Software updates available within the extended support period

Atlassian software comes with an unlimited license. That means that you can use your software for as long as you want, without any restrictions. Nonetheless, most Atlassian customers renew their 12-month support period every year. There are good reasons to do so.

The main reason is that Atlassian regularly improves their software, publishing several major updates each year. New features, improvements to existing features, performance improvements, bug fixes, and security updates are delivered with each new release, and the majority of customers want to take advantage of this. To install updates, you must be within a valid 12-month support period.

There are other reasons to renew your support period for Atlassian products regularly, but the most important is to receive these software updates. When you renew your support period every year, your software will remain up-to-date and you won't have to worry about problems arising. We let our customers who have purchased Atlassian licenses know when it comes time to renew their support period.

Different support models for extensions and upgrades

Coming up to renewal time, it makes sense to think about whether an upgrade is more appropriate than an extension.  An upgrade increases the number of users that are allowed to use the software, and even though an upgrade is more expensive than an extension, you may still save more if you choose to upgrade a little early.

This is because there are different support models for extensions versus upgrades: For an extension, you pay half the cost of the original license. The support extension is valid from the first day after the previous support period has ended - no matter when you request the extension. If you decide to extend your support period three weeks after your previous period ended, you lose those three weeks of support - the new period starts immediately after the last one ended.

When you upgrade, you start a new 12-month support period immediately.

Reasons to purchase an upgrade

The big question is whether you really need to upgrade. If you have a license for 500 users, but only have 300 employees in your company, this is a no-brainer - you don't need to upgrade. If you are bumping up against the user limit, or your team or company is growing quickly and you plan to have more users start using your Atlassian tools, then you will need to check what user capacity your software has. You can see this in the administration area under "License details".

When should you consider an upgrade?

• You want to extend the support period because the Atlassian software is useful for your teams and company. But employees talk about the tools often, and new users want to try the software - you may need a larger user capacity.
• An extension is often a strategic decision to use Atlassian software. It is often in the interest of the company that more of their employees start using the tools.
• We have often been contacted by companies who need to upgrade their user numbers, right after they have extended their 12-month support period. But an upgrade automatically comes with a new 12-month support period! Looking a little into the future would have stopped them from wasting money.

A simple calculation: For example, if you have extended your support period, but find you need a larger user capacity after two months, you have effectively purchased a redundant (and unusable) 12-month support period.  An extended support period and the new support period delivered with an upgrade can not be combined - they overlap and you can not be reimbursed. In this example, you will have lost 83% of the extension's cost.

In many cases, it is worth it to upgrade. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We are your Atlassian partner!

Do you want to introduce or extend your existing Atlassian tools? Are you looking for a customized solution based on Atlassian products for your corporate communication or software development projects? Do you have any technical or organizational questions? As an official Atlassian partner, we are one of the largest Atlassian experts in the world, with the experience of hundreds of successful Atlassian projects under our belts. We are more than happy to support you with all aspects of any of the products from the Australian software developer. If you have any questions, please talk to us!

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Further information

Leading Atlassian employees on //SEIBERT/MEDIA
An overview of our Atlassian services
The benefits of purchasing Atlassian licenses through //SEIBERT/MEDIA