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Migration Guide: Moving from Refined for Jira Server to Refined for Jira Cloud

Welcome to the cloud. Refined for Jira We’re here to help you make your migration as smooth as possible.

Refined for Jira Cloud combines key features from Server/DC with the added convenience of Cloudthe cloud. However, but there are also some notable differences between the two products. So that your Refined migration is as successful as possible, read this guide to understand our cloud product and plan accordingly. If we can be of any help during your migration, don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team for assistance.

On server, Refined is installed as an app into Jira.

On cloud, Refined is a SaaS product that integrates Jira content into sites. To enable Refined, you will need to install the Refined for Jira Cloud app into your Jira cloud instance. There will be two separate views for your content; one through the Refined site and one through the vanilla Jira UI. Your support agents, developers and designers will continue to work in the Jira UI and your users will be viewing content through the different Refined sites you have created.

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On Server/DC, Refined is added on top of Jira. When enabled globally, Refined acts as a skin applied to the JSM help center.

On Cloud, Refined is a site builder that runs parallel to Jira:

• Your customers create and view JSM requests on your Refined sites.

• Your administrators and support agents continue to work in native Jira. If an administrator makes a change to a project, it’s instantly reflected on the Refined site.

Due to the parallel setup on Cloud, it becomes possible to combine Confluence and Jira on one and the same Refined site – more on that later.

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Feature comparison 

Migration

As there are major infrastructure differences between the Atlassian server platform and the cloud platform, while you can migrate your Confluence content by following Atlassian's recommendations, the Refined content will have to be set up manually. 

We recommend you to evaluate Refined for Jira Cloud to get a better understanding on how it works.

We’re committed to making your migration to Refined for Jira Cloud as smooth as possible, don’t hesitate to contact us or book a migration assessment.

Known limitations

We are using public REST APIs provided by Atlassian to build your branded support site. This means that we request data to show and work with, and if the APIs do not return data we cannot support 100% of the feature scope of default JSD.

However the vast majority of the Jira Service Desk features are included.

Please view the known limitations so you can get an understanding of how it will impact your migration, how to prepare for the limitations with workarounds, or if necessary, adjust your processes/prepare your organisation.

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Preparation guide

Step 1. Consider overhauling your setup

Migrating to a new platform can be a great opportunity to rethink your JSM and Refined setup. We recommend to evaluate what was working well on the Server/DC instance - and what you can improve. You can opt to replicate your Server/DC setup on Cloud with improvements here and there, or see Cloud as a blank canvas to create a totally new setup.

Whichever option you choose, ask yourself how you can leverage these key advantages of the Cloud infrastructure:

• You can create as many sites as you want. What content can you split out into multiple sites?

• You can add a project to as many sites as you want. Which projects can be relevant to include on multiple sites?

• It’s easy to combine both JSM portals and Confluence spaces into one Refined site, if you get both Refined for Jira Cloud and Refined for Confluence Cloud. Could this improve your workflow and your site’s user experience? It opens up many new ways of using Refined, including:

  • Building an intranet that features JSM portals as well as Confluence pages and blogs. For example, this makes it easy for users to explore the company’s employee handbook and directly contact HR if they have any questions.

  • Creating an external-facing help site that features not only a service desk, but also Confluence spaces where users can browse documentation.

Have a look at these in-depth get-started guides to see what’s possible:

• Build a help & support site

• Build an intranet

Step 2. Prepare your base JSM (and Confluence) content

Once you have an idea of your sites' general structure, prepare your JSM projects – and your Confluence spaces too, if you plan to integrate it into your sites. Generally, we recommend to ask yourself the following questions:

• Should I restructure my projects/spaces? In other words: which content can be merged and what can be split into separate projects/spaces?

• Which projects/spaces should I introduce?

• Which projects/spaces can I refresh?

• Which projects/spaces can I slim down?

Step 3. Choose how to implement your knowledge base (optional)

One of the easiest ways to cut down on support tickets is to help customers or employees help themselves before they even need to file a ticket. For organizations using Jira Service Management (JSM), that often means integrating content from a Confluence knowledge base into their help center.

There are multiple ways of doing this. You might face some limitations, based on which option you choose. We recommend adding Confluence spaces to your site using Refined for Confluence Cloud. This lets you take full advantage of Refined’s user-friendly browse and search experience, which includes:

• The ability to embed request types directly on Confluence pages.

• Page tree menus in the left-hand menu of the Confluence spaces.

• Confluence modules on your landing pages:

  • Use the Page Tree module to guide users to self-help articles.

  • Use the News module to highlight blogs from Confluence spaces.

  • Use the Pages module to show the most recently updated pages in the Confluence spaces.

  • Use the Activity Stream module to show recently updated pages in the Confluence spaces.

Step 4. See if any limitations apply

You may face some technical JSM limitations on Cloud, depending on your setup. Please read our documentation to get an understanding of the limitations, whether they will impact your migration, and how to prepare.

Step 5. See how the parallel Cloud setup may impact third party apps

Because Refined Cloud works as a site builder parallel to native Jira, native Jira is not changed by Refined. Therefore, Refined doesn’t impact third party apps that provide functionalities in native Jira, but might impact apps that provide functionalities in the customer-facing portal.

Step 6. Set up a rollout plan

Because Refined works parallel to Jira Cloud, your sites don’t have to be ready directly after migrating. Users can access the native help center while you build your Refined sites. This gives you ample time to get feedback and fine-tune the sites before introducing them to your user base.

Migration guide

Due to the major infrastructure differences between Server/DC and Cloud, you need to re-create your sites when you migrate. We are working on developing a simpler migration path and will update the migration guide accordingly.

Step 1. Install Refined apps on Cloud

Install these apps on your Atlassian Cloud instance:

• Refined for Jira Cloud

• Refined for Confluence Cloud (if you want to integrate Confluence content into your sites)

Step 2. Migrate Jira

Upgrade your Refined apps on Server/DC to the latest available version. Then, use Atlassian’s Jira Cloud Migration Assistant to migrate your Jira Server/DC instance to the Cloud.

Step 3. Create Refined sites and add content

Due to the major infrastructure differences between Server/DC and Cloud, you need to re-create your sites when you migrate.

Check out our Get Started guide to learn how to create sites and to move between Jira and Refined. Then, use the Site Builder to add content and arrange it into a structure that is reflected in the site’s navigation menu. To get help from colleagues, delegate administrator permissions. You can give out permissions for your entire Refined instance or for individuals sites.

Step 4. Manage site settings

Manage the site settings for each of your Refined sites, for example:

• Set up a custom domain for each site.

• Control which kinds of users can access the sites with Site Access Permissions.

• Create a cookie dialog.

Step 5. Create and apply themes

Because it’s not possible to migrate themes, you have to re-create and apply them on Cloud. Note that Refined for Jira Cloud doesn’t support third party themes.

Step 6. Create landing pages

Refined for Jira Cloud lets you customize your site’s landing pages with the what-you-see-is-what-you-get Page Builder. Compared to the Layout Editor from Server/DC, the modules in the Page Builder differ a bit terms of functionalities, looks, and availability. Click the links in this table to see compare the documentation.

Need more help?

Have a look at the migration FAQ and the demos & other resources page.

And of course don’t hesitate to contact us:

• Migration assistance. Our support team is always there to help you with questions before, during or after migration.

• Migration assessment. In a one-on-one meeting, we give personalized advice on how to move and improve your sites.