Welcome Wednesday: Thank You End Users!

[#1]

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I'm really sorry I missed everyone last week.  I was buried in a Jira & Confluence Server to Cloud Migration, that started on the weekend and involved late nights and early mornings all of last week. 

While we are still working through the last of the hiccups, I wanted to take a moment to express my overwhelming gratitude to the affected end users.  They came over from an acquisition and over the weekend we turned everything upside down.

But, these wonderful people reported every issue they discovered without any raised voices or management escalations.  In addition, as I worked through (and continue to work through) the long list of tickets.  I have been met with nothing but kind words and appreciation for my work.

I wanted to stop and take a few minutes to thank each and every one of you who is an end users from the bottom of this Admin's heart.

Without you to support, my job wouldn't exist as a dedicated role.  I know that changes are very scary and we all have deadlines that we are trying to make, but for everyone who does their best to communicate clearly their needs and expectations, I thank you!

So, no question for this week.  If you are an Admin, please join me in thanking your end users.  If you are an end user, please take in the love being shared here!

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

This Wednesday series are my fav @Jimmy Seddon :))

What a beautiful shoutout to end users — they truly are the unsung heroes during transitions like these! Kudos to you for navigating such a challenging migration with grace, and to the end users for their patience, and kindness. Wishing you smoother days ahead! 💙🚀

[Stephen_Lugton]

You're lucky @Jimmy Seddon , we did a major migration 3 weeks ago and there are small issues that affect just one person out of 1.2 million and there are enough of them that our outsourced contact centre can't cope.  But on the good side everyone who's having trouble with the contact centre is reporting it.  But on the bad side they're reporting it via Trustpilot and our star rating has gone down.  Worse of all is that the programme manager retired 4 days after the migration telling everyone that if there were any problems come and talk to me!

[Susan Waldrip]

Great reminder of the gift of kind, patient users, @Jimmy Seddon! My users are a gift as well, and I know I'm fortunate -- especially as a new Jira Admin -- to have them.

[Andy Gladstone]

Thanks for being you @Jimmy Seddon! 

I turned to ChatGPT to pen an ode to admins and users, and then asked for a visualization. Interetsing that the visual could not get the words correct, but here they both are!

Ode to the Unsung Heroes of the System

To the ones who log in with morning’s first light,
Whose fingers command the digital night,
End users—valiant, both quiet and bold,
With every click, a new tale told.

You brave the maze of pop-ups and pings,
Unlocking reports, uploading things.
Your patience tested, your focus true,
The system runs because of you.

And oh, the admins behind the screen,
Masters of servers, calm and unseen.
They patch the holes, they guard the gates,
They battle downtime, they tempt the fates.

When printers jam and networks crawl,
You hear the cry, you take the call.
Reset the password, trace the glitch—
Wielding command lines without a twitch.

Together you form the unseen thread,
That binds the wires through which we’re led.
From cubicles to clouds on high,
You make the data dance and fly.

So here’s to you, both near and far,
Each end user and admin star—
Without your care, your grit, your grace,
The tech would fail to leave its place.

Raise your mugs and tip your hat—
The world runs smoother thanks to that.

[John Funk]

It's always so helpful when the end users cooperate and are pleasant. We have all been on the other end of a bad migration, but typically people are doing the best they can, especially under the pressure. 

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

It takes training for both sides to fully understand how to react to heavy technical challenges. But it's so nice when sides show care and patience.

That's the reason I find big Atlassian events so helpful - end users can meet their admins, support crew, or development team and see that they are real people with real interests, personalities, and hobbies.

Great job with your challenging week @Jimmy Seddon! 

[Barbara Szczesniak]

I used to teach the field service and tech support people how to install, configure, and administer the software system of a company I worked for. When those people ran into problems, you can guess who they contacted! I don't miss the days when I had to keep all that information (or at least its location) accessible in my brain. 

This gives me an appreciation for all of the admins out there!