Atlassian's air-gapped deployment: Just not for Europe, and not before 2029
On 23 September 2026, Atlassian announced new public sector investments, including a future air-gapped deployment of its core platform. Some teams read it as "Jira on premise is coming back". It isn't. For most regulated organisations in Europe, the plan they need to make has not changed, and the time to make it is shorter than it looks.
Table of contents
Atlassian announced an air-gapped deployment for US classified work
Atlassian's timeline for on-premises and air-gapped deployment
What Atlassian's announcement means for regulated teams in Europe
1. The real deadline for Jira on-premises is March 2028
2. Air gapped is here to stay
3. Air-gapped vs. sovereign cloud
4. No on-premises or air-gapped option for mid-sized regulated teams
5. AI behind the air gap: Where does Rovo run?
Before you plan your on-premises move
Easy8: An on-premises, air-gapped Jira alternative you can run today
TL;DR
Atlassian's planned air-gapped deployment is for US classified workloads and has no date. Jira on-premises is not coming back: Data Center still ends on 28 March 2029 and expansions stop on 30 March 2028. European regulated teams have about 18 months to choose an on-premises or air-gapped alternative.
Atlassian announced an air-gapped deployment for US classified work
Atlassian's September announcement covers three separate commitments, and none of them arrives before its self-hosted product is retired:
- IL5 and FedRAMP High: Atlassian moved its submissions for these US government security ratings to July 2028 and January 2029. These are submission dates, and authorisation usually takes months longer.
- An air-gapped deployment of Atlassian's "core platform" for US classified workloads (IL6 and above): It is still in technical design with US government partners, with no date, pricing or product list.
- A European sovereign cloud: Atlassian is in early talks with European cloud providers. It hasn't named a partner, a country or a date.
Data Center end of life stays 28 March 2029. In other words, Atlassian's only self-hosted product still ends on schedule, whatever comes later for US government customers.
Atlassian's timeline for on-premises and air-gapped deployment
Clearly, the dates show that the Data Center ends before its replacement is ready:
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 30 March 2028 | Data Center customers can no longer buy or expand licences |
| July 2028 | IL5 submission |
| January 2029 | FedRAMP High submission |
| 28 March 2029 | Data Center end of life |
| Not announced | Air-gapped deployment, European Sovereign cloud |
The most sensitive customers can't finish moving before end of life, because Atlassian's fastest compliant route only arrives around the deadline.
The fallback is "extended maintenance for certain Data Center customers by exception". That is a case-by-case decision, not a plan anyone can budget for or defend in an audit.
What Atlassian's announcement means for regulated teams in Europe
The announcement was written for US government customers, but it changes the picture for European regulated teams too.
1. The real deadline for Jira on-premises is March 2028
From 30 March 2028, Data Center customers can't add users or apps. Any team that grows, merges or reorganises gets stuck with the licence it has. Counting back from that date leaves about 18 months to choose, test and move to a new on-premise or air-gapped platform, and a migration in a regulated organisation rarely takes less.
2. Air gapped is here to stay
Atlassian is quietly admitting cloud-only doesn't fit everyone. It is ending self-managed Data Center while designing an air-gapped version, which confirms that air-gapped is a lasting need, not a leftover from the past. Defence, energy, finance and government teams have said this for years: some data must never leave a sealed environment.
3. Air-gapped vs. sovereign cloud
Customers under NIS2, DORA or KRITIS (the German rules for critical infrastructure) get one line about unnamed "European providers". Hosting in Europe doesn't change who owns and runs the platform: a US-listed vendor subject to the CLOUD Act (more in our Isolated Cloud post). That is why many European security teams still prefer on premise or air-gapped, where the question of foreign access simply doesn't arise.
Under the proposed EU Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA), the higher sovereignty tiers require EU ownership and control, which Atlassian can't structurally meet. CADA is still a proposal and may change, but procurement teams already ask public bodies to assess sovereignty risk when they choose tools.
