Introducing Confluence and Atlassian as a company

Our first goal is to familiarize you with Atlassian, the company that built, maintained, and improved Confluence. Our second goal is to introduce you to Confluence from scratch.

We will divide our tour of Atlassian and Confluence into eight parts:

• Introducing Atlassian
• Introducing Confluence
• Exploring the competitors of Confluence
• Discovering the different hosting options of Confluence – Cloud and Data Center
• Discovering the different Confluence Cloud plans – Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise
• Accessing the official documentation of Confluence Cloud
• Accessing the service availability information and reports for Confluence Cloud
• Anticipating and preparing for changes with Atlassian’s Cloud Roadmap

Introduction to Atlassian

Knowing the company that produces Confluence can help you increase the efficiency you will get from this product. We have compiled summary information about Atlassian as follows:

• Atlassian was founded in 2002 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar. They were inspired by the Greek titan when naming the company.
• Their mission is to help teams around the world unleash their potential.
• Atlassian created Confluence Server in 2003 and Confluence Cloud in 2011.
• Atlassian, which went public in 2015, has recently invested heavily in the cloud, and has powerful tools for teamwork technologies in its product portfolio.
• Atlassian is one of the world’s most staunch advocates of open work and distributed working, where information is only hidden if specifically needed. They have published much content based on scientific data on this subject.

Table 1.1: Atlassian offices around the world

As shown in the preceding table, the company has offices in different parts of the world. Additionally, Atlassian has allowed employees to work from (almost) anywhere since 2020. Being a 20-year-old company with more than 8,000 team members, Atlassian has more than 260,000 customers worldwide.

Atlassian, which went public in 2015, has recently invested heavily in the cloud, and it has powerful tools for collaboration and productivity in its product portfolio, as shown in Table 1.2:

Table 1.2: Products by Atlassian

As you can see, Atlassian provides different solutions for different collaboration needs. Jira and Confluence are the most popular tools; the number of tools grows continually.

Let’s talk about Atlassian’s Point A, an innovative program that’s more than just a buzzword. Point A is Atlassian’s incubator for new ideas, where collaboration with customers and partners takes center stage. By focusing on real-world challenges and iterative design, Point A reflects a bold new direction in product development. It’s about building tools that people like you really need.

Why should you care about Point A? Because it’s shaping Atlassian’s future of collaboration tools. Point A isn’t just an abstract concept; it’s a tangible path to new solutions that could become vital to your daily work. By following Point A, you’re not just watching innovation unfold; you’re potentially influencing products that may become integral to your workflow. It’s a glimpse into the future of teamwork tools, and it offers you the opportunity to be part of something groundbreaking. So far, Point A has given us some incredible success stories such as Jira Work Management, Jira Product Discovery, Atlas, Compass, Beacon, and Confluence Whiteboards. You can find more information about Point A via this link: https://www.atlassian.com/point-a.

Atlassian values

To understand Atlassian, it’s beneficial to understand its values. Atlassian has five core values. These values significantly guide the way Atlassian conducts business, develops products, and builds its brand. The company is constantly evolving and changing; however, these five values remain constant. They are as follows:

• Open company, no bullshit
• Build with heart and balance
• Don’t #@!% the customer
• Play, as a team
• Be the change you seek

We highly recommend looking into the Atlassian values here: https://www.atlassian.com/company/values.

Introduction to Confluence

Confluence emerged in 2003 and is a system used by teams to store, share, and work as teams. At its core is the ethos of combining knowledge and teamwork. It allows collaboration within a single unit and between different departments in small or large companies (marketing, HR, IT, etc.). Users can combine all company-scale projects and teams.

Texts, references, images, and any content can be stored, shared, and edited simultaneously through Confluence. Because all this happens in the cloud, labor is saved and doesn’t require much extra effort. It creates an open, easy-to-use, secure platform that allows teams to brainstorm, interact, discuss, and disseminate knowledge. It helps to carry individual studies to the culture of team spirit and transforms monologue into dialogue. Planning, goal setting, executing, and learning come together in one place in an organized and user friendly manner.

Teams working from the office, remotely, or hybrid benefit from Confluence.

According to Atlassian, Confluence has four essential functions:

• Break down team silos
• Turn conversations into action
• Organize everything in one place
• Build a culture of open teamwork

Exploring the competitors of Confluence

There are several competitors or similar products on the market. We can name a few here:

• SharePoint by Microsoft
• Docs and Drive by Google
• Notion by Notion
• Coda by Coda
• Quip by Salesforce

Discovering the different hosting options of Confluence – Cloud and Data Center

There are two hosting options for Confluence:

• Cloud
• Data Center

Atlassian recommends the Cloud version, but the Data Center option better suits you if you have a business requirement preventing you from hosting your data in the cloud. Many companies want to strictly control who has access to data held in Atlassian products such as Confluence or Jira. These companies often choose Data Center over Cloud. Additionally, data residency on Cloud is limited for some countries, which can be a significant obstacle for companies in regulated industries such as finance or medicine. This limitation can make migration impossible, reinforcing the preference for Data Center solutions.

