Storage constraints quickly cause performance and scalability issues

At enterprise scale, Jira test management apps cause significant performance issues with Jira Server and Jira Data Center. Jira apps (formerly referred to as plugins or add-ons) lack built-in storage. This class of application relies on the Jira database to store the data it manages or creates. As data accumulates and the app consumes more space, the entire Jira instance becomes increasingly vulnerable to performance degradation, stalls and crashes, which impacts every Jira user throughout the organization – in as little as 14 weeks, according to our research.

Jira is a business-critical component of the software delivery pipeline, providing workflow management and a single source of truth across all stakeholders. A Jira crash brings software delivery workflows to a full stop. And reaching the scale that makes Jira vulnerable to crashes can happen much more quickly than you might think.

Atlassian’s documentation lists “known major problems with 3^rd party apps in Jira.” Two test management apps included on the list are cited as the cause of stalls and Out of Memory Errors. According to Atlassian, an Out of Memory Error will halt email sends, prevent updates to the activity stream and cause the Jira application to crash. These issues might not be fully recognized during a POC or evaluation, but they quickly become apparent as more teams begin migrating test cases and artifacts to the Jira test management app from their legacy solution. See the diagram below to understand the difference between a Jira test management app and a dedicated, external test management solution, like Tricentis qTest.