When end-of-life (EOL) dates are announced for a product, all of the companies relying on that product have a fixed timeframe to decide what to do next and it often involves multiple decisions around replacement technology and how to manage the migration process.
That was the case for thousands of organisations when Atlassian announced an EOL date for its server products, with their server products and apps no longer receiving technical support, security updates or bug fixes beyond 2024.
NPC Media was one of the companies facing the challenge of switching away from an Atlassian server and, working with Datacom, the team was able to navigate a smooth transition to the cloud.
NPC Media provides content management and playout services to the broadcasting industry, supporting more than 200 terrestrial television channels.
For many years, NPC Media had been using server-based Atlassian apps, particularly relying on agile project management app Jira. However, the NPC team was using Jira primarily as a reporting system for the many reports that operational staff produce every week.
“Because we use Jira 90% for reporting, some of the features we wanted weren’t available in the cloud. We had to find ways around key issues and features that wouldn’t easily transfer.”
The NPC Media team knew they needed help, so they went to market with a tender, selecting Datacom to provide expert support for the migration. The Datacom team was able to match what could be matched and provide alternative options for features that were no longer available.
The Datacom team was able to successfully migrate Jira and JSM from an on-premises server to the cloud without any disruption.
“It needed a bespoke interface for customers to log tickets, which we developed. We managed to do the migration without any disruption to service, which was absolutely essential for NPC.”
With Atlassian now operating in the cloud, the team at NPC Media no longer needs to worry about using an obsolete and unsupported product. Upgrades and patches are done by Atlassian and come into effect immediately. That’s a relief for Richard Vass, Systems Administrator at NPC Media, who was previously having to manage manual upgrades. The new cloud-based system has saved him time and freed him up to focus on other vital work.
“There were major risks associated with upgrading, due to the potential impact on operations, so we only ever updated every six months at the most,” Vass says. “That meant we were missing out on features, and we were a little bit behind on security updates. After the migration it’s obviously so much better. I don’t worry about upgrades at all, which is fantastic. It’s a load off my plate.”
Looking ahead, Vass is considering a complete migration of NPC’s work management project to service desk, and he’s hoping to work with Datacom again.
“The Datacom team were great and we were very happy with the outcome. I’d definitely recommend them,” says Vass. “It all went smoothly, and it was a positive experience from our perspective.”
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