Atlassian Administrator Expert

Group Management

1. Create groups: admin.atlassian.com > User management > Groups > Create group
   • REST API: POST /rest/api/3/group with {"name": "..."}
   • Structure by: Teams (engineering, product, sales), Roles (admins, users, viewers), Projects (project-alpha-team)
2. Define group purpose and membership criteria (document in Confluence)
3. Assign default permissions per group
4. Add users to appropriate groups
5. VERIFY: Confirm group members via GET /rest/api/3/group/member?groupName={name}
6. Regular review and cleanup (quarterly)
7. USE: Confluence Expert to document group structure

Permission Scheme Design

Jira Permission Schemes (Jira Settings > Issues > Permission Schemes):

• Public Project: All users can view, members can edit
• Team Project: Team members full access, stakeholders view
• Restricted Project: Named individuals only
• Admin Project: Admins only

Confluence Permission Schemes (Confluence Admin > Space permissions):

• Public Space: All users view, space members edit
• Team Space: Team-specific access
• Personal Space: Individual user only
• Restricted Space: Named individuals and groups

Best Practices:

• Use groups, not individual permissions
• Principle of least privilege
• Regular permission audits
• Document permission rationale

SSO Configuration

1. Choose identity provider (Okta, Azure AD, Google)
2. Configure SAML settings: admin.atlassian.com > Security > SAML single sign-on > Add SAML configuration
   • Set Entity ID, ACS URL, and X.509 certificate from IdP
3. Test SSO with admin account (keep password login active during test)
4. Test with regular user account
5. Enable SSO for organization
6. Enforce SSO: admin.atlassian.com > Security > Authentication policies > Enforce SSO
7. Configure SCIM for auto-provisioning: admin.atlassian.com > User provisioning > [IdP] > Enable SCIM
8. VERIFY: Confirm SSO flow succeeds and audit logs show saml.login.success events
9. Monitor SSO logs: admin.atlassian.com > Security > Audit log > filter: SSO

Marketplace App Management

1. Evaluate app need and security: check vendor's security self-assessment at marketplace.atlassian.com
2. Review vendor security documentation (penetration test reports, SOC 2)
3. Test app in sandbox environment
4. Purchase or request trial: admin.atlassian.com > Billing > Manage subscriptions
5. Install app: admin.atlassian.com > Products > [product] > Apps > Find new apps
6. Configure app settings per vendor documentation
7. Train users on app usage
8. VERIFY: Confirm app appears in GET /rest/plugins/1.0/ and health check passes
9. Monitor app performance and usage; review annually for continued need

System Performance Optimization

Jira (Jira Settings > System):

• Archive old projects: Project settings > Archive project
• Reindex: Jira Settings > System > Indexing > Full re-index
• Clean up unused workflows and schemes: Jira Settings > Issues > Workflows
• Monitor queue/thread counts: Jira Settings > System > System info

Confluence (Confluence Admin > Configuration):

• Archive inactive spaces: Space tools > Overview > Archive space
• Remove orphaned pages: Confluence Admin > Orphaned pages
• Monitor index and cache: Confluence Admin > Cache management

Monitoring Cadence:

• Daily health checks: admin.atlassian.com > Products > [product] > Health
• Weekly performance reports
• Monthly capacity planning
• Quarterly optimization reviews

Integration Setup

Common Integrations:

• Slack: Jira Settings > Apps > Slack integration — notifications for Jira and Confluence
• GitHub/Bitbucket: Jira Settings > Apps > DVCS accounts — link commits to issues
• Microsoft Teams: admin.atlassian.com > Apps > Microsoft Teams
• Zoom: Available via Marketplace app zoom-for-jira
• Salesforce: Via Marketplace app salesforce-connector

Configuration Steps:

1. Review integration requirements and OAuth scopes needed
2. Configure OAuth or API authentication (store tokens in secure vault, not plain text)
3. Map fields and data flows
4. Test integration thoroughly with sample data
5. Document configuration in Confluence runbook
6. Train users on integration features
7. VERIFY: Confirm webhook delivery via Jira Settings > System > WebHooks > [webhook] > Test
8. Monitor integration health via app-specific dashboards

Global Configuration

Jira Global Settings (Jira Settings > Issues)

Issue Types: Create and manage org-wide issue types; define issue type schemes; standardize across projects Workflows: Create global workflow templates via Workflows > Add workflow; manage workflow schemes Custom Fields: Create org-wide custom fields at Custom fields > Add custom field; manage field configurations and context Notification Schemes: Configure default notification rules; create custom notification schemes; manage email templates

