Explaining Runs on Atlassian to Your Marketer (and Maybe You Too)

We’re proud to be a launch partner for Atlassian’s Runs on Atlassian program!

That sounds impressive—and it is—but if you’re not knee-deep in the technical side of things, it might also sound vague. When I first heard about it, my reaction was:

"Cool. But... what is it?"

Then came Forge, Atlassian’s development platform, which we had to migrate to in order to qualify. Also cool. Also... not obvious.

While prepping our marketing for this launch, I realized something: I was already planning to sit down with our developer who led this project (Jannick) and our product lead (Thijs) to get the story straight. So instead of taking notes on the technical breakdown, then translating those into something I could actually understand, and then turning that into something more readable, I decided to share the process, questions and all.

If you’re a marketer, product manager, customer, or curious partner in the Atlassian ecosystem, this one’s for you. So let’s start with what our Runs on Atlassian app actually does.

What does Manage Custom Fields actually do?

Let’s start simple.

Manage Custom Fields for Jira lets project admins manage the values of custom fields in their own projects. That includes:

• Adding new options
• Renaming, disabling, or reordering values
• Creating new project-specific context

And they can do this without needing to involve a Jira admin!

Here’s how Jannick explained it to me using an analogy that finally clicked:

We’re going to use Amazon as our running example in this article.

Let’s say Amazon has different teams for different departments: clothing, electronics, home goods. Each team is responsible for managing their own section of the site. They decide which product categories show up, what labels are used, and how items are displayed.

Now imagine that every time the clothing team wanted to rename “Beige” to “Sand,” they had to file a request and wait for the central Amazon team to approve it. Slows things down, right?

That’s what Jira can feel like without Manage Custom Fields.

In Jira, custom fields are like shared product labels. You want consistency (so “color” means the same thing across teams), but you also want flexibility (so the color options make sense for each product). Instead of forcing Jira admins to manage every single color option for every team, Manage Custom Fields lets each project admin tailor that list to fit their team’s needs.

“Project admins are closer to the work. They know what’s needed. Giving them control removes friction without sacrificing consistency.” – Thijs

It’s a simple idea, but one that matters more the larger your organization gets. In small companies, the Jira admin might also be the project admin—so there’s no conflict. But in enterprise environments, that’s rarely the case.

“You don’t want to wait two weeks for a Jira admin just to add a dropdown value. And they probably don’t want to do it either.” – Jannick

Now that Manage Custom Fields is out of the way, let’s talk about Forge.

What is Forge?

Forge isn’t exactly new, it’s been in the works for years, gradually shaping how apps are expected to live inside Atlassian’s ecosystem. But now, with Runs on Atlassian, it’s no longer just a “future direction.” It’s the standard.

Forge is Atlassian’s cloud app development platform, and it’s the foundation for everything that follows.

Before Forge, building an Atlassian app was like being a seller on Amazon (here’s that Amazon analogy again), but having to handle your own warehouse, shipping, returns, and customer support. You used Atlassian’s storefront, but behind the scenes, you were responsible for everything else, hosting, infrastructure, compliance, and security.

With Forge, Atlassian becomes more than the storefront. They’re now offering the full fulfillment stack. Your app runs on their infrastructure. Atlassian handles identity, storage, permissions, region-based hosting. You just build the app.

“We don’t manage our own servers anymore. With Forge, we build once, and Atlassian handles the rest—region, tenancy, security.” – Jannick

This means less overhead for developers and fewer points of failure for customers. It also simplifies how we think about building apps.

Forge also handles things like authentication automatically. One thing Jannick pointed out as “actually kind of cool” was not having to build the whole user identification and permissions flow from scratch:

“If someone opens the app, you already know they’re authenticated. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

So, Forge determines how the app is built and where it operates, using Atlassian’s infrastructure.

Runs on Atlassian builds on that by making it clear to customers that the app stays entirely within Atlassian’s environment.

What is Runs on Atlassian?

