Today I want to share my impressions and provide advice on being a Jira administrator. But I also wanted to go beyond my perspective, that`s why I asked the community to share their thoughts as well. You`re gonna find them below, thank you guys!

It seems that NOW is a great time to become a Jira admin. Entry threshold is relatively low (due to the popularity of Jira Cloud platform) and demand for Jira administrators on the market is high (due to its constant digital transformation).

– In the times of the Atlassian Cloud, the most important thing is the ability to acquire knowledge yourself. The qualification of a system administrator is no longer required – writes Klaus Hartmann, Jira administrator and No-Code-Enthusiast. – In principle, anyone can become a good Jira administrator.

Can`t agree more with Klaus. But having some experience as a sysadmin boost your self-confidence, I tell ya!

Jira administrator is not only a person who configures workflows, screens, grants user access or installs new add-ons. There are many aspects of such position, and one of the most important is mindset. It is the way of finding a balance between user needs, company’s interest and well designed Jira instance.

But where to actually start?

Start locally…

Try to fully understand users needs. In order to do this you need to wear their shoes. Create an account with basic permissions and play around with Jira features. Don`t be afraid to ask questions. What other users like or dislike about using your instance might be the clue for you. Then you can switch to project administration and repeat the process.

…and grasp the basics

– My best and most sacred tool to learn has been the community on Atlassian and here on FB. I think our Atlassian community has the best knowledge base – says Aaron Geister, who bravely walks the Jira administrator path.

Well, that`s true! It`s good to base on other users experience. You should also read the documentation – it`s clear and simple. Moreover, I have provided some materials and links in one of the previous posts And that leads us to the next step which is…

Get certified

A little bit of stress, time pressure and knowledge of the areas you`re not comfortable with – that`s what you need. Atlassian exams are a great way to systematize what you already know and what you need to focus on. I recommend starting from the easiest ACP-610 and ACP-620 – project administration in Jira Data Center and Cloud. Having these two may be useful for other reasons as well. They`re first steps on the path of becoming the Atlassian Certified Expert.

Contribute to the community

There are may ways to be involved in the Atlassian community. Share your knowledge in the articles, share your solutions, attend to events. This blog is my contribution, I`m happy when you read this and find it useful for you:)

Sometimes it`s hard

Of course Jira has its limitations but what you really have to watch out for is lack of assertiveness. Your assertiveness:) The simplest way to avoid ending up in a Jira mess (or a swamp, how Rachel Wright likes to call it) is to say “no” by default, until you fully understand users needs. Remember that YOU are the administrator, not the person who requests the change. And maintenance of the solutions you implement will be on your shoulders.

– Every day we had so many change requests for workflows, custom fields, screens, screen schemes and so on – says Yogita Chhaya, Jira administrator who took part in agile transformation in her company – The products are best, but the companies should use them and customise them intelligently at the same time make it simple. Jira is like a sea, it is up to us how far we want to go.

But it pays off

– I would say for me it’s my favorite place tho. Atlassian tool set and systems are my by far favorite system to work in. My passion and daily life of work – says Aaron.

Want to share your thoughts? Your comments are more than welcome!