I recently attended Team ‘24, Atlassian’s flagship conference, where I had the chance to meet with Matt Schvimmer, Senior Vice President and Head of Product for Atlassian’s Agile and DevOps portfolio. We discussed how Atlassian tools support modern software development.

Atlassian tools like Jira, Bitbucket, Compass, and the newly announced Focus play a critical role for teams operating in complex environments. Schvimmer provided insights into the evolution of Atlassian’s tools and their future roadmap. He also addressed challenges such as synchronizing documentation with code, managing microservice complexity, and tackling tool over-configuration or cloud-related concerns.

My name is Marcus Held. I am a freelance software architect specializing in helping SMEs solve unique challenges in software architecture. Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked on systems serving over 220 million users and led backend development teams. I also contribute articles to Golem.de and am excited to be part of this new newsletter.

Enjoy the interview!

“If companies want to use open source, we support that”

Matt, as Senior Vice President and Head of Product for Atlassian’s Agile and DevOps portfolio, what exactly falls under your responsibilities?

I oversee Jira Align, Jira, Bitbucket, Compass, Jira Product Discovery (JPD), and Focus, which we unveiled at Team ‘24. I also lead our AI initiatives, including automated code reviews and DevOps automation.

Can you tell us more about Focus?

Focus evolved from our work on enterprise planning—this includes the acquisition of Jira Align. Customer feedback revealed that the challenge often isn’t planning itself but understanding how individual work contributes to the overall strategy.

Common questions are: How do I know my work matters? And how can a strategy be communicated so that everyone knows they are working on the right things?

Focus allows companies to map their strategies in a way that’s visible, actionable, and cross-functional, showing how individual efforts tie into broader objectives.

Can you provide concrete examples of who benefits from Focus and the problems it solves?

It’s less about company size and more about complexity. For example, at Atlassian, we structure our work into portfolios, initiatives, and sub-initiatives. Each level has OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) assigned to people. Smaller companies might manage with a spreadsheet, but with 1,000 or more employees, you need a system like Focus to manage and communicate strategy effectively.

One customer had ten such levels—from C-level executives to departments, portfolios, and products. For such complex setups, a tool like Focus is invaluable.

Does Focus only support OKRs, or are other methodologies available?

Right now, it’s primarily OKRs. The platform also integrates broader goal-setting features, but 90% of our customers use OKRs to align strategy with execution.

What tools does Atlassian offer for software architects? Any hidden gems among them?

Compass is the most important tool. Launched in October 2023, it helps manage increasingly complex microservices. It’s essentially a component catalog that teams can use to track ownership, documentation, tasks, and component performance.

In Compass, you can define dependencies between services and describe their interactions. When I design architecture, I often create large diagrams to address stakeholders’ perspectives, helping everyone understand the system. Compass’s dependency visualization doesn’t provide deeper insights into how systems operate. Are there plans to enhance modeling in Compass for more meaningful representations beyond technical dependencies?

I understand the desire for richer representations. Currently, Compass focuses on governance and compliance, helping developers quickly find information about specific components. While advanced modeling isn’t on the radar yet, simplified dependency visualizations could add value. We’ll consider this as we develop the product further—and you’ll get 10% of the profits for the idea (laughs).

Another challenge for software architects is keeping documentation up-to-date. Documentation often becomes outdated and useless over time. Do Atlassian tools address this problem?

One thing we plan for Compass in early 2025 is automation. It will help enforce policies, such as ensuring every service has an owner and that documentation is regularly reviewed and updated. This ensures teams stay informed about changes and maintain an up-to-date system overview.

Here’s how I approach it: I store architectural documentation directly in the code repository using Markdown or Asciidoc. This keeps the documentation synchronized with the code, allowing developers to update it alongside code changes. Do Atlassian tools support this?

That’s an interesting approach! While I’m not directly responsible for Confluence, I’ll discuss this idea with the team. It sounds like your architecture is well-integrated into daily development workflows, which is great.

The companies I work with often use a mono-repository approach. Does Compass support mono-repositories, or is this planned for the future?

We don’t support it yet, but it’s on our roadmap. It should be ready by the next Team conference in April 2025.

Let’s talk about Jira. Many companies I work with complicate their Jira workflows by adding numerous custom fields and workflows. This makes processes less agile and more tool-driven. What’s your experience, and how do companies deal with this issue?

This is a common problem, especially in smaller companies where admins have the freedom to tailor the tool to their needs. We’ve seen cases of what I call “admin sprawl,” where admins unnecessarily complicate processes by adding too many custom fields and configurations. We’re working on a feature called “head coach,” which optimizes Jira setups by suggesting fields to remove and processes to simplify. We’re also exploring ways to hide unused fields gradually, making interfaces cleaner.

Many of my clients are hesitant to move to the cloud, citing security and compliance concerns. Atlassian is phasing out its server products—how do you convince customers to migrate to the cloud?

I understand the concerns. There have been many advancements in security and compliance, and many companies now run critical operations, like HR or finance systems, in the cloud. We’ve added features like data residency to address these issues. I also try to understand the root of customer concerns, which often relate more to internal policies than technical challenges. To make the migration worthwhile, we’ve developed cloud-exclusive features, like AI and automation.

One last question: In Germany, there’s a growing trend toward open-source alternatives like Opendesk. How does this affect Atlassian’s future plans?

Great question. Atlassian has always championed openness—our Marketplace and ecosystem are key strengths. If customers prefer using Opendesk over Confluence, we support that. Our Teamwork Graph integrates third-party products, offering flexibility. We’d even consider deeper integration if there’s demand.

Thank you for your insights and time.

Thank you for the conversation!