[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":820},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/en-us/blog/gitlab-product-navigation":3,"navigation-en-us":41,"banner-en-us":452,"footer-en-us":462,"blog-post-authors-en-us-Christen Dybenko":703,"blog-related-posts-en-us-gitlab-product-navigation":717,"blog-promotions-en-us":758,"next-steps-en-us":810},{"id":4,"title":5,"authorSlugs":6,"authors":8,"body":10,"category":11,"categorySlug":11,"config":12,"content":16,"date":20,"description":17,"extension":26,"externalUrl":27,"featured":14,"heroImage":19,"isFeatured":14,"meta":28,"navigation":29,"path":30,"publishedDate":20,"rawbody":31,"seo":32,"slug":13,"stem":36,"tagSlugs":37,"tags":39,"template":15,"updatedDate":27,"__hash__":40},"blogPosts/en-us/blog/gitlab-product-navigation.yml","Inside the vision for GitLab’s new platform navigation",[7],"christen-dybenko",[9],"Christen Dybenko","\n\nSoon, we’ll be launching an entirely redesigned navigation in the GitLab product that is based on feedback from users. We’re both excited and a little nervous because navigation is so critical to every user’s workflow. That’s why we made a thoughtful shift in our iteration strategy, taking extra time and intention to develop a new and refined vision. We'd like to share a peek into how we ended up where we did and why we are so excited for our new design!\n\n## We had to invest in the right user experience\n\nBecause it has such an obvious impact on user experience, a navigation overhaul is no small feat. That’s why we fully funded a team to work exclusively on navigation, and provided the time and space to create the best experience possible. During the past year, we put a big focus on design ideation and UX research. It was a lot of work, but we believe this level of user focus has really paid off.\n\nBacked by our amazing design and product leadership team, we put much of our focus on the new navigation for more than nine months while we designed and tested it with end users.\n\nIn this blog post, we’ll share insights on our process, what we learned, and our vision for the future.\n\n![New navigation](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/2023-04-20-new-navigation-vision/new-navigation-vision.png)\n\n## Predicting what users will need\n\nWhen we first started to think about how to redesign our navigation, the challenge seemed overwhelming. How do we know how to make the best decisions for our navigation? How can anyone know which design or solution is *right*?\n\nWe did not want to make users unhappy for even a short period of time. At GitLab, we have [15 user personas](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/personas/#user-personas), incredibly savvy users, and so many different workflows. We had to consider opinions that were not present in our backlog. For example, our power users can be very verbose in issues, but new users are not.\n\nIt is a huge undertaking to get to this kind of understanding and know what is right. Time pressure and needing to ship quickly could have made this type of work impossible at this scale.\n\nThankfully, our team dedicated to navigation was amazing. They invested time to reveal our users' key pain points with navigation, which set the litmus test by which we could evaluate every mockup and solution.\n\n## Establishing a north star\n\nBefore we wrote a line of code or started planning, we did a crucial piece of alignment to know our goals. Our design team led us in a north star exercise where we examined every piece of [System Usability Score (SUS)](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/performance-indicators/system-usability-scale/) feedback we had received on navigation.\n\nWe coded this feedback and [three themes](/releases/whats-new/#whats-coming) emerged. We needed to:\n\n- minimize feelings of being overwhelmed\n- orient users across the platform\n- allow users to pick up where they left off easily\n\nThis north star was amazing for understanding the problem and how to proceed. We learned _a lot_ about what our users’ pain points are and what our users struggle with daily.\n\nThankfully, this also helped us remove the dread of trying to ship something with the impossible goal of being all things to all people as we could now test these three themes with any persona.\n\nWe applied the themes to every design validation effort that we conducted with users moving forward. Our UX Research team also conducted interviews to understand how users felt about these specific themes. It felt incredible to have these insights available right from the start. It was also empowering to let some of the noise go to focus more clearly on what matters and what would move us forward.