Planning migration from JIRA to Azure DevOps (ADO)

As organisations evolve their development processes and consolidate platforms, many are considering a move from Atlassian JIRA to Microsoft Azure DevOps. Whether it’s to align with Microsoft ecosystems, reduce licensing complexity, or bring CI/CD, repositories, testing, and project tracking under one umbrella—migrating from JIRA to Azure DevOps is a decision driven by strategy, efficiency, and scale.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the key reasons organisations make the switch, how to plan an effective migration, and the challenges to anticipate along the way.

🚀 Why Migrate from JIRA to Azure DevOps?

 

1. Unified DevOps Platform

Azure DevOps provides a fully integrated suite that covers:

• Agile project management (Boards)

• Version control (Repos)

• CI/CD (Pipelines)

• Testing (Test Plans)

• Artifact management

JIRA, while powerful, typically requires integration with multiple third-party tools like Bitbucket, Jenkins, Zephyr, and Confluence to achieve similar functionality.

2. Licensing Simplification

If your developers already have Visual Studio subscriptions, they likely already have access to Azure DevOps Services included. This can significantly reduce licensing costs and complexity, especially in comparison to managing JIRA, Bitbucket, Zephyr, and Confluence separately.

3. Microsoft Ecosystem Alignment

For organisations heavily invested in Microsoft technologies like Azure, Office 365, SharePoint, and Teams, Azure DevOps fits naturally, allowing seamless authentication, reporting with Power BI, and native integration with Azure services.

4. Data Residency and Security

Azure DevOps offers on-premises (Azure DevOps Server) and cloud-based (Azure DevOps Services) options, allowing flexibility for compliance with data sovereignty and internal security policies.

📋 Planning Your Migration

 

Migrating from JIRA to Azure DevOps is more than a data transfer—it’s a transformation of your software development lifecycle (SDLC). Careful planning is critical for success. Key steps include:

1. Define the Scope

Start by identifying:

• Which JIRA projects will be migrated?

• Will you also move Bitbucket, Tempo Times, Zephyr test cases, or Confluence pages?

• Do you need historical data (comments, attachments, closed issues)?

2. Audit and Cleanup

Clean up unused projects, stale tickets, and redundant workflows in JIRA before migration to reduce complexity and effort.

3. Map Entities and Workflows

• Map JIRA issue types, custom fields, workflows, and statuses to their Azure DevOps equivalents (Work Items, States, Fields).

• Consider how sprints, epics, and boards will be replicated or restructured in Azure DevOps.

4. Select or Build a Migration Tool

Migration is rarely a one-click operation. You’ll need:

• Tools or scripts to export and import work items

• Strategy to handle test cases (e.g., Zephyr to Test Plans)

• Repository migration (e.g., Bitbucket to Azure Repos)

• Time-tracking data transformation (e.g., Tempo to 7Pace)

At DevOps Services, we’ve developed an in-house JIRA to Azure DevOps Migration Tool that supports:

• Full issue and project migration

• Test case conversion

• Repository and pipeline migration

• Time tracking data transformation

Request a demo to see it in action.

5. Plan for Integration and Training

• Integrate Azure DevOps with your existing tools and systems, or ticketing platforms

• Prepare onboarding sessions and documentation for developers, testers, and PMs

 

⚠️ Common Challenges to Expect

 

Migration isn’t without its obstacles. Here are some common issues to watch for:

1. Data Mapping Complexities

Custom JIRA fields, workflows, and issue hierarchies don’t always map 1:1 with Azure DevOps work items. Without proper mapping, data loss or confusion can occur.

2. Workflow Differences

Azure DevOps is structured around work item types like Epics, Features, User Stories, Tasks, and Bugs, which differ from JIRA’s flexible issue types. Expect changes to how your teams manage sprints and boards.

3. Test Case Migration

Moving Zephyr or Xray test cases to Azure DevOps Test Plans requires careful planning, often with scripts or APIs—especially if you want to retain execution history or attachments.

4. Loss of Links in External Tools

JIRA ticket references embedded in Confluence or Git commit messages may no longer resolve after migration. Consider a redirection strategy or archiving JIRA in read-only mode.

5. User Training and Change Management

Azure DevOps introduces a different user experience. Resistance to change and lack of training can reduce adoption and productivity post-migration.

🧭 Summary: Best Practices for a Smooth Transition

 

• ✅ Start with a discovery phase to map current state, goals, and risks

• ✅ Clean your data before moving it

• ✅ Use automation tools to reduce manual effort

• ✅ Engage stakeholders early—developers, testers, PMs

• ✅ Plan for a pilot migration before going all-in

• ✅ Invest in training to support adoption

 

Ready to Migrate?

 

Migrating from JIRA to Azure DevOps can unlock significant benefits—streamlined development, unified tooling, cost efficiency, and better integration with Microsoft platforms.

At DevOps Services, we’ve helped major enterprises transition smoothly, using our proven migration framework and custom tooling to ensure minimal disruption.

👉 Contact us today to learn how we can help your team make the move with confidence.