Case study | Atlassian
Modernising Atlassian Data Center platforms through a risk-mitigated LTS upgrade for Emaratech
- Geography: MENA
- Industry: IT & Technology Services
- Employees: 500+
- Solution: DC Modernization
- Services: Modernization
The client
Emaratech, owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, is a leading technology and management consulting organisation in the Arab world. The company delivers mission-critical digital platforms and services across government and private sectors, spanning border control systems, government eServices, security platforms, payment gateways, ERP, and large-scale enterprise solutions. Reliability, security, and platform stability are central to Emaratech’s operations.
Client requirements
Upgrade to the latest LTS versions
Emaratech wanted to upgrade Jira Software, Jira Service Management, and Confluence to the latest long-term support (LTS) versions before the support deadline to ensure continued stability, security, and vendor support.
Plugin and add-on compatibility
With over 50 critical plugins in use, including ScriptRunner, eazyBI, BigPicture, Tempo, and QMetry, the client required verification and upgrades of all add-ons to ensure full compatibility with the new LTS versions.
Staging-first testing approach
The client required that all upgrades be tested in a staging environment mirroring production to validate functionality, integrations, and performance before live deployment.
Integrated system validation
Emaratech’s platforms are connected to multiple internal systems, including CRMs, telephony, and reporting tools. They needed comprehensive testing to ensure integrations remained fully functional post-upgrade.
Risk mitigation and rollback plan
Due to the complexity of clustered, load-balanced Data Center setups, Emaratech wanted a documented rollback strategy and risk mitigation plan for every stage of the upgrade.
Post-upgrade support and stabilisation
The client required hypercare support after the upgrade to resolve any issues quickly, optimise performance, and ensure teams could continue operations without disruption.
Our approach
We followed a structured, risk-mitigated approach to upgrade Emaratech’s Atlassian platforms. We began with a detailed assessment of the existing environments, configurations, and plugins, followed by a staging-first upgrade to validate compatibility and performance. The process included thorough testing, integration checks, and a clearly defined rollback plan to ensure minimal downtime. Post-upgrade, we provided hypercare support to stabilise the environment and optimise system performance.
Our solution
Comprehensive assessment and planning
We conducted a detailed audit of Emaratech’s Jira and Confluence environments, reviewing configurations, custom scripts, plugins, integrations, and infrastructure compatibility. This enabled the creation of a phased upgrade plan with clearly defined timelines, risks, and mitigation strategies.
Staging-first upgrade approach
A production-equivalent staging environment was used to execute and validate all upgrades before go-live. enreap upgraded Jira, JSM, Confluence, & plugins to Data Center–supported versions
Plugin and integration validation
Given the extensive add-on footprint, Enreap performed compatibility checks, version alignment, and functional validation across critical plugins and integrations, including reporting, test management, SSO, DevOps connectors, and collaboration tools.
Data integrity, health checks, and performance validation
Post-upgrade, enreap conducted system health checks, reindexing, data integrity validation, and performance testing to confirm platform stability across clustered nodes.
Controlled production rollout with rollback readiness
The production upgrade was executed within a planned maintenance window using a proven go-live checklist. A clearly documented rollback plan ensured rapid recovery in the event of unforeseen issues.
Post-upgrade support and stabilisation
Following go-live, enreap provided hypercare support to address any issues, fine-tune configurations, and ensure the platforms performed optimally under real-world workloads.
Business benefits
- Long-Term Platform Stability – Upgraded to supported LTS versions, ensuring continued vendor support, security updates, and platform reliability.
- Enhanced System Reliability – Improved resilience of mission-critical Atlassian environments through validated upgrades and testing.
- Minimal Business Disruption – Enabled a seamless production rollout with minimal downtime using a staging-first migration approach.
- Future-Ready Atlassian Platform – Positioned the environment to leverage future Atlassian features, performance enhancements, and security improvements.
- Reduced Operational Risk – Strengthened platform stability and governance across complex, integrated Data Center environments.
- Trusted Atlassian Partnership – Successfully delivered a large-scale upgrade, reinforcing enreap’s expertise in managing enterprise Atlassian ecosystems.
Technology stack
