Explaining Atlassian to Your Parents (or Anyone Else Who’s Confused)
We've all been there.
One of the most common questions I get as a Marketplace Partner is: What exactly is Atlassian?
So I finally sat down to write the explanation I wish I had years ago—something you can share with new hires, potential customers, or even your own parents.
Because let's get real, you mention Atlassian in a conversation—at a family dinner, during a job interview, or while welcoming a new team member—and get the polite nod. But deep down, you know they don't really get it.
And honestly? It’s not their fault. Atlassian is a powerful but nuanced ecosystem. If you're not using it every day, it can feel about as confusing as explaining how the App Store works to someone who's never owned a smartphone.
That's why it's helpful to have a simple way to explain it.
Whether you're helping a new hire get up to speed, explaining your role to your parents, or chatting with a potential partner, here's the quick version of what Atlassian is, and why it matters.
Let’s break it down.
What Is Atlassian?
Imagine you just bought an iPhone.
Out of the box, it lets you call, text, take photos, and send emails. It’s a complete product—but it really comes to life once you start downloading apps. Suddenly, you’re managing your money, tracking your workouts, ordering your groceries, all from one device.
Now imagine trying to take one of those apps and run it on your TV. It wouldn’t work. The apps only make sense if you already have the iPhone.
That’s how Atlassian works too. Atlassian is an ecosystem, a collection of tools designed to work together to help businesses manage work, collaborate, and stay organized. You can’t really take a piece of it and use it on its own without Atlassian underneath.
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Now that you get the big picture, let's break it down. What can you actually use Atlassian for?
Atlassian’s three core products are:
Jira: A powerful tool for tracking tasks and projects.
A software company might use it to assign work to developers and track bugs through different stages—reported, in progress, fixed, and deployed. A marketing team might use it to plan a product launch, assigning tasks for content creation, social media, and tracking deadlines.
Confluence: A company-wide knowledge hub.
Teams document their processes, meeting notes, and important information in one place. If HR is onboarding a new employee, they might store the entire onboarding guide in Confluence, with checklists, training videos, and links to essential documents.
Jira Service Management (JSM): A system for managing support tickets.
If an employee’s laptop breaks, they submit a ticket, and IT can track the issue, communicate updates, and resolve it efficiently. If a customer has a billing issue, they submit a ticket, and the support team ensures it gets addressed without emails getting lost.
These are Atlassian’s main products, but there’s more:
- Bitbucket for managing code repositories,
- Opsgenie for incident management,
- and a few more that your IT team probably already loves.
Companies mix and match what they need, just like choosing which apps you want on your iPhone.
What Is the Atlassian Marketplace?
Atlassian’s tools are flexible, but they don’t come with everything built in. That’s where the Atlassian Marketplace comes in. Think of it like the App Store for Atlassian products—a place where companies can find extra tools to customize Jira, Confluence, and JSM.
As of April 2025, the Atlassian Marketplace offers over 8,000 apps and integrations, built by more than 1,800 partners, and has seen over 1.2 million installs (Source: Atlassian). It’s a massive ecosystem, helping businesses fine-tune their Atlassian setup to fit exactly what they need.
Let’s go back to the Apple comparison. If you buy an iPhone, it comes with the basics: calling, texting, email. But if you want a budgeting app or a fitness tracker, you go to the App Store to download exactly what you need. That’s how the Atlassian Marketplace works.
We’re a Marketplace Partner, which means we build apps that extend Atlassian products. But here’s the key difference: Atlassian Marketplace apps don’t work alone. They only work on top of an Atlassian product. Imagine installing a new feature inside your Camera app rather than installing a whole new photography app. That’s how Marketplace apps work—integrated directly into Jira or Confluence.
For example:
Atlas CRM → Lets businesses manage customer relationships inside Jira, instead of switching to a separate CRM tool. Imagine a sales team tracking their deals and customer conversations inside Jira rather than juggling spreadsheets.
And from some of our fellow Marketplace partners:
Budgety by Deiser→ Helps companies manage budgets inside Jira, instead of using external spreadsheets or financial trackers.
Scroll PDF Exporter for Confluence by K15t → Turns Confluence pages into beautiful, ready-to-share PDFs with just a few clicks—perfect for creating manuals, reports, or official documentation.
SharePoint Connector for Jira by Communardo → Connects Jira and SharePoint so teams can easily link files, manage documents, and keep information flowing between systems.
Now, here’s the crucial part: If a company isn’t already using Atlassian, there’s no reason for them to buy an Atlassian Marketplace app. Just like nobody buys an iPhone just for one app, companies don’t adopt Jira just to install a Marketplace app. That’s why we only target businesses that are already using Atlassian.
What Are Atlassian Solution Partners?
Atlassian Solution Partners are experts who help companies set up and optimize Atlassian products. Think of them like the Apple Geniuses at the Apple Store, but even better, because they don't just help you troubleshoot. They also help customize your entire Apple (or Atlassian) setup to fit exactly what you need.
They know the Atlassian ecosystem inside and out and can help businesses get the most out of Jira, Confluence, JSM, and other Atlassian products.
A company might work with a Solution Partner to:
- Set up Jira and Confluence for their specific workflows. For example, a consulting firm might need custom workflows to track projects across different clients.
- Train employees on how to use Atlassian tools effectively. A finance team might need guidance on how to use Jira for budget approvals and expense tracking.
- Integrate different apps and tools for a smoother experience. A company might want to connect Jira with their HR system to automate approval processes.
Some of the Solution Partners we love to work with include catworkx, Idalko, and Nemetschek Bulgaria, and there are many others out there too, like Accenture and Valiantys, helping companies of all sizes get the most out of Atlassian.
Apps are often sold through Solution Partners too. If you’re curious, you can check out our partner program here.
If a company wants to use Atlassian but doesn’t have in-house expertise, they turn to a Solution Partner to guide them—and customize their setup to fit like a glove.
What Is Atlassian Team?
Now let’s look at the last big piece of the puzzle, where all of this comes together. Atlassian Team is Atlassian’s annual conference, where Marketplace Partners, Solution Partners, and customers all come together. If you remember Steve Jobs stepping onto the stage to reveal the next iPhone, it’s a little like that, but for teamwork
At Team, one of Atlassian's founders Mike Cannon-Brookes, along with President Anu Bharadwaj, take the spotlight to unveil major new features and share Atlassian’s vision for the future.
It’s where Atlassian announces their biggest updates, where partners showcase what they’ve built, and where companies share real-world stories about using Jira, Confluence, and JSM.
For us, it’s a place to meet partners, catch new trends, and show off what we’ve been working on.
Wrapping It Up
So, next time someone asks, here’s the easy explanation:
- Atlassian makes tools that help teams collaborate and manage work.
- Atlassian Marketplace is like the App Store, where companies find add-ons to customize their Jira and Confluence experience.
- Atlassian Marketplace Partners are the companies (like us!) who build those apps to make Atlassian tools even more powerful and tailored to different business needs.
- Atlassian Solution Partners are experts who help businesses set up and optimize Atlassian tools.
- Atlassian Team is the annual event where the entire Atlassian ecosystem comes together.
If they ask, say this.
If they still don’t get it, send them this blog.
If they still don’t get it? Just tell them it’s like Apple, but for businesses trying to get stuff done.
And if they still look confused—well, you tried your best.
Curious how you usually explain Atlassian to others, do you also use an Apple-like analogy, or something totally different? Would love to hear other takes!
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Dilara Erecek _Avisi Apps_
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