4. No on-premises or air-gapped option for mid-sized regulated teams
Isolated Cloud, Atlassian's single-tenant cloud, targets 15,000+ seats. Government Cloud is for US agencies only, and the air-gapped deployment is designed for US classification levels. A 500-person bank, energy company or defence supplier in the EU has no clear Atlassian option that keeps its data and its platform under its own control.
5. AI behind the air gap: Where does Rovo run?
Atlassian hasn't said whether Rovo, its AI layer, will work with no internet connection, and Isolated Cloud launched without it. If AI touches sensitive project data, it must run inside the same boundary as that data. Otherwise, security teams are left choosing between AI that depends on an outside service and no AI at all.
Before you plan your on-premises move
When thinking about long-term and compliance issues in regulated industries, you might want to ask these three questions out loud:
- Which regulatory regime applies to your Jira data? NIS2, DORA, KRITIS or national classification rules each lead to different requirements.
- Has Atlassian given you a date and product list in writing? If not, your plan currently depends on an announcement.
- What happens to your projects if no compliant option exists by March 2028? That is when expansion stops, so it should drive your timeline.
And there are also another set of questions to ask Atlassian before you count on air-gapped:
- Will Rovo and other AI features work without an internet connection? If not, you lose them the day you move offline.
- Will Marketplace apps run there, or only Atlassian's own products? Most Jira setups depend on apps, so this decides whether you can move at all.
- Who operates and updates the system, and how often? That tells you how much work stays with your team.
- What are the pricing, minimum size and eligibility criteria? Until you have these, you can't budget for it or know if you qualify.
Easy8: An on-premises, air-gapped Jira alternative you can run today
If you need a Jira alternative that stays under your control, you can run Easy8 on your own terms. It is a European platform built on open-source Redmine, and it doesn't depend on a vendor's roadmap to stay available:
- On premise and air-gapped, with no connection to the internet or to us.
- Perpetual server licence with source code, so the platform stays yours.
- Offline updates delivered as part of the deployment service.
- Easy AI running locally, inside your air gap.
- Private Cloud and EU Sovereign Cloud with an EU-based provider, for teams that prefer a managed setup.
Read what Jira Data Center end of life means for your migration, then book a free Jira data migration pilot to test Easy8 on your own data, in your own environment.
Frequently asked questions
Is on-premises the same as air-gapped?
No, and the difference is the point. On-premise means the software runs on infrastructure you control. Air-gapped means that infrastructure has no physical or logical connection to the internet or any unsecured network.
Most on-premises tools still assume a connection for licensing, updates or avatars, so an air gap is a stricter requirement that has to be tested rather than assumed.
Does air-gapped mean no internet?
Mostly yes, but it means more than that. Air-gapped means a system is physically isolated from all untrusted networks, which includes the public internet but also any other network the organization does not fully control.
So no internet is part of it, but a truly air-gapped machine also has no link to the regular corporate network, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or any other outside connection.
What does air-gapped mean?
An air-gapped system is a computer or network that's physically isolated from the internet and other unsecured networks, with no direct connection to the outside world. This isolation is a security measure meant to protect sensitive data or critical systems from remote attacks.
Related articles
NIS2 and DORA in 2026: What it means for your project management tool
NIS2 has been in force since 2023, but it is the national laws of 2025 that made it real, and across much of the EU the deadline for the security measures actually be working falls during 2026. What to do to be NIS-ready? Keep on reading?
The best 8 air-gapped project management tools for 2026
If your work runs behind an air gap, most project management tools drop out before the evaluation even begins. We compared the eight strongest on-premise platforms that run fully offline, from licensing and deployment effort to security certifications: read the comparison and choose the one that fits your environment.
The end of Jira on-premises: Atlassian Data Center terminates support
Atlassian is discontinuing Jira Data Center, and with it, the last on-premises option for Jira users. By 2029, support and updates will be gone entirely. The countdown has started: migrate to the cloud, plan a hybrid setup, or find a true on-premises alternative before the clock runs out. The first phase will be here by the end of March 2026.