\n\n## Shifting our perspective on iteration for the right user experience\n\nGitLab is amazing at [iteration](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/iteration/), and lately, we’ve been raising the bar on the quality of our [MVCs](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/product-principles/#the-minimal-viable-change-mvc) and [definition of done](https://docs.gitlab.com/development/contributing/merge_request_workflow/?#ui-changes) with the goal of not degrading the current user experience. For navigation, we took this extra seriously, with the intention of protecting every part of the navigation experience.\n\nAs we reviewed the history of many iterative navigation updates over the past five years, we could see that there was very little overall consistency in the code and in the intention of the updates. This is what happens at fast-moving startups, and it can be ok for a period of time, but at some point, it's necessary to take a pause to strip things back for a meaningful change. The small iterations over time gave us an indication of pain points overall, and we needed a thoughtful plan to proceed.\n\nWe decided that anything we change in this new navigation should not degrade a user’s core workflow. We would first hit a baseline for what currently exists in navigation and then make meaningful updates. We agreed that anything we ship after our Alpha had to be fully usable by our own team. We didn’t want users to feel like we’d moved backward or that they had lost functionality in this next phase.\n\nSo, while we have some exciting features planned for the future, we won’t take action on them until we fully refine the core features and address user feedback.\n\n## Iterations now and vision for the next year\n\nWhile holding the baseline promise of no degradation in the new navigation, we did find opportunities to ship small iterations to our current navigation since January. First, we shipped a new navigation called “Your Work” and second, we shipped a new “Explore” menu to all users. Those menus are central to our new navigation vision, but they improved the legacy navigation, too.\n\nAfter launch, we can’t wait to improve even further with more customizable navigation experiences like allowing pins on Your Work and seamless integration with search, command line, and keyboard use. We also have ideas on how to add better landing pages that make life more custom in GitLab, and we couldn’t do that without this new navigation.\n\n## No one likes a navigation re-design\n\nAll that said, we know that no one actually likes a navigation redesign, even if it is best in the long run. Core workflows are ingrained muscle memory that no one wants to mess with if possible.\n\nThat’s why we are releasing our new navigation with a built-in on/off switch. With this approach, you can gradually move to the new navigation by switching back and forth for a little while, as needed.\n\nOur hope is that you’ll take a similar approach and share your feedback along the way, too. We want to hear about your experiences, so please be honest and your feedback will help us iterate.\n\n## What to expect for rollout\n\nWe are proud of our vision for a new navigation! Over the next few months, our new navigation will be available via an opt-in process in the user profile menu, and we'd love your feedback. Watch our Twitter, upcoming release posts, and our direction page for more information!\n","devsecops",{"slug":13,"featured":14,"template":15},"gitlab-product-navigation",false,"BlogPost",{"title":5,"description":17,"authors":18,"heroImage":19,"date":20,"body":10,"category":11,"tags":21},"A peek into what inspired our new navigation design, which is coming soon.",[9],"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749668078/Blog/Hero%20Images/cover-image-helm-registry.jpg","2023-05-01",[22,23,24,25],"product","design","features","inside GitLab","yml",null,{},true,"/en-us/blog/gitlab-product-navigation","seo:\n  title: Inside the vision for GitLab’s new platform navigation\n  description: A peek into what inspired our new navigation design, which is coming soon.\n  ogTitle: Inside the vision for GitLab’s new platform navigation\n  ogDescription: A peek into what inspired our new navigation design, which is coming soon.\n  noIndex: false\n  ogImage: >-\n    https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749668078/Blog/Hero%20Images/cover-image-helm-registry.jpg\n  ogUrl: https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-product-navigation\n  ogSiteName: https://about.gitlab.com\n  ogType: article\n  canonicalUrls: https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-product-navigation\ncontent:\n  title: Inside the vision for GitLab’s new platform navigation\n  description: A peek into what inspired our new navigation design, which is coming soon.