Although they have a lot in common, they have significant functional differences. The Cloud edition is a software as a service (SaaS) solution and offers many benefits. For example, Atlassian takes care of all the technical details to provide an always-on, continuously updated, secure system. On the other hand, you must maintain your infrastructure if you opt for the Data Center edition.

Throughout this book, we recommend and assume that you have the Cloud version.

More information can be found here: https://www.atlassian.com/migration/assess/compare-cloud-data-center.

Discovering the different plans of Confluence Cloud – Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise

Confluence has four different plans for different needs, namely Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise:

• Free plan: For small teams who need essential project knowledge management solutions
• Standard plan: For growing teams who need more powerful collaboration and knowledge management solutions
• Premium plan: For organizations with advanced features for scaling knowledge management and achieving a high level of cooperation
• Enterprise plan: For enterprises with global scale, security, and governance

This book recommends and assumes that you have the Premium or the Enterprise plan. These plans have all the features that you will need when you study this book. A brief overview of the essential differences between Confluence Premium and Enterprise follows. Although these two plans are similar, they have some important differences that are summarized in Table 1.3:

Table 1.3: Differences between Confluence Premium and Enterprise

As you can see, the Enterprise plan provides the most advanced features of Confluence and a higher SLA.

You will likely need to consult documentation frequently. Confluence’s official documentation (see Figure 1.1) is one of the most reliable sources in this case:

Figure 1.1: Confluence’s official documentation

As you can see in this image, in this documentation, you’ll have reliable information presented in an efficient way, on topics such as the following:

• How to set up Confluence Cloud
• How to create and organize work
• How to collaborate on content
• And much more…

Atlassian Marketplace

Atlassian Marketplace is a thriving online platform that hosts plugins, apps, and integrations specifically designed for Atlassian products. It’s a space where developers can share their creations, and users can find the tools they need to enhance their Atlassian experience.

The importance of Atlassian Marketplace can’t be overstated. It enables the customization and extension of Atlassian products, allowing users to tailor them to their specific needs. Whether it’s project management, code integration, or workflow enhancement, Atlassian Marketplace offers solutions that can make an Atlassian product an even more powerful part of your toolkit.

Atlassian Marketplace boasts a diverse array of features, including a user friendly interface for browsing and discovering apps, detailed reviews, and support resources. You can find both free and paid solutions, with clear information on pricing and functionality. With robust search and filter options, finding the perfect tool to augment your Atlassian experience is just a few clicks away.

Atlassian Marketplace and Confluence are tightly intertwined. Through Atlassian Marketplace, Confluence users can access a wide variety of add-ons (or plugins) that expand Confluence’s capabilities. Whether it’s new macros, templates, or integrations with other tools, AM empowers Confluence users to adapt the platform to their specific requirements.

We’ll be delving into Atlassian Marketplace in more detail in the later sections of this book. Its rich ecosystem and endless possibilities are worth exploring, and we’ll guide you through everything you need to know to make the most of this invaluable resource.

Accessing the service availability information and reports for Confluence Cloud

We expect this critical system on which your team works together to be operational. But unfortunately, no system can be 100% functional. However, in the previous sections, we saw that the service level is 99.9% for Premium licenses and 99.95% for Enterprise licenses. You can find the link to Atlassian’s Service Level Agreement in the Further reading section at the end of this chapter.

The interruptions are sometimes due to planned maintenance and unforeseen events. When such a situation occurs, our primary expectation is that the problem will be resolved as soon as possible and everything will return to normal. However, our other expectation is to be informed effectively and transparently in this painful process.

This is where Atlassian’s status page comes into play. Thanks to this tool, you can instantly monitor the service quality of Confluence and Atlassian’s other products. When there is a problem, you are immediately informed first-hand in the most reliable way without having to send a panicked email or make a phone call. Thanks to this, you know that the Atlassian team has already noticed the problem and is working on it, so the team does not become burdened with unnecessary demands and can devote its energy to solving the problem. You can access this tool at https://confluence.status.atlassian.com.

The Confluence Cloud status page is pictured in Figure 1.2:

Figure 1.2: Confluence Cloud status page

As you can see in the screenshot, this tool has many features. We recommend you learn all these features and try them out a few times. We also recommend you try it when everything is operational without waiting for any interruptions.

