Building for the Atlassian Ecosystem: Why Keeping Your App Inside Jira Matters

For app vendors in the Atlassian Marketplace, one of the biggest strategic decisions is whether to build an app that lives within Jira or one that pulls Jira data into a separate application. While the latter may seem like a great way to offer advanced functionality, the reality is that it’s often a fast track to friction, frustration, and ultimately, rejection by enterprise customers.

The Enterprise Reality: An Overcrowded Toolset

Enterprises don’t just have a few tools—they have hundreds. Many have invested heavily in the Atlassian ecosystem, adopting Jira Software, Jira Align, Confluence, and a suite of Marketplace apps to streamline their workflows. When a new tool lives inside Jira, it naturally integrates into their existing processes. But when an app extracts data into an external system without feeding all the needful information back into the Atlassian ecosystem, it creates a disconnect that enterprises won’t tolerate for long.

Exhibit A: When Integration Goes Wrong

Once upon a time, I worked with a Jira Align client who, at the recommendation of a consultant unfamiliar with the Atlassian ecosystem, decided to try out a third-party tool that integrated with Jira. On paper, it seemed like a good idea—another way to manage goals and objectives for the quarter. In reality? It was a disaster.

Here’s why:

• This enterprise already had a Jira ↔ Jira Align integration, ensuring strategic alignment across teams.

• The new tool added a separate integration with Jira, creating two disconnected data flows.

• It had no consideration for end users in Jira Align, meaning critical information had to be manually input.

The result? Leadership couldn’t compute the technical disconnect. Teams were left with gaps in visibility, duplicate work, and growing frustration. After only three months, the tool was unceremoniously kicked out—and with it, any hope of adoption.

This is exactly why apps that pull Jira data into external tools without deeply integrating back into Atlassian don’t last. They introduce complexity, disrupt workflows, and ultimately drive enterprises to look for better, more seamless solutions.

Why Apps That Take Jira Data Elsewhere Struggle

If your app only pulls data from Jira but doesn’t push ALL relevant insights or updates back, users will run into serious problems:

1. Fragmented Workflows – Teams rely on Jira as their single source of truth. If your app operates in a silo, users will be forced to work across multiple interfaces, leading to inefficiencies and frustration.

2. Lack of Visibility – Enterprise teams expect data to be shared and accessible across their Atlassian tools. If your app isn’t feeding critical information back into Jira or Confluence, decision-makers won’t trust its value.

3. Integration Headaches – The more tools an enterprise has to connect, the harder it becomes to manage permissions, security, and governance. If your app introduces a new, standalone platform, IT teams will look for ways to work around it or remove it altogether.

4. Competing with Jira Align (and Losing) – Several tools have attempted to compete with Jira Align by taking strategic planning data outside of Jira. The result? They were eventually kicked out because organizations prefer to keep everything inside their established ecosystem.

   
   

How to Build for Success

If you want your app to thrive in the Atlassian Marketplace, it’s crucial to embrace the ecosystem rather than fight against it. Here’s how:

• Embed Inside Jira – Design your app to function natively within Jira, making it feel like a seamless extension of the user’s existing workflows.

• Push Data Back – Ensure that any data your app collects or analyzes feeds back into Jira, Confluence, or other Atlassian tools to maintain visibility and usability.

• Leverage Atlassian’s APIs – Use Jira’s REST API, and Forge to integrate deeply and securely, reducing the need for external systems.

• Enhance, Don’t Replace – Instead of trying to compete with Atlassian’s core offerings, position your app as an enhancement to Jira, helping teams get more value from the tools they already use.

  
  

Final Thoughts

Enterprises aren’t looking for another disconnected platform—they want solutions that fit seamlessly into their existing Atlassian investment. If your app pulls data from Jira without pushing insights back, users will eventually find a way around it. Build within the Atlassian suite, integrate deeply, and align with how enterprises want to work—not how you think they should work.

By embracing the Atlassian ecosystem, your app stands a much better chance of gaining adoption, proving its value, and achieving long-term success in the Marketplace.

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Author: Elizabeth Wheeler

President, Partner Strategy Group