Onlio APS, Inc.
Making the Move to Cloud Easy

16th October 2020, Scott Farquhar, the CEO of one of the largest software development tools companies, Atlassian, publicly made an announcement that it would retire its self-managed server offerings by 2024. The discontinuation of the Atlassian Server has put several organizations in a fix, especially those who have not yet moved to the cloud. As such, organizations are now evaluating a migration to Atlassian Cloud or Data Center subscription, which enables, among other things, significantly higher performance through clustering and includes several advanced features plus the ability to develop almost any functionality in the form of a custom add-on module. However, this transition may not be the easiest one for organizations as it may require shifting the entire business from on-premises to the cloud.

As a leading provider of Atlassian consulting services, Onlio APS smoothens this transition with its extensive experience with migration from on-premises solutions to the cloud, including security issues and integrations into the company’s internal IS. At the same time, the company also helps with user support after the migration to the Cloud and the development of custom add-on extensions.
In an interview with the editorial team of CIO Applications Europe, Jiri Voves, CEO of Onlio APS, discusses how the company has enabled critical transformation programs for major, global enterprise customers.

Can you provide a brief overview of Onlio APS?

Onlio APS is formerly the Atlassian Professional Services division of Onlio, which was spun off on 1st April 2021. The original Onlio was founded in July 2000 and is a leading provider of consulting services and software solutions, building longterm relationships with customers on a strategy of excellent value for money within the delivered solutions and services. Onlio APS builds on its history and has developed a partnership with Atlassian since 2004, becoming one of Atlassian’s longest-running partnerships. The reason for the spinoff is the focus of Onlio APS and its shareholders on Atlassian Professional Services. We want to grow fast and be among the top three Atlassian partners within the EU. Onlio APS currently has the highest possible partnership status with Atlassian - Platinum. This status demonstrates our team’s outstanding competencies as we achieve the highest levels of financial volume in license and subscription sales and exceptional reference projects in the enterprise area.

Can you elaborate on Onlio’s core Atlassian Solution offerings?

We offer a full stack of Atlassian products and related services. In addition to the standard implementation, we often provide Level 2 and Level 3 support for Atlassian solutions and expert services, including integrations and custom development.

The Onlio APS team performs standard migrations while ensuring smooth operation of Cloud and Data Center products along with the development of the entire solution, including integrations and custom development parts, and trainsusers. We bring our clients not only know-how from the world of Atlassian technology, but also experience with process management or measurement and evaluation of efficiency or other metrics.

Could you cite a customer success story?

Our references include training hundreds of multinational users of a client from the automotive segment within one month and a series of complex migrations consolidating old independent solutions into a centralized Data Center solution. Similarly, we have also enabled migrations splitting old pan-European Atlassian solutions into several regional ones to increase management efficiency and further development. In the financial and utility sector, we often provide comprehensive complex customer solutions (e.g. Komerční Banka, E.ON). We have also performed migrations and other services for several clients, who were not exclusively private entities, with extreme security requirements.

What differentiates Onlio APS from the rest?

One of our strengths is our technical background. At Onlio APS, we have a very strong team of developers and experts in process automation and robotization for the preparation of our own scripts, custom automations, or similar special services. Another differentiator is our expertise in Cloud and Data Center products. Following the announcement of the end of Server product sales, Data Center products are becoming the solution for a large number of enterprise clients. We have many years of experience with Data Center products and are thus a strong partner for these clients, both in the field of consulting and integration, as well as the solution and its performance.

What does the future hold for your company?

Onlio APS has so far focused mainly on the Czech and Slovak markets, and only a smaller part of its turnover is generated in other regions. Headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, Onlio APS is ready to expand rapidly into other markets, particularly in the EU, the UK and the U.S., thanks to the team’s high level of expertise and current practice of providing almost 100 percent services remotely. Currently, due to Covid-19, most activities are being moved to remote mode. At present, a large part of the integration of Atlassian products itself takes place remotely. This change has brought us a great opportunity for greater activity abroad because we do not have to have a representative or consultant directly in the country.

Covid-19 has greatly accelerated remote integration, which is now a common part of our work. However, many companies have not (and still do not have) any system of work in place for this mode of operation. For example, they do not use Atlassian products, which create a solid structure, but some project tools with a relatively open system of work, which often brings chaos to the processes. In our experience, companies lose up to 20 percent of their revenue due to the poor efficiency of internal processes. This is confirmed by the International Data Corporation (IDC), which even reported very similar numbers before Covid-19. For companies, the issue of efficiency and the combination of home-office and office work will be crucial for the coming year. However, this cannot be solved without quality project tools and software development tools. As we see great potential in the solution of internal processes, in addition to the integration of Atlassian products, Onlio also develops DMS platform eDoCat based on Alfresco technology. We can then deliver these solutions to the client as a complete package, as they complement each other perfectly and thus provide the client with everything needed for the management of business processes, including documents lifecycle management. This way, we will continue supporting organizations with our strong consulting capabilities.