With this tool, you can do the following:

• Monitor whether the systems are operational
• Subscribe to instant notifications
• Report a problem you notice to the Atlassian team
• Access the list of past problems

Note

You can stay instantly informed about updates from Atlassian by using the yellow Subscribe to Updates button located at the top-right of the screen. You can receive these updates either via email or through a platform such as Slack. We recommend utilizing this service and closely following the updates.

Atlassian Statuspage

This tool works on the status page, another famous product of Atlassian. Here, the status of Confluence and all Atlassian products can be instantly monitored.

We will now provide an example of how Atlassian maintains communication when there is a problem. The following is a screenshot of an issue that occurred on September 29, 2022:

Figure 1.3: Past incident post published on Confluence status page

As can be seen here, the Atlassian team published five papers on this subject during the day. Here you can see the incident management maturity of the Atlassian team.

Anticipating and preparing for changes with Atlassian’s Cloud Roadmap

We must always be able to look ahead to maintain a platform on which the whole team will work. Changes we are unprepared for can put us in a difficult position. On the other hand, if we are aware of the upcoming changes, we can make much more sound decisions.

Atlassian is constantly improving Confluence by adding new features, removing some parts, and changing some features.

Atlassian Cloud Roadmap

One of the most reliable and effective ways to learn about the changes that await you is to review the official Cloud Roadmap that Atlassian has published here: https://www.atlassian.com/roadmap/cloud.

The Atlassian Cloud Roadmap is shown in Figure 1.4:

Figure 1.4: Atlassian Cloud Roadmap

As you can see in the previous screenshot, here is the roadmap of all Atlassian products, not just Confluence. You can view the changes that concern Confluence using the Product filter near the top of the screen.

Here you can see the following information about the changes:

• The change details
• The timeframe of the change: Q4 2022, 2023
• The products affected by the change: CONFLUENCE, JIRA SOFTWARE, TRELLO, and so on
• The category of change: Compliance, Security, Performance & reliability, and so on
• The status of the change: RELEASED, COMING SOON, FUTURE

We recommend that you follow this roadmap, which is updated quarterly. We also recommend that you proactively make the necessary technical and administrative preparations.

Confluence and Jira Software

Confluence and Jira Software are both products from Atlassian, and their tight integration is designed to enhance team collaboration, project management, and workflow tracking within an organization. Here’s how the integration between Confluence and Jira Software works, and why it’s beneficial.

Unified project management

• Linking issues and projects: You can link Jira issues directly within Confluence pages. This allows teams to reference specific tasks, bugs, or stories within their documents and meeting notes.
• Embedding Jira reports: You can embed entire Jira projects, dashboards, or filters within Confluence, offering a real-time view of the project’s status.

Enhanced collaboration

• Real-time synchronization: Changes made in Jira (such as status updates or comments on an issue) are reflected in Confluence and vice versa. This ensures that everyone has the most up-to-date information.
• Commenting and discussion: Team members can discuss Jira issues within Confluence, adding context and collaboration around tasks and projects.

Streamlined documentation

• Creating issues from Confluence: If a task or requirement is identified within a Confluence document, you can quickly create a Jira issue directly from Confluence without needing to switch between tools.
• Connecting requirements and development: You can connect Confluence pages (such as product requirements) with corresponding Jira issues (such as development tasks), allowing seamless tracking from initial idea to development.

Visibility and transparency

• Shared access: Team members can view relevant Jira details within Confluence, even if they don’t use Jira regularly. This promotes a shared understanding across different roles and departments.
• Centralized information: Having Jira data accessible within Confluence means that all project-related information, from requirements to status reports, can be found in one place.

Customization and automation

• Workflow automation: You can set up automated workflows that trigger actions between Jira and Confluence, such as updating a Confluence page when a Jira issue is resolved.
• Custom integration: Through APIs and various add-ons, organizations can tailor the integration to fit their specific needs and processes.

The tight integration between Confluence and Jira Software supports a more cohesive, efficient, and transparent approach to project management and collaboration. By connecting documentation, discussion, task tracking, and reporting across the two platforms, teams can work more seamlessly and maintain alignment with both high-level objectives and day-to-day tasks. It reduces the fragmentation of tools and information, leading to a more streamlined and productive working environment. We will revisit Confluence’s integration with Jira Software in the next chapters.

We have briefly introduced Confluence and Atlassian; this will help you better understand the philosophy of Confluence and get the most out of it. It’s now time to meet some fundamental concepts of enterprise collaboration.