Transferring project management software means moving usable project records, ownership, access, and operating context to a new account, tool, device, or administrator. A successful export is only the first step. The destination must preserve the fields and evidence people need, and the source should remain available until a staged import and recovery check pass.
Define the transfer boundary
List the projects, work items, statuses, custom fields, comments, attachments, users, groups, permissions, boards, sprints, dashboards, automations, integrations, and audit records in scope. Mark archived and legally retained projects separately. Identify the current owner and the person authorized to accept the destination. Exclude private or unrelated work from a sample transfer.
Choose the supported export
Use the provider's documented site, project, or item export rather than copying screens. Atlassian documents that Jira Cloud backups can include work items and field content, boards and sprints, users and groups, comments, selected media files, and space configuration data. It also notes that automation flows are not automatically included and must be exported separately. That distinction belongs in the transfer inventory.
Preserve attachments and identity
Confirm whether attachments are included automatically or only when a separate option is selected. Atlassian describes an option for attachments, avatars, logos, and other media in a backup. Map users by stable address or approved identifier without exposing unnecessary personal data. Decide how former users, deleted accounts, and unowned work should appear at the destination.
Map fields and workflow states
Create a table from each source status, priority, work type, custom field, and relationship to its destination equivalent. Identify fields that will become text, tags, or archived reference data. Do not collapse distinct states merely to make an import pass. Review the mapping with the teams that use the workflow before moving live records.
Rebuild integrations explicitly
List source-control links, email intake, chat notifications, calendars, forms, time tracking, reporting, and automation. Record owners and permissions for each connection. Disable test notifications or point them at a sandbox so a rehearsal does not send messages or create duplicate work. Treat secrets and tokens as owner-entered destination values rather than export content.
Import a representative sample
Select one small project with comments, attachments, dependencies, completed items, and a custom field. Import it into a private staging area. Compare counts, field values, timestamps, relationships, files, and permission behavior. Repeat with a difficult archived or cross-team project before scheduling the full migration.
Test recovery and rollback
NIST contingency guidance treats testing as a critical element of recovery and describes restoration from backup media to an alternate platform as a recovery approach. Keep the source system readable and the export immutable while validating the destination. Document how the organization would return to the source or repeat the import if reconciliation fails. A plan without a tested reversal is incomplete.
Set a controlled cutoff
Announce a final source update time, stop or queue edits, create the final export, and record its hash and timestamp. Import, reconcile counts, and test priority workflows. Redirect approved integrations only after acceptance. Keep users informed about which system is authoritative, but do not send external messages without the authorized owner process.
Verify the handoff
Ask destination owners to find known work items, open attachments, follow dependencies, change an item through the workflow, and run required reports. Confirm administrator succession and account recovery. Record missing items and decisions. Retire the old system only after retention, billing, and deletion gates receive the required approval.
Define completion precisely
Call the transfer complete when scoped data is reconciled, attachments open, permissions match intent, workflows operate, integrations have owners, recovery is tested, and the destination owner accepts the evidence. A download sitting in a folder is a prepared export, not a completed migration.
Sources
- Export data from Jira Cloud — Atlassian Support
- Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems — National Institute of Standards and Technology, May 1, 2010