Case Study: Migration from Atlassian to Azure DevOps Services using DevOps Services Migration Tool
Client Background
Deswik is a global leader in mining technology solutions, providing cutting-edge software products for mine planning, design, scheduling, geology, and surveying. Headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, Deswik operates internationally with offices across North America, South America, Africa, and Europe. The company has 14 dedicated product development teams comprising 110 developers and over 290 collaborators working across 60 Jira projects, 196 source repositories, and 254 build definitions.
Deswik had historically relied on Atlassian’s on-premise Server Edition suite including Jira, Bitbucket, Bamboo, and Confluence to manage their software development lifecycle. These tools provided robust capabilities in issue tracking, source control, CI/CD automation, and documentation. However, Atlassian announced the end-of-life of its Server Edition in February 2024, presenting a significant operational risk to Deswik.
The Challenge
With Atlassian discontinuing support for its on-premise products, Deswik faced several critical challenges:
• The need to migrate to a supported, modern DevOps platform that maintains performance and security standards
• The potential disruption of business-as-usual development activities due to the migration
• A complex ecosystem of 60 Jira projects, 196 Bitbucket repositories, 254 Bamboo builds, and dependencies on Zephyr test plans and custom integrations
• Tight timelines to complete migration before support cessation
Deswik required a strategic, risk-mitigated migration path to a scalable cloud-based platform that could meet all functional, technical, and operational needs.
“We knew we needed a partner who could both understand the scale of our development footprint and offer a reliable, proven strategy to transition us quickly and with confidence.” – Andrew Miller, Head of Software Development, Deswik
Objectives
Deswik engaged DevOps Services to:
• Evaluate the feasibility and suitability of Azure DevOps Services as a replacement for Atlassian Server Edition
• Conduct detailed discovery and planning to determine effort, resources, and costs
• Design and implement a secure, scalable Azure DevOps Services platform hosted in the cloud
• Ensure a seamless transition for developers, with minimal disruption
• Provide roadmap and implementation strategy with phased execution
Discovery and Analysis
DevOps Services initiated a comprehensive discovery engagement that included:
Stakeholder Workshops:
• Conducted sessions with all 14 product teams to understand current-state workflows, pain points, and configuration details
Process and System Analysis:
• Reviewed Deswik’s use of Jira (issue tracking), Bitbucket (source control), Bamboo (build and deployment), and Zephyr (test management)
• Assessed integrations with Confluence, PSA, 7Pace Time Tracker, BambooHR, and Client Portals
Technical Landscape Assessment:
• Mapped the existing Atlassian ecosystem, including 196 Git repositories and 15 Git LFS repositories
• Documented 254 build definitions, automation scripts, and custom plugins
Application Landscape Modelling:
• Identified key functional components and integration points
• Defined the future-state architecture with Azure DevOps Services as the central hub
“Our aim during discovery was to de-risk the transition by thoroughly understanding the intricacies of Deswik’s current workflows, and mapping those to a future-proofed cloud platform.” – Richard Angus, CTO, DevOps Services
Solution Delivered
Following the discovery phase, DevOps Services recommended a full migration to Azure DevOps Services (Cloud). This met all Deswik’s security, performance, and scalability requirements.
Key Solution Features:
• Cloud-based hosting of all source code, boards, and CI/CD pipelines with built-in high availability
• Integration with existing tools: Confluence, PSA, BambooHR, and Client Portals
• Role-based access configuration with Azure Active Directory integration
• Scalable cloud-based CI/CD pipelines that significantly improved build and release performance
Automated Migration Using DevOps Services Tools: To execute the migration efficiently and with minimal disruption, DevOps Services used its proprietary JIRA Migration Tool Suite, enabling:
• Jira Issues and Sprints to be migrated seamlessly into Azure DevOps Boards
• Tempo Timesheets data to be imported into 7Pace Time Tracker
• Bitbucket Repositories, including LFS (Large File Storage) assets, to be migrated to Azure DevOps Repos
• Zephyr Test Cases to be migrated to Azure DevOps Test Plans
“Having our own toolset to automate Jira and repository migrations was a game-changer. It let us move quickly without sacrificing precision.” – Roger Harwood, Director, DevOps Services
Improvements in CI/CD Performance: By leveraging Microsoft’s scalable hosted agents and pipeline infrastructure, Deswik was able to:
• Scale build and release pipelines based on concurrent job loads
• Reduce feedback time from development to testing by over 60%
• Improve traceability and visibility of pipeline performance
Testimonial
“The migration from Jira to Azure DevOps was seamless thanks to the structure, expertise, and tooling provided by DevOps Services. The automated migration tools saved us months of effort, and the result was a high-performing cloud-native environment that our teams were able to adopt quickly. We now have faster pipelines, more reliable reporting, and better alignment across product teams. This has been a foundational improvement to our development lifecycle.”
– Andrew Miller, Head of Software Development, Deswik
Conclusion
Deswik’s successful transition from Atlassian Server Edition to Azure DevOps Services showcases how a structured discovery, strong stakeholder engagement, and phased migration strategy can modernise software development operations. With DevOps Services as a trusted partner and its powerful migration toolset, Deswik ensured a complete and accurate migration of all key assets and workflows.
Deswik is now positioned to drive continued innovation in the mining technology sector, supported by a modern, cloud-based platform that evolves with their business.