Atlassian Cloud Backup & Compliance: Top Problems & Solutions

If you haven’t started, you will need to migrate Jira and Confluence to Atlassian Cloud. By doing this, not just because it’s recommended, Atlassian Cloud will bring you flexibility, cutting-edge features, and will free up your IT team from management and maintenance.  

When you do this though, you’ll need to pause for a second and ask yourself, “Does entrusting Atlassian Cloud with service management mean you can bid farewell to backup responsibility?”

I can tell you that, in my experience as a data protection specialist, I've seen too many fall prey to answering this question in a naïve way and buying into misconceptions about SaaS applications, including Jira and Confluence Cloud, and how backup works.  

Let’s look at the most common misconceptions and debunk three of the most popular myths.  

💡 Important Read: Jira Cloud Backup & Restore for Automated Daily Backups

Problem 1 – I don’t need to worry about data backup. If data is lost, Atlassian will recover it for me.    

This is probably the most common misconception. I’ve heard it hundreds of times, not just with Atlassian Cloud, but with Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and dozens of other popular SaaS applications.    

It’s easy to understand why. If Atlassian is providing the service for me, and committing to 99.999% uptime, then why wouldn’t they help me recover in case I delete something?   

It’s a fair point, but the common misunderstanding is that Atlassian will perform system-level disaster recovery operations and backups in case of a hardware failure, attack, etc. But, it’s virtually impossible for Atlassian to perform granular restores of one of their tenants. In fact, this is plainly stated in their shared responsibility model: “To avoid data loss, we recommend making regular backups.”  

💡 Related Read: Top Rated Jira Cloud Backup Providers On The Market Right Now

Problem 2 – Compliance is Guaranteed with Atlassian Cloud  

Atlassian Cloud is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 compliant to begin with among a host of other certifications for enhanced security measures. However, do not confuse security certifications with automatic compliance. Does your organization get an automatic compliance pass? The simple answer is no. Consider this, particularly if your organization operates in a highly regulated industry, you might have stringent prerequisites on:  

• Data Retention: How long are you required to store your data? How long were you storing it on-premises?

• Data Sovereignty & Offsite Copies: Are you required to keep copies offsite (outside of Atlassian Cloud)? Are you following the standard 3-2-1 rule?

• Demonstrable Recovery: In case of a compliance audit, or cyber insurance requirement, can you prove that your organization can recover data from Atlassian in a required SLA?  

Strict regulatory compliance, either for your company or your clients, demands you go the extra mile to ensure adherence.  

So, again, the simple answer is no, Atlassian Cloud does not bestow instant compliance.

Problem 3 – The ‘Checkbox’ Backup Illusion with SaaS Apps   

It's common for many SaaS applications, like Atlassian, to offer a simple 'checkbox' backup solution - exporting data on-demand or scheduling automated exports via their API.  

While backups may appear to be a cakewalk, recovery is a different beast altogether. If your goal is to please the IT team with a “checked box,” go ahead. However, if the real challenge of restoring deleted or corrupted data arises, it's time to rethink your data protection strategy.

Ultimately, moving to Atlassian Cloud is a no-brainer for organizations. But it’s crucial to understand what Atlassian does and does not do. You don't want to be caught off guard by unrecoverable data loss or non-compliance, especially when any type of disaster strikes.   

One easy way to remember all of this is the following: It's Atlassian’s responsibility to keep your service running and it’s your responsibility to keep your data available.  

Moving beyond Myths to HYCU for automated backups, granular restores, and data protection for Jira, Confluence, and Jira Service Management  

At HYCU, we've safeguarded critical data across cloud, on-premises, or SaaS landscapes for years and for thousands of customers. Recognizing how critical Jira and Confluence are to IT and engineering sectors, we've built a data protection service specifically to address these users’ needs. It's designed to let you leverage the best of Atlassian Cloud while maintaining control, recoverability, and adherence to data retention and compliance norms.

In fact, Atlassian Ventures invested in us, recognizing how critical SaaS data protection is.

HYCU customers enjoy:   

- 1-click restore of projects, epics, issues, attachments, and sub-types.

- Under-a-minute automation of all backup operations.

- Offsite data storage from days to years

- Permanent goodbye to manual backups!   

Don't just take our word for it. Witness the magic firsthand. How? Take a tour of HYCU and experience it for yourself.    

After all, seeing how easy it is to debunk common myths and experience the magic firsthand will make you a believer.

 
Take a tour of HYCU

Author: Andy Fernandez, Director, Product Management, HYCU