\n  authors:\n    - Christen Dybenko\n  heroImage: >-\n    https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749668078/Blog/Hero%20Images/cover-image-helm-registry.jpg\n  date: '2023-05-01'\n  body: >\n\n\n    Soon, we’ll be launching an entirely redesigned navigation in the GitLab\n    product that is based on feedback from users. We’re both excited and a\n    little nervous because navigation is so critical to every user’s workflow.\n    That’s why we made a thoughtful shift in our iteration strategy, taking\n    extra time and intention to develop a new and refined vision. We'd like to\n    share a peek into how we ended up where we did and why we are so excited for\n    our new design!\n\n\n    ## We had to invest in the right user experience\n\n\n    Because it has such an obvious impact on user experience, a navigation\n    overhaul is no small feat. That’s why we fully funded a team to work\n    exclusively on navigation, and provided the time and space to create the\n    best experience possible. During the past year, we put a big focus on design\n    ideation and UX research. It was a lot of work, but we believe this level of\n    user focus has really paid off.\n\n\n    Backed by our amazing design and product leadership team, we put much of our\n    focus on the new navigation for more than nine months while we designed and\n    tested it with end users.\n\n\n    In this blog post, we’ll share insights on our process, what we learned, and\n    our vision for the future.\n\n\n    ![New\n    navigation](https://about.gitlab.com/images/blogimages/2023-04-20-new-navigation-vision/new-navigation-vision.png)\n\n\n    ## Predicting what users will need\n\n\n    When we first started to think about how to redesign our navigation, the\n    challenge seemed overwhelming. How do we know how to make the best decisions\n    for our navigation? How can anyone know which design or solution is *right*?\n\n\n    We did not want to make users unhappy for even a short period of time. At\n    GitLab, we have [15 user\n    personas](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/personas/#user-personas),\n    incredibly savvy users, and so many different workflows. We had to consider\n    opinions that were not present in our backlog. For example, our power users\n    can be very verbose in issues, but new users are not.\n\n\n    It is a huge undertaking to get to this kind of understanding and know what\n    is right. Time pressure and needing to ship quickly could have made this\n    type of work impossible at this scale.\n\n\n    Thankfully, our team dedicated to navigation was amazing. They invested time\n    to reveal our users' key pain points with navigation, which set the litmus\n    test by which we could evaluate every mockup and solution.\n\n\n    ## Establishing a north star\n\n\n    Before we wrote a line of code or started planning, we did a crucial piece\n    of alignment to know our goals. Our design team led us in a north star\n    exercise where we examined every piece of [System Usability Score\n    (SUS)](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/performance-indicators/system-usability-scale/)\n    feedback we had received on navigation.\n\n\n    We coded this feedback and [three\n    themes](/releases/whats-new/#whats-coming) emerged. We needed to:\n\n\n    - minimize feelings of being overwhelmed\n\n    - orient users across the platform\n\n    - allow users to pick up where they left off easily\n\n\n    This north star was amazing for understanding the problem and how to\n    proceed. We learned _a lot_ about what our users’ pain points are and what\n    our users struggle with daily.\n\n\n    Thankfully, this also helped us remove the dread of trying to ship something\n    with the impossible goal of being all things to all people as we could now\n    test these three themes with any persona.\n\n\n    We applied the themes to every design validation effort that we conducted\n    with users moving forward. Our UX Research team also conducted interviews to\n    understand how users felt about these specific themes. It felt incredible to\n    have these insights available right from the start. It was also empowering\n    to let some of the noise go to focus more clearly on what matters and what\n    would move us forward.\n\n\n    ## Shifting our perspective on iteration for the right user experience\n\n\n    GitLab is amazing at\n    [iteration](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/workflow/iteration/),\n    and lately, we’ve been raising the bar on the quality of our\n    [MVCs](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/product-principles/#the-minimal-viable-change-mvc)\n    and [definition of\n    done](https://docs.gitlab.com/development/contributing/merge_request_workflow/?