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Partnering with Michigan State University Federal Credit Union to Streamline Jira and accelerate their transition to Atlassian Cloud
20
branches
2
months ahead of schedule
320k +
members
Project Snapshot
- Michigan State University Federal Credit Union's Atlassian usage grew organically, and lack of standardization led to clutter like duplicate workflows, configuration screens, and statuses, making the system inefficient.
- Isos Technology developed a strategic plan, and identified two primary work streams, one related to cleanup and efficiencies, and one related to migration.
- Streamlined processes have increased efficiencies for users, and automation saves time for admins. The cleanup has also enabled MSUFCU to accelerate their migration to Cloud.
Case Study
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) was founded in 1937 as a safe place where members could borrow and save money and build the financial security needed to achieve their dreams. 84 years later, it has grown to include more than 20 branches throughout the state and is more than 320,000 members strong. Guided by its missions and core values, MSUFCU invests in the communities it serves to create a positive place where people are proud to live, work, and visit.
Challenge
When MSUFCU first implemented Jira Software and Confluence on Atlassian Server, their primary goal was to get the tools up and running quickly. They took an intuitive, learn-as-you-go approach and soon began realizing benefits and efficiencies. As with many organizations, use of the tools grew organically over time. Without formal governance in place, significant inconsistencies in the way the tools were being used by different teams began to develop, and it made working in them cumbersome.
MSUFCU found that they had too many similar workflows—often there were a dozen or more, each with only one small difference—and this made it challenging to make even minor updates, like adding a status. Every small change had to be made manually across dozens of individual workflows. Further, the lack of consistency around nomenclature had resulted in a huge number of different statuses, many using different terms for the same thing. This made it difficult for team members to work across multiple projects.
The organization’s on-staff administrators could identify the issues at hand, but due to complex dependencies, they were unsure of how to fix them, and attempts to do so often caused more problems than they solved. MSUFCU soon recognized that they could benefit from a more strategic and structured approach—they needed to clean up their system to get it running more efficiently and in preparation for an eventual migration to Atlassian Cloud.
Solution
MSUFCU initially engaged with a few different vendors to help them clean up their system, but the projects were not successful. In search of a partner that was “the best of the best,” MSUFCU turned to Atlassian’s list of Platinum Partners, and identified Isos Technology as the best match. “They were knowledgeable, experienced, and understood where we were coming from. They wanted to find solutions that worked for us and didn’t try to put us in a box,” said Jennifer L., Application Engineer, MSUFCU. “Plus, we spoke with a few of their customers, and they were really happy with them!”
After an in-depth discovery process, Isos Technology mapped out a strategic approach aligned to MSUFCU’s long-term goals. They identified two primary workstreams: efforts related to cleaning up MSUFCU’s Jira instance and getting it running more efficiently, and efforts related to a planned migration to Atlassian Cloud. There were dependencies between the two initiatives, but Isos staged the work on parallel paths, rather than consecutive ones, so that MSUFCU could quickly begin benefitting from cleanup activities without waiting for them to be complete before the migration could occur.
After mapping out a plan of action, Isos Technology began cleanup. They identified and deleted obsolete and redundant projects and workflows, and consolidated the remaining ones, which increased day-to-day efficiency for all users. They established consistent nomenclature across the instance and consolidated statuses so users can work across different projects without confusion. And they automated complex, manual processes using Automation for Jira, which saves time and enables MSUFCU’s Jira administrators to focus on higher-level tasks.
Results
Accelerated cloud migration path: As a result of cleanup activities, the migration planning and preparation process was streamlined, and migration to Atlassian Cloud is scheduled to take place a full two months sooner than initially planned.
Improved scalability and extensibility: Since the system is running more smoothly, admins are less focused on supporting day-to-day activities and can now more rapidly extend the tools to new teams and onboard more users.
Enhanced governance: Now that processes and workflows have been standardized, teams can work in a consistent manner and more collaboratively across the company. Consistent nomenclature minimizes confusion and makes it easier for users to work in multiple projects.
Time savings: By implementing Automation for Jira, admins spend less time on repetitive, manual tasks and can focus on higher-level work, implementing best practices, and helping teams and individual users maximize their use of the system.
With so much going on and so many dependencies, we were overwhelmed. Isos Technology was able to look at everything we wanted to achieve, break it down, and tackle it systematically. They made the complexity manageable and produced regular, scheduled results that we could benefit from right away.
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