have at least 6 months remaining on the on-premises license.

Why did Atlassian introduce the Step-up credit?

In the past, Server or Data Center maintenance that was paid for but not used was often not credited when moving to the Cloud. Many customers are unwilling to give up their remaining Server or Data Center investment by purchasing Cloud products before their maintenance expires. As a result, most customers delay the migration until their maintenance contracts are nearly or fully expired, missing the early jump to the Cloud. In this case, the switch must be made within a short time, which can end up being more error-prone, more stressful, and sometimes more expensive than a timely switch.

This scenario primarily affects small and medium-sized enterprises. While there are many incentives for customers with more than 1,000 users to migrate to the Cloud (e.g., Dual Licensing and Loyalty Discount), there are no special offers for licenses with fewer than 1,000 users besides the Cloud Migration Trial. This is where Atlassian Step-up credit comes in and gives small as well as mid-sized companies an incentive to migrate and thus future-proof their business.

Note: The Cloud Migration Trial serves as a pre-migration, not for production. The trial is time-limited and doesn't have SLA guarantees or get the same level of support.