#ui-changes)\n    with the goal of not degrading the current user experience. For navigation,\n    we took this extra seriously, with the intention of protecting every part of\n    the navigation experience.\n\n\n    As we reviewed the history of many iterative navigation updates over the\n    past five years, we could see that there was very little overall consistency\n    in the code and in the intention of the updates. This is what happens at\n    fast-moving startups, and it can be ok for a period of time, but at some\n    point, it's necessary to take a pause to strip things back for a meaningful\n    change. The small iterations over time gave us an indication of pain points\n    overall, and we needed a thoughtful plan to proceed.\n\n\n    We decided that anything we change in this new navigation should not degrade\n    a user’s core workflow. We would first hit a baseline for what currently\n    exists in navigation and then make meaningful updates. We agreed that\n    anything we ship after our Alpha had to be fully usable by our own team. We\n    didn’t want users to feel like we’d moved backward or that they had lost\n    functionality in this next phase.\n\n\n    So, while we have some exciting features planned for the future, we won’t\n    take action on them until we fully refine the core features and address user\n    feedback.\n\n\n    ## Iterations now and vision for the next year\n\n\n    While holding the baseline promise of no degradation in the new navigation,\n    we did find opportunities to ship small iterations to our current navigation\n    since January. First, we shipped a new navigation called “Your Work” and\n    second, we shipped a new “Explore” menu to all users. Those menus are\n    central to our new navigation vision, but they improved the legacy\n    navigation, too.\n\n\n    After launch, we can’t wait to improve even further with more customizable\n    navigation experiences like allowing pins on Your Work and seamless\n    integration with search, command line, and keyboard use. We also have ideas\n    on how to add better landing pages that make life more custom in GitLab, and\n    we couldn’t do that without this new navigation.\n\n\n    ## No one likes a navigation re-design\n\n\n    All that said, we know that no one actually likes a navigation redesign,\n    even if it is best in the long run. Core workflows are ingrained muscle\n    memory that no one wants to mess with if possible.\n\n\n    That’s why we are releasing our new navigation with a built-in on/off\n    switch. With this approach, you can gradually move to the new navigation by\n    switching back and forth for a little while, as needed.\n\n\n    Our hope is that you’ll take a similar approach and share your feedback\n    along the way, too. We want to hear about your experiences, so please be\n    honest and your feedback will help us iterate.\n\n\n    ## What to expect for rollout\n\n\n    We are proud of our vision for a new navigation! Over the next few months,\n    our new navigation will be available via an opt-in process in the user\n    profile menu, and we'd love your feedback. Watch our Twitter, upcoming\n    release posts, and our direction page for more\n    information!\n  category: devsecops\n  tags:\n    - product\n    - design\n    - features\n    - inside GitLab\nconfig:\n  slug: gitlab-product-navigation\n  featured: false\n  template: BlogPost\n",{"title":5,"description":17,"ogTitle":5,"ogDescription":17,"noIndex":14,"ogImage":19,"ogUrl":33,"ogSiteName":34,"ogType":35,"canonicalUrls":33},"https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-product-navigation","https://about.gitlab.com","article","en-us/blog/gitlab-product-navigation",[22,23,24,38],"inside-gitlab",[22,23,24,25],"iAHrNtggvCQVr8Niud6a5Besuj3wQSSjC4lSAW8fzok",{"data":42},{"logo":43,"freeTrial":48,"sales":53,"login":58,"items":63,"search":372,"minimal":403,"duo":422,"switchNav":431,"pricingDeployment":442},{"config":44},{"href":45,"dataGaName":46,"dataGaLocation":47},"/","gitlab logo","header",{"text":49,"config":50},"Get free 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software development the easy way using GitLab","Learn how University of Washington lecturer Stephen G. Dame uses GitLab for Education to manage student assignments, distribute course materials, and provide inline code feedback at scale.\n",[723],"Rod Burns","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1749659537/Blog/Hero%20Images/display-article-image-0679-1800x945-fy26.png","2026-04-29","For instructors teaching software development, one of the biggest logistical challenges is assignment distribution and feedback at scale. How do you give large groups of students access to course materials, keep solution code private, and still deliver meaningful, contextual feedback without lots of administrative overhead?