Jira grew without rules. Fix it from the bottom up.
Atlas Bench, an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner, cleans up and standardizes Jira instances that grew without rules. We work bottom up: accounts and groups first, then permission schemes, then custom fields, then workflows and screens, then governance over who can create spaces, fields, and schemes, with an owner for each. The order matters, because workflow fixes don't hold while the layers under them are loose.
We clean up and standardize Jira sites from the bottom up: accounts and groups, permission schemes, custom fields, then workflows and screens. Then we set who can create spaces, fields, and schemes, so the site stays standard after we leave.
The problem
Jira grows without rules for ordinary reasons. Each new team asked for its own space and got a copy of someone else's permission scheme. Each request for a field got a new field, so the site now has "Team", "Team Name", and "Squad", each filled in by different teams. People left, but their accounts stayed in the groups. Integration users were created under a person's name, and that person left too. Nobody owns the whole picture, so nobody can say which version is right.
Most cleanups start with workflows, because that is where the complaints are. The fix does not hold. A new workflow still assigns work through groups full of leavers. A new screen still shows three team fields. A permission change has to be made in every copied scheme, and one gets missed. Workflow fixes don't hold while the layers under them are loose, so we work bottom up: accounts and groups, then permission schemes, then fields, then workflows and screens, then the governance that keeps it that way.
What the work is
Accounts and groups
Users exported with the last date each one was seen in Jira, then matched to your directory. Leavers lose access, duplicate accounts are resolved to one, and integration users nobody owns get an owner or move to Atlassian service accounts.
Permission schemes
Copied schemes collapsed into a small standard set that grants access through space roles, so one scheme serves many spaces and space admins fill the roles. Every exception is written down with an owner and a reason.
Custom fields
One field per concept. Where "Team", "Team Name", and "Squad" mean the same thing, you pick one, we move the values, and the rest are retired. Unused fields are found by screens, contexts, and last-used date; on Jira Premium and Enterprise, Atlassian's site optimizer lists them for you.
Workflows and screens
Standard workflows and screen schemes for each work type, rolled out space by space once the accounts, permissions, and fields under them are stable.
Governance
Who can create spaces, fields, and schemes, decided and written down. The Administer Jira and Create team-managed spaces permissions sit with named groups, and every new request goes through one owner.
How it runs
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Assess
1 to 2 weeksAccounts, groups, permission schemes, fields, workflows, and screens inventoried with usage. Findings ranked by layer, each with the decision it needs and who should make it.
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Clean the base
2 to 4 weeksAccounts and groups first, then permission schemes, then fields. Each layer is finished and checked before the next one starts.
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Standardize and govern
2 to 4 weeksWorkflows and screens standardized space by space, governance rules assigned to owners, and your admins walked through how new requests are handled.
What you get
- An inventory of accounts, groups, permission schemes, fields, workflows, and screens, with usage and an owner for each
- Leavers removed, duplicate accounts resolved, and every integration user owned or moved to a service account
- A small standard set of permission schemes built on space roles, with each exception documented
- One field per concept, with values moved and retired fields tracked through Jira's 60-day trash
- Standard workflows and screen schemes for each work type
- Written governance for who creates spaces, fields, and schemes, and who approves
Questions we get
Why start with accounts and groups instead of workflows?
Will deleting custom fields lose our data?
We have "Team", "Team Name", and "Squad". Which one do we keep?
Who should be allowed to create spaces?
We want to plan capacity across teams. Should we clean up first?
What does this have to do with agents?
Working with Atlas Bench's experienced Atlassian Consultants provided tremendous value to our team. They addressed our specific challenges and helped us optimize our Jira workflows for better efficiency.
Angel Hernandez
Production Support Engineer & Jira Administrator