Topic
- Content & Knowledge Management
- Cross-Team Collaboration
Featured Apps
The problem
During Confluence Cloud migration, collaboration does not pause. Teams continue planning projects, sharing updates, and making decisions even as some move to Cloud and others remain on Data Center.
In a hybrid setup, this often leads to fragmented collaboration.
A team working in Confluence Cloud updates a shared page, while another team on Data Center continues referencing an older version. Comments, attachments, and updates live in different places, and teams begin to lose visibility into each other’s work.
Over time, collaboration slows down.
Conversations move out of Confluence, admins are asked to clarify where work should happen, and teams spend more time aligning on process than on outcomes.
Who this affects
This challenge affects Confluence Admins and IT teams managing hybrid environments, as well as project teams, space owners, and cross-functional groups that rely on shared Confluence spaces to collaborate.
End users feel the impact directly when collaboration becomes fragmented, information is duplicated, or they are unsure where updates should be made.
Real-world migration scenarios
Using Atlassian’s Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant (CCMA)
Atlassian’s Confluence Cloud Migration Assistant is commonly used to migrate spaces from Data Center to Cloud. While CMA supports content movement, it does not support collaboration across environments once migration has begun.
After a space is migrated, collaboration naturally splits.
Teams on Cloud and Data Center work in parallel, but updates no longer flow between environments. Collaboration becomes siloed unless teams manually coordinate changes.
When teams collaborate across environments by necessity
In many organizations, teams migrate at different speeds. One department may fully adopt Cloud early, while another must remain on Data Center due to tooling dependencies, integrations, or compliance requirements.
Despite this, teams still collaborate on shared initiatives. They rely on common documentation, planning pages, and status updates, even though they are working in different Confluence environments. Without alignment, collaboration becomes inefficient and error-prone.
Native collaboration workarounds
Before introducing additional solutions, admins often attempt to support collaboration through process and communication. This can include designating a single “source” space, asking teams to notify each other of updates, or restricting edits in one environment.
While these approaches can help temporarily, they depend heavily on discipline and do not scale well as more teams and spaces are involved.
How teams address collaboration challenges at scale
As hybrid collaboration continues, teams recognize that effective collaboration requires more than coordination alone. They need shared visibility into content changes, without forcing everyone into the same environment or slowing down migration.
The goal is to allow teams to collaborate naturally in their respective environments while keeping shared content aligned where it matters.
Space Sync for Confluence (Data Center)
Space Sync for Confluence (Data Center) is used to synchronize selected Confluence spaces or pages between Cloud and Data Center during the hybrid phase. Admins focus on collaboration-critical content, such as shared project documentation, program updates, or cross-team reference materials.
Synchronization works alongside CCMA and existing Confluence governance practices. Rather than forcing teams to change how they collaborate, Space Sync helps ensure that updates made in one environment are reflected in the other, supporting continuous collaboration across Cloud and Data Center.
For a practical walkthrough, see: How to Manage Shared Confluence Spaces Across Cloud and Data Center
What teams gain during migration
Supporting collaboration across Cloud and Data Center helps teams stay aligned during migration. Shared Confluence spaces remain up to date, reducing confusion and eliminating the need for constant manual coordination.
From a migration perspective, this approach allows teams to continue collaborating without waiting for full cutover. For admins and the business, it reduces friction during the hybrid phase, maintains trust in Confluence as a collaboration platform, and supports a smoother transition to Cloud.