If Forge is the platform, Runs on Atlassian is the badge that tells customers: “This app wasn’t just built on Forge. It stays fully inside the Atlassian ecosystem”

To qualify, your app has to meet strict technical standards. That means:

• It’s built on Forge
• It runs entirely within Atlassian’s infrastructure
• It does not make external calls or store data outside Atlassian’s systems

Let’s go back to our Amazon analogy. Sometimes when you buy something on Amazon, you’re dealing with an unknown third-party merchant—even though the checkout experience looks the same. Fulfillment, delivery, and data handling are all out of Amazon’s hands.

Now imagine Amazon creates a special badge: Sold and fulfilled by Amazon. That badge means the product is stored in Amazon’s warehouses, packed by Amazon, and shipped by Amazon. The customer never leaves the ecosystem. There’s less risk. More trust.

That’s what Runs on Atlassian means.

“Customers know their data stays inside Atlassian. No outside servers, no surprise connections. That’s a big deal, especially for enterprise and government customers.” – Jannick

What changed in our app?

From the user’s point of view? Not much. The app still works as it always has. You install it. You manage custom fields per project. Your team moves faster.

Under the hood, though, it’s a different story.

We migrated the entire app to Forge. That means rebuilding how it handles data, how it’s hosted, how updates are rolled out, and undergoing Atlassian’s technical review process for the Runs on Atlassian badge.

One of the biggest questions we faced was around data residency. Previously, we managed customer data by region ourselves, German customers in Germany, Australian customers in Australia. With Forge, that’s now automatic.

One of the biggest questions we faced was around data residency. Previously, we managed customer data by region ourselves, German customers in Germany, Australian customers in Australia. With Forge, that’s now automatic. We have e a blog about what that used to look like, definitely worth a read if you want to appreciate how much has changed.

“We were worried about how to keep region-based data storage working. Atlassian had already solved it. It worked out of the box.” – Jannick

What was difficult, and what got better?

Honestly, Forge was a new environment. There was a learning curve. But Manage Custom Fields was already using mostly native components, so the shift was smooth.

“It’s like rewiring a house while people still live in it. But it gave us a chance to clean things up, rethink how we build apps, and ship something better.” – Jannick

We also used the moment to improve some of our internal build processes, unify things across our app ecosystem, and set a foundation for faster shipping going forward.

“The Forge move gave us a natural break point. We took it as a chance to rethink our approach and align better internally. It wasn’t just a tech change, it was a structural one.” – Thijs

Why is Atlassian doing this now?

Because the world changed.

There was a time when “cloud” was the answer to everything. But over the last few years, customers have gotten more cautious. More thoughtful. Especially in enterprise and government spaces, people are asking better questions about where their data is stored, who has access, and how many third parties are involved.

“You can see the shift, first everything moved to the cloud, now people want to know where that cloud is. Runs on Atlassian is part of that response.” – Thijs

“It gives Atlassian—and customers—more confidence. The platform moves faster. The rules are clearer. The experience is tighter.” – Jannick

So why were we picked as a launch partner?

Funny story: it started at Team Europe. Timo (another great developer of ours) and I were chatting with Karen from Atlassian, and when they mentioned the new Runs on Atlassian program, Timo casually suggested Manage Custom Fields as a fit. We didn’t know what it fully involved yet.

But looking back, it made sense.

• Our app solves a clear pain point
• It was easier to migrate
• It’s used by enterprise teams who care about security and data integrity

“It’s a simple app that solves a real problem. With Forge and Runs on Atlassian, it’s even more aligned with the kinds of customers Atlassian is focusing on.” – Thijs

Why should customers care?

Because it’s peace of mind.

Your app doesn’t just look like it’s inside Atlassian, it actually lives there now. Data doesn’t leave. Updates are more stable. Hosting is consistent. The app works where you work, the way you expect it to.

If you want to read more about Runs on Atlassian from Atlassian themselves, they’ve written a blog that dives into the thinking behind it. You can check it out here.

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Give Manage Custom Fields a try

If your teams are still waiting on Jira admins to update field values, this app takes that wait out of the equation.

Project admins can manage their own options—on their own time.

And now, it all runs within Atlassian.

Visit us on the Marketplace.

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