How are users managed on Atlassian Cloud
There are two ways users are managed holistically in Atlassian Cloud, either by organization or at the site level, so which is better?
Why is managing users important
Providing a proper governance for all your users ensures security and reliability of the software
When we talk about user management, it seems like a tedious process in any large enterprise software. However, this shouldn't always be the case, as with proper configuration and setup, you can ensure that the way your users access or use your systems are secure and reliable. But why is managing users important? Without proper user management, it could lead to security breaches and exposure of data being the most critical risk of all. You can ensure that all these areas are secure by simply performing certain routines and configuration to ensure that there is proper governance in the way users are created and deployed within your Atlassian software.
Despite the above, if you're thinking about scaling your organization, it starts with managing what you spend on. Leaving your user base to "chance" means that you are likely to be paying for inactive users. Users who has never used or logged into the product and these type of users will creep in as long as there's no proper administration that goes into your organization workflow.
Interconnectedness
In Atlassian Cloud everything is connected, once you recognize that changing one part (e.g. granting a user a license) has implications for other parts (e.g., security, cost, compliance) then your strategy should be all-encompassing.
Since all the products are interconnected, why does it feel like they are separate products. Maybe, the reason behind that deals with the type of users you might be managing. For example Jira users would most likely perform their work on Jira and vice versa for Confluence users. In terms of better user management, having a centralized system to manage all products at once ensures
Onboarding
Instead of creating an account in Jira, then Confluence, you manage the user in one central place (e.g. Okta or Azure AD). This single action automatically creates their account and sets the default access for Jira, Confluence, etc simultanously.
Cost and Compliance
You look at the total spending for a user across all Atlassian products to ensure maximum efficiency and that the user only has the licenses they truly need.
Security
Enforcing security policies, like 2FA across the entire Atlassian suite. This ensures that Jira, Confluence and Bitbucket are all protected by the same, single security layer, not just one of them.
As your user base grows so does the administrative overhead that would exist in managing these users effectively. The first step is by understanding, which license is applicable to which product. After that, you should familiarize yourself with knowing if a user should get a license to a specific product or not. This should typically follow what their job function is within the organization.
Tools needed
As an administrator, you need to be equipped with the latest information or tools on how to manage your users. This helps to reduce the overhead that comes with administration of users.
With all that said, what happens when the user base grows in the thousands, how do you manage such users. This is where you use various tools and information set to setup yourself for success. Understand the ecosystem which is Atlassian community by reading the latest in cloud changes and knowing which are the best tools to help you get your job done faster. ELFAPP Technologies provides marketplace apps to help with user management and it makes administrating large user bases easier.
Support and Resources
If you require a custom way to help you manage your users or looking for an existing solution, we've got you covered.
Do you need help in understanding more about Atlassian user management? Then reach out to our support so we can help you get the best out of your administration. We make administrating Atlassian products easier by providing solutions that cater to various business needs.