Confluence Global Settings (Confluence Admin)

Blueprints & Templates: Create org-wide templates at Configuration > Global Templates and Blueprints; manage blueprint availability Themes & Appearance: Configure org branding at Configuration > Themes; customize logos and colors Macros: Enable/disable macros at Configuration > Macro usage; configure macro permissions

Security Settings (admin.atlassian.com > Security)

Authentication:

• Password policies: Security > Authentication policies > Edit
• Session timeout: Security > Session duration
• API token management: Security > API token controls

Data Residency: Configure data location at admin.atlassian.com > Data residency > Pin products

Audit Logs: admin.atlassian.com > Security > Audit log

• Enable comprehensive logging; export via GET /admin/v1/orgs/{orgId}/audit-log
• Retain per policy (minimum 7 years for SOC 2/GDPR compliance)

Governance & Policies

Access Governance

• Quarterly review of all user access: admin.atlassian.com > User management > Export users
• Verify user roles and permissions; remove inactive users
• Limit org admins to 2–3 individuals; audit admin actions monthly
• Require MFA for all admins: Security > Authentication policies > Require 2FA

Naming Conventions

Jira: Project keys 3–4 uppercase letters (PROJ, WEB); issue types Title Case; custom fields prefixed (CF: Story Points) Confluence: Spaces use Team/Project prefix (TEAM: Engineering); pages descriptive and consistent; labels lowercase, hyphen-separated

Change Management

Major Changes: Announce 2 weeks in advance; test in sandbox; create rollback plan; execute during off-peak; post-implementation review Minor Changes: Announce 48 hours in advance; document in change log; monitor for issues

Disaster Recovery

Backup Strategy

Jira & Confluence: Daily automated backups; weekly manual verification; 30-day retention; offsite storage

• Trigger manual backup: Jira Settings > System > Backup system / Confluence Admin > Backup and Restore

Recovery Testing: Quarterly recovery drills; document procedures; measure RTO and RPO

Incident Response

Severity Levels:

• P1 (Critical): System down — respond in 15 min
• P2 (High): Major feature broken — respond in 1 hour
• P3 (Medium): Minor issue — respond in 4 hours
• P4 (Low): Enhancement — respond in 24 hours

Response Steps:

1. Acknowledge and log incident
2. Assess impact and severity
3. Communicate status to stakeholders
4. Investigate root cause (check admin.atlassian.com > Products > [product] > Health and Atlassian Status Page)
5. Implement fix
6. VERIFY: Confirm resolution via affected user test and health check
7. Post-mortem and lessons learned

Metrics & Reporting

System Health: Active users (daily/weekly/monthly), storage utilization, API rate limits, integration health, response times

• Export via: GET /admin/v1/orgs/{orgId}/users for user counts; product-specific analytics dashboards

Usage Analytics: Most active projects/spaces, content creation trends, user engagement, search patterns Compliance Metrics: User access review completion, security audit findings, failed login attempts, API token usage

Decision Framework & Handoff Protocols

Escalate to Atlassian Support: System outage, performance degradation org-wide, data loss/corruption, license/billing issues, complex migrations

Delegate to Product Experts:

• Jira Expert: Project-specific configuration
• Confluence Expert: Space-specific settings
• Scrum Master: Team workflow needs
• Senior PM: Strategic planning input

Involve Security Team: Security incidents, unusual access patterns, compliance audit preparation, new integration security review

TO Jira Expert: New global workflows, custom fields, permission schemes, or automation capabilities available TO Confluence Expert: New global templates, space permission schemes, blueprints, or macros configured TO Senior PM: Usage analytics, capacity planning insights, cost optimization, security compliance status TO Scrum Master: Team access provisioned, board configuration options, automation rules, integrations enabled FROM All Roles: User access requests, permission changes, app installation requests, configuration support, incident reports

Atlassian MCP Integration

Primary Tools: Jira MCP, Confluence MCP

Admin Operations:

• User and group management via API
• Bulk permission updates
• Configuration audits
• Usage reporting
• System health monitoring
• Automated compliance checks

Integration Points:

• Support all roles with admin capabilities
• Enable Jira Expert with global configurations
• Provide Confluence Expert with template management
• Ensure Senior PM has visibility into org health
• Enable Scrum Master with team provisioning