Dual Licensing: Avoiding double costs when moving to the cloud

When migrating to the cloud, many organisations opt for a phased approach with which data, users and applications are migrated one at a time rather than once and as a package. This approach allows better control over the migrated data, but also requires more time. And we all know: the longer the migration takes, the higher the costs usually are. This is because companies have to run both an on-premises (Data Center or server) instance and the cloud instance while the migrating. To solve this problem, Atlassian has introduced Dual Licensing.

Dual Licensing ensures that there are no double costs during the migration and that the customer only has to pay for the cloud licences, but not for the renewal of his on-premises licences. After the purchase of the cloud licences, Atlassian gives a 100% discount on a renewal of the on-premises licences for up to 12 months. So: the customer can use them free of charge for a maximum of one year. The eligible on-premises products are Jira Core, Jira Software, Jira Service Management and Confluence, or their cloud equivalents.

Dual Licensing only applies to companies

• which have an active server or Data Center subscription and also purchased an annual cloud subscription for 1,001 or more users.
• which have a on-premises instance that is active or expired a maximum of 30 days ago.

Example:
A customer has a Jira Software Server instance (2,000 users) that expires on 31 January 2021 and wants to migrate to the cloud gradually within six months. On 1 January 2021, the customer purchases an annual subscription to Jira Software Cloud (2,000 users). Atlassian will grant the customer a 100% discounted Jira Software Server instance until the cloud subscription expires on 31 December 2021.

Important notes on Dual Licensing

In addition to the eligibility requirements mentioned above, there are additional notes to consider regarding Atlassian’s Dual Licensing:

Tier of the dual license granted

The 100% discounted server maintenance or Data Center subscription granted will be for the same tier as their cloud subscription. If the tier is not available on the server or Data Center side, the next highest tier will be granted.

Example:
The customer has a Jira Software Data Center subscription (2,000 users) that expires on 31 January 2021 and wants to migrate to the cloud gradually over a six-month period. On 1 January 2021, the customer purchases an annual subscription to Jira Software Cloud (1,800 users) with a lower user level than their Data Center subscription. As 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.

Validity of the dual license

Dual Licenses for server/Data Center products are co-termed to match the end date of the cloud products being purchased. However, while the cloud products will be renewed at the end of the first year, the server or Data Center Subscription should not exceed one year as the cost of the on-premises licence will only be waived by Atlassian for a maximum of twelve months. Accordingly the migration should be completed before the expiry of the refunded server or Data Center licence.

Loyalty Discount: save up to 40% on licence costs when migrating to the cloud

The Cloud Loyalty Discount is another incentive for companies to migrate to the cloud as Atlassian offers large 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 Atlassian-developed apps, customers can expect a discount of

• 40% if the purchase is made before 1 July 2022.
• 20% if the purchase is made before 1 July 2023.

Note: Any new purchase/upgrade/renewal after 1 July 2023 is not covered by this special discount!

Example:
A customer has a Jira Data Center licence for 2,000 users. On 4 June 2022 he buys a Jira Cloud licence for which he receives a 40% discount. For his renewal on 4 June 2023 he receives a discount of 20%. His renewal on 4 June 2024 is no longer discounted.

If a customer decides to purchase a 24 month licence, the current discount level will be applied for both years.

Example:
A customer has 250 users in Jira and 2,000 users in Confluence. On 4 June 2022 he buys 24 month licences for both tools. For Confluence he receives a 40% discount for 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 4 June 2024, which is no longer within the Cloud Loyalty Discount period.

Requirements for claiming the Cloud Loyalty Discount

The Cloud Loyalty Discount will only be granted to customers

• who have an active server or Data Centre subscription for 1,001 or more users and also purchase an annual cloud subscription of Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Jira Core, Confluence, Questions for Confluence or Training for Jira for also 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 licence was purchased before 2 February 2021.
• whose on-premises instance is actively maintained or whose maintenance expires within 30 days.
• who are using the free Cloud Migration Trial.

Info: Atlassian also discounts 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 purchase of the cloud licences must be made in a single order.

Not eligible for the Cloud Loyalty Discount are Server Starter Licences as well as Community (non-profit) and Open Source customers.

You work for a large company and plan to migrate to the cloud, but don’t want to bear double costs for your on-premises instance and cloud instance. Or do you want to benefit from the Loyalty Discount? We are looking forward to helping and advising you on Atlassian’s Dual Licensing and the Cloud Loyalty Discount. Contact us or arrange an appointment with our CSO Christopher Mohr.