When you ask people about Jira migrations or cross-platform integrations, most will describe them as technical projects. Export, import, configure, test. But talk to someone who’s been through dozens of them, and a different picture emerges: migrations are transformations, integrations succeed or fail on trust, and behind every tool there are people making it work.
That perspective comes from Ariel Prado, a familiar face in the Atlassian ecosystem. He’s been a consultant, a community leader in Madrid, and is now working in-house at Zooplus, one of Europe’s largest e-commerce companies. Over the years, Ariel has built integrations the hard way — through hundreds of lines of scripts — and has also tested modern, no-code solutions like Getint.
In a conversation with Jacek Wizmur-Szymczak, Co-founder of Getint, Ariel shared his lessons from migrations, his advice on choosing Marketplace apps, and his impressions after testing Getint’s Jira–Jira integration.
A Career Across Two Worlds: Consulting and In-House
For much of his career, Ariel worked as a consultant, guiding companies through Jira implementations, customizations, and migrations. Consulting exposed him to diverse industries, unique challenges, and constant deadlines.
Ariel:
“As a consultant, everything is tied to hours. You deliver fast, you work across different contexts, and you learn quickly. But sometimes you don’t see what happens a year later. Did your solution really help the business long-term? You don’t always know.”
At Zooplus, Ariel now has the opposite vantage point. He sees Jira not just as a project but as the central nervous system of the organization — spanning logistics, marketing, content, and more.
Ariel:
“In-house, what you build has to last. A workflow that seems fine today still needs to work in twelve months. That continuity changes your approach. You focus less on short-term fixes and more on sustainable solutions.”
Both perspectives matter. Consultants sharpen adaptability, while in-house work deepens context. Together, they reinforce Ariel’s personal philosophy: quality is non-negotiable.
Migrations: Not Just Technical, But Transformational
When most people hear “migration,” they think of moving data from one system to another. Ariel challenges that view.
Ariel:
“They call it migration, but it’s really a transformation. You’re moving from Jira Data Center to Jira Cloud, or from one environment to another — but the systems aren’t the same. The apps are different. The scripting is different. The way people work often has to change. It’s not a copy-paste. It’s a chance to rethink your processes.”
Why migrations fail
Ariel has seen organizations underestimate migrations repeatedly. Sometimes it’s a matter of scale. In one project, the customer estimated 40,000 issues would need to be migrated. The actual number? 400,000. A missed zero multiplied the effort tenfold and extended the timeline from weeks to months.
Other times, the failure is cultural. Teams expect everything to look and behave exactly as it did before, ignoring that migrations are also opportunities to modernize.
Ariel’s migration checklist
When asked how to prepare, Ariel offered a structured approach:
- Set clear expectations. Scope and outcomes must match the budget. “You get the car that your budget allows,” Ariel explained.
- Secure strong sponsorship. Migration success depends on business leaders, not just Jira admins. Adoption requires advocacy.
- Document everything. From users and permissions to fields and attachments, preparation is the backbone of execution.
- Prioritize reliability. Migrator tools have gaps; unstable solutions can derail projects. Reliability comes first.
- Evaluate vendor support. Tools matter, but so do the people behind them. Responsive vendors prevent small issues from becoming disasters.
His message was clear: migration isn’t just a technical lift. It’s a moment of transformation for the entire organization.
Marketplace Apps: Looking Beyond the Numbers
The Atlassian Marketplace offers thousands of apps, each promising to solve a different need. For customers preparing to migrate, the temptation is to look at installation counts as a sign of quality. Ariel warns against this.
Ariel:
“Installation numbers don’t tell the whole story. Some apps have been around ten years, so of course they have thousands of installs. That doesn’t mean they’re the best choice today. What matters is reliability and support.”
What to look for when choosing apps
- Atlassian certifications. Apps backed by Atlassian’s programs carry extra trust.
- Proven reliability. Tools must work under pressure, not just in test environments.
- Vendor responsiveness. Bugs and requests are inevitable; the question is how quickly the vendor responds.
- Peer recommendations. The Atlassian ecosystem thrives on community — talk to other admins.
- Trust and transparency. Vendors that hide or delay communication often signal problems ahead.
Ariel:
“If you’re in production and hit a bug, installation numbers won’t help you. You need a vendor who picks up the phone.”
From Scripts to No-Code: Ariel’s Experience with Getint
In his early projects, Ariel often had to build integrations by hand. Connecting Jira and Jira Service Management meant hundreds of lines of scripts to synchronize comments, statuses, and fields. These “artisanal” solutions worked — but they were fragile. A change in scope or a staff turnover often meant starting from scratch.
Testing Getint’s Jira–Jira integration showed him how far the ecosystem has come.
Ariel:
“I was really happy with it. I installed it and integrated Jira to Jira directly — even before reading the documentation. That says a lot.”
What stood out most:
- One-sided installation. Simpler and cheaper, with less maintenance overhead.
- Drag-and-drop mapping. No need for heavy scripting to align fields.
- Reliability. It worked instantly, without breaking.
- Proactive support. “I immediately received onboarding emails with guidance. That makes you feel you’re not alone when integrating.”
His verdict was clear:
“You don’t need to suffer with automations or scripts anymore. For small setups maybe it works, but at enterprise scale you need proper tools.”
Jira at the Center of the Ecosystem
Across industries, Ariel has seen Jira evolve into more than a development tool. It has become the central hub where organizations gather information from multiple systems.
Ariel:
“In every company I’ve worked with, Jira ends up being the place where everything comes together. Management wants the reporting there. That’s why integrations are so important — people don’t want two tickets, they want just one flow of work.”
For Getint, this aligns perfectly with our mission: empowering Jira to integrate seamlessly with the rest of the enterprise ecosystem, so it can remain the trusted core of collaboration and reporting.
AI and the Future: Tools Evolve, Humans Endure
With Atlassian’s Rovo AI and the rise of AI-powered assistants, some wonder whether apps and integrations will be replaced entirely. Ariel is pragmatic.
Ariel:
“AI is a tool, not a threat. I use Copilot, ChatGPT — they make searches faster and scripting easier. But you’ll always need the human interface. Tools evolve, but trust and support remain essential. Vendors that combine reliable products with strong human guidance will thrive.”
AI may speed up workflows and simplify queries, but it won’t replace the human relationships that drive successful transformations.
The Human Side of Integrations
Looking back on his experiences, Ariel emphasized a point that resonates across the Atlassian community: integration is about people helping people.
Ariel:
“I’ve seen environments where technical staff tried to build integrations themselves. At first it looked fine. But a year later, nothing worked. That’s when they called us. And often, we had to break everything and start over. If you don’t have the knowledge, find a partner who does. It saves you pain in the long run.”
That philosophy mirrors Getint’s approach. Yes, we build integrations that are simple, reliable, and scalable. But the real difference is our commitment to support — to being there when customers need us, and to solving problems together.
Final Thoughts
Ariel Prado’s journey mirrors the evolution of the Atlassian ecosystem itself: from manual scripting to scalable no-code integrations, from one-off migrations to strategic transformations, from short-term consulting to long-term in-house stewardship.
His candid review of Getint reinforced what we believe matters most:
- Reliability over complexity.
- Support over installation numbers.
- Human connection over technical isolation.
Or, in Ariel’s own words:
“At the end of the day, integration is about people helping people. Tools matter, but trust and support make projects succeed.”
At Getint, that’s exactly the future we’re building: integrations that are simple to set up, reliable to run, and always supported by real people who care.
