Dual Licensing: how to avoid double costs when migrating to cloud
When it comes to migrating to the cloud, many companies opt for a step-by-step approach in which data, users and applications are migrated gradually rather than all at once. This approach enables better control over the migrated data, but also requires more time. And we all know that the longer the migration takes, the higher the costs usually are. One of the reasons for this is that companies have to operate both an on-premises (Data Center or Server) instance and the cloud instance in parallel during the migration. To solve precisely this problem, Atlassian has introduced Dual Licensing.
Dual Licensing ensures that there are no duplicate costs during the migration phase and that the customer only has to pay for the cloud licenses and not for the renewal of their on-premises licenses. After purchasing the cloud licenses, Atlassian offers a 100% discount on a renewal of the on-premises licenses for up to 12 months. This means that customers can use them free of charge for a maximum of one year. The on-premises products affected by this are Jira Core, Jira Software, Jira Service Management and Confluence, or their cloud equivalents.
Dual Licensing only applies to companies that have
- an active Server or Data Center subscription and also purchase an annual Cloud subscription for 1,001 or more.
- users whose on-premises instance is active or expired 30 days ago or less
Example 1:
A customer has a Jira Software Server instance (2,000 users) that expires on January 31, 2021, and wants to migrate to the Cloud in stages over a six-month period. On January 1, 2021, the customer purchases an annual subscription to Jira Software Cloud (2,000 users). Atlassian grants the customer a 100% discounted Jira Software Server instance until their cloud subscription expires on December 31, 2021.
Important notes on Dual Licensing
In addition to the entitlements mentioned above, there are further notes regarding Atlassian's Dual Licensing:
Level of the refunded license
The refund of the on-premises instance is equal to the level of the cloud subscription. If the tier is not available on the server or Data Center side, the next higher tier will be granted.
Example 2:
The customer has a Jira Software Data Center subscription (2,000 users) that expires on January 31, 2021 and wants to migrate to the cloud gradually over a period of six months. On January 1, 2021, the customer purchases an annual subscription to Jira Software Cloud (1,800 users) with a lower user tier than their Data Center subscription. Since there is no 1,800 user tier for Jira Software Data Center, the customer will be granted a 100% discounted Data Center subscription for 2,000 users.
Refund validity period
The term of the refunded on-premises license will be chosen to match and expire together with the term of the purchased cloud license. However, while the cloud subscription is renewed after the first year, the term of the waived server or data center subscription should not be longer than one year, as the costs of the on-premises license are only covered by Atlassian for a maximum of twelve months. Accordingly, the migration should be completed before the expiration of the refunded Server or Data Center license.
Loyalty Discount: save up to 40% on license costs when migrating to the cloud
The Cloud Loyalty Discount is a further incentive for companies to migrate to the cloud. Atlassian offers them high discounts on new purchases, renewals or upgrades. For the purchase or renewal of Jira Software Cloud, Jira Work Management Cloud, Jira Service Management Cloud, Confluence Cloud and/or apps developed by Atlassian, customers can expect a discount of
- 40% if the purchase is made before July 1, 2022.
- 20% if the purchase is made before July 1, 2023.
Note: Any new purchase/upgrade/renewal after July 1, 2023 is not covered by this special discount!
Example 3:
A customer has a Jira Data Center license for 2,000 users. On June 4, 2022, he buys a Jira Cloud license for which he receives a 40% discount. For his renewal on June 4, 2023, he receives a discount of 20%.
If a customer decides to purchase a 24-month license, the current discount level is applied for both years.
Examplel 4:
A customer has 250 users in Jira and 2,000 users in Confluence. On June 4, 2022, he buys 24 monthly licenses for each. For Confluence, he receives a 40% discount over two years. For Jira, however, he receives no discount due to the low number of users. He also receives no discount for his renewal on June 4, 2024, which is no longer within the Cloud Loyalty Discount period.
Eligibility for the Cloud Loyalty Discount
The Cloud Loyalty Discount is only available to customers
- who have an active Server or Data Center subscription for 1,001 or more users and also purchase an annual cloud subscription to Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Jira Core, Confluence, Questions for Confluence, or Training for Jira for 1,001 or more users.
OR - who migrate to an existing cloud instance, increasing the number of users by at least twice the current number of users and covering at least 1,001 users.
- whose original on-premises license was purchased before February 2, 2021.
- whose on-premises instance is actively maintained or whose maintenance expires within 30 days.
- who use the free Cloud Migration Trial.
Information: Atlassian also offers discounts on server licenses with less than 1,000 users when multiple server licenses are migrated to a single cloud instance with more than 1,001 users.
In addition, the cloud licenses must be purchased in a single order, with the exception of server starter licenses as well as community (non-profit) and open source customers.
Do you work for a large company and want to migrate to the cloud but don't want to bear double costs for your on-premises instance and cloud instance or benefit from the Loyalty Discount? We would be happy to assist you with this step and advise you on Atlassian's Dual Licensing and the Cloud Loyalty Discount. Just contact us or make an appointment directly with our CSO Christopher Mohr – we look forward to hearing from you.