\n\nThe **[GitLab for Education program](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/)** provides qualifying institutions with free access to **GitLab Ultimate**, enabling instructors to build professional-grade workflows that mirror real-world software development environments. In this article, you'll learn how Stephen G. Dame, a lecturer in the Computing and Software Systems department at the University of Washington, Bothell, uses simple workflows in GitLab to manage everything from course materials to student feedback across multiple classes.\n\n## From aerospace to academia: Bringing GitLab to the classroom\n\nDame came to academia with years of experience as a chief software engineer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, where GitLab was used for aerospace projects. As an adjunct professor, he became an early advocate for GitLab within the university, joining the GitLab for Education program to access the full feature set needed to run structured, scalable course workflows.\n\n> **\"GitLab provides the greatest way to organize multiple classes, student assignments, lectures, and code samples through the use of Groups and Subgroups, which I found to be unique to GitLab compared to other repository platforms.\"**\n>\n> - Stephen G. Dame, University of Washington, Bothell\n\n## Set up groups: Build the right structure before writing a line of code\n\nThe foundation of an effective GitLab-based course is a well-planned group hierarchy. GitLab's **[Groups and Subgroups](https://docs.gitlab.com/tutorials/manage_user/#create-the-organization-parent-group-and-subgroups)** allow instructors to model the natural structure of a university department institution, course, and role with precise, inheritable permissions at every level.\n\nDame's structure places the university at the root (`UWTeaching`), with each course occupying its own subgroup (e.g. `css430`). Within each course sit repositories for `lecture-materials` and `code`, alongside dedicated Subgroups for `students` and `graders`. Instructor materials remain private, while student and grader subgroups are configured with controlled permissions so that assignment briefs and solutions are visible only to the right people.\n\n![Screenshot of GitLab group hierarchy — institution, course subgroup, and per-student subgroups](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1777463673/dpxfnitv76pdmvcqtgag.png)\n\nPermissions cascade downward through the hierarchy via **Manage > Members**, allowing Dame to add students to a course's `students` subgroup with `Reporter` access and an expiration date tied to the end of the academic quarter. Students can clone and pull from assignment repositories but cannot push — keeping solution code firmly under instructor control.\n\nStudents are guided to set up SSH keys across all their working environments (local machines, cloud shells, virtual machines) so they can clone repositories and receive weekly updates via `git pull`. They copy relevant code into their own private repositories to manage their own version history.\n\n**Tip for large classes:** For larger cohorts, adding students by hand is impractical. GitLab's REST API lets you automate subgroup creation and membership from a list of usernames. Below is a sample Python script that handles this:\n\n```python\n    import gitlab\n    from datetime import datetime\n\n    # Connect to your GitLab instance\n    gl = gitlab.Gitlab('https://gitlab.com', private_token='YOUR_PRIVATE_TOKEN')\n\n    # Target parent group ID (e.g., the ID for \"css430 > students\")\n    parent_group_id = 12345678\n\n    # Set expiration: typically the beginning of the next month after quarter end\n    expiry_date = '2025-01-01'\n\n    # List of collected student usernames\n    student_list = ['alice_css430', 'bob_css430', 'carol_css430', 'dave_css430', 'eve_css430']\n\n    for username in student_list:\n        try:\n            # 1. Create a personal subgroup for the student\n            subgroup = gl.groups.create({\n                'name': username,\n                'path': username,\n                'parent_id': parent_group_id,\n                'visibility': 'private'\n            })\n\n            # 2. Add student to the new subgroup with Expiration\n            user = gl.users.list(username=username)[0]\n            subgroup.members.create({\n                'user_id': user.id,\n                'access_level': gitlab.const.REPORTER_ACCESS,\n                'expires_at': expiry_date\n            })\n            print(f\"Success: Subgroup created and student added for {username}\")\n        except Exception as e:\n            print(f\"Error processing {username}: {e}\")\n```\nThere is also an [open source project that automates class management](https://gitlab.com/edu-docs/class-management-automation) published by GitLab that provides additional tooling for this workflow.\n## Give feedback where the work actually lives\n\nOnce the structure is in place, the feedback workflow is where GitLab's value becomes most apparent to students. Dame asks students to submit assignments by opening a **[merge request](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/merge_requests/)** in their repository. This gives instructors an immediate, clean diff of everything the student has written.\n![A GitLab merge request showing inline code comment function for an instructor](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1777467468/icclzyglbkwlvfysggbi.png)\nInstructors can click any line of code and leave an **inline comment** — not just flagging what is wrong, but explaining why, and pointing to what to look at next. Students receive this feedback in direct context with their code, which is far more actionable than a comment at the bottom of a submitted document.\n\n## Join GitLab for Education\n\nSetting up your first GitLab assignment takes some initial effort, but once the structure is in place it largely runs itself. The real payoff goes beyond organization: Students graduate having worked daily in an environment that mirrors professional software development, building habits around [version control](https://about.gitlab.com/topics/version-control/) and [code review](https://docs.gitlab.com/development/code_review/) rather than learning them as abstract concepts.\n\nIf you are just getting started, keep it simple. Begin with a single course group, one assignment template, and a basic pipeline. The structure will grow naturally alongside your confidence with the platform.\n\nMake sure to **[sign up for GitLab for Education](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/join/)** so that you and your students can access all top-tier features, including unlimited reviewers on merge requests, additional compute minutes, and expanded storage.\n\n> [Apply to the GitLab for Education program today](https://about.gitlab.com/solutions/education/join/).",[625,728],"open source",{"featured":14,"template":15,"slug":730},"teaching-software-development-the-easy-way-using-gitlab",{"content":732,"config":744},{"description":733,"authors":734,"heroImage":736,"date":737,"title":738,"body":739,"category":11,"tags":740},"AI-generated code is 34% of development work. Discover how to balance productivity gains with quality, reliability, and security.",[735],"Manav Khurana","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1767982271/e9ogyosmuummq7j65zqg.png","2026-01-08","AI is reshaping DevSecOps: Attend GitLab Transcend to see what’s next","AI promises a step change in innovation velocity, but most software teams are hitting a wall. According to our latest [Global DevSecOps Report](https://about.gitlab.com/developer-survey/), AI-generated code now accounts for 34% of all development work. Yet 70% of DevSecOps professionals report that AI is making compliance management more difficult, and 76% say agentic AI will create unprecedented security challenges.\n\nThis is the AI paradox: AI accelerates coding, but software delivery slows down as teams struggle to test, secure, and deploy all that code.\n\n## Productivity gains meet workflow bottlenecks\nThe problem isn't AI itself. It's how software gets built today. The traditional DevSecOps lifecycle contains hundreds of small tasks that developers must navigate manually: updating tickets, running tests, requesting reviews, waiting for approvals, fixing merge conflicts, addressing security findings. These tasks drain an average of seven hours per week from every team member, according to our research.\n\nDevelopment teams are producing code faster than ever, but that code still crawls through fragmented toolchains, manual handoffs, and disconnected processes. In fact, 60% of DevSecOps teams use more than five tools for software development overall, and 49% use more than five AI tools. This fragmentation creates collaboration barriers, with 94% of DevSecOps professionals experiencing factors that limit collaboration in the software development lifecycle.\n\nThe answer isn't more tools. It's intelligent orchestration that brings software teams and their AI agents together across projects and release cycles, with enterprise-grade security, governance, and compliance built in.\n\n## Seeking deeper human-AI partnerships\nDevSecOps professionals don't want AI to take over — they want reliable partnerships. The vast majority (82%) say using agentic AI would increase their job satisfaction, and 43% envision an ideal future with a 50/50 split between human and AI contributions. They're ready to trust AI with 37% of their daily tasks without human review, particularly for documentation, test writing, and code reviews.\n\nWhat we heard resoundingly from DevSecOps professionals is that AI won't replace them; rather, it will fundamentally reshape their roles. 83% of DevSecOps professionals believe AI will significantly change their work within five years, and notably, 76% think this will create more engineering jobs, not fewer. As coding becomes easier with AI, engineers who can architect systems, ensure quality, and apply business context will be in high demand.\n\nCritically, 88% agree there are essential human qualities that AI will never fully replace, including creativity, innovation, collaboration, and strategic vision.\n\nSo how can organizations bridge the gap between AI’s promise and the reality of fragmented workflows?\n\n## Join us at GitLab Transcend: Explore how to drive real value with agentic AI\nOn February 10, 2026, GitLab will be hosting Transcend, where we'll reveal how intelligent orchestration transforms AI-powered software development. You'll get a first look at GitLab's upcoming product roadmap and learn how teams are solving real-world challenges by modernizing development workflows with AI.\n\nOrganizations winning in this new era balance AI adoption with security, compliance, and platform consolidation. AI offers genuine productivity gains when implemented thoughtfully — not by replacing human developers, but by freeing DevSecOps professionals to focus on strategic thinking and creative innovation.\n\n[Register for Transcend today](https://about.gitlab.com/events/transcend/virtual/) to secure your spot and discover how intelligent orchestration can help your software teams stay in flow.",[741,742,743],"AI/ML","DevOps platform","security",{"featured":29,"template":15,"slug":745},"ai-is-reshaping-devsecops-attend-gitlab-transcend-to-see-whats-next",{"content":747,"config":756},{"title":748,"description":749,"authors":750,"heroImage":752,"date":753,"body":754,"category":11,"tags":755},"Atlassian ending Data Center as GitLab maintains deployment choice","As Atlassian transitions Data Center customers to cloud-only, GitLab presents a menu of deployment choices that map to business needs.",[751],"Emilio Salvador","https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1750098354/Blog/Hero%20Images/Blog/Hero%20Images/blog-image-template-1800x945%20%281%29_5XrohmuWBNuqL89BxVUzWm_1750098354056.png","2025-10-07","Change is never easy, especially when it's not your choice. Atlassian's announcement that [all Data Center products will reach end-of-life by March 28, 2029](https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/atlassian-ascend), means thousands of organizations must now reconsider their DevSecOps deployment and infrastructure. But you don't have to settle for deployment options that don't fit your needs. GitLab maintains your freedom to choose — whether you need self-managed for compliance, cloud for convenience, or hybrid for flexibility — all within a single AI-powered DevSecOps platform that respects your requirements.\n\nWhile other vendors force migrations to cloud-only architectures, GitLab remains committed to supporting the deployment choices that match your business needs. Whether you're managing sensitive government data, operating in air-gapped environments, or simply prefer the control of self-managed deployments, we understand that one size doesn't fit all.\n\n## The cloud isn't the answer for everyone\n\nFor the many companies that invested millions of dollars in Data Center deployments, including those that migrated to Data Center [after its Server products were discontinued](https://about.gitlab.com/blog/atlassian-server-ending-move-to-a-single-devsecops-platform/), this announcement represents more than a product sunset. It signals a fundamental shift away from customer-centric architecture choices, forcing enterprises into difficult positions: accept a deployment model that doesn't fit their needs, or find a vendor that respects their requirements.\n\nMany of the organizations requiring self-managed deployments represent some of the world's most important organizations: healthcare systems protecting patient data, financial institutions managing trillions in assets, government agencies safeguarding national security, and defense contractors operating in air-gapped environments.\n\nThese organizations don't choose self-managed deployments for convenience; they choose them for compliance, security, and sovereignty requirements that cloud-only architectures simply cannot meet. Organizations operating in closed environments with restricted or no internet access aren't exceptions — they represent a significant portion of enterprise customers across various industries.\n\n![GitLab vs. Atlassian comparison table](https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1759928476/ynl7wwmkh5xyqhszv46m.jpg)\n\n## The real cost of forced cloud migration goes beyond dollars\n\nWhile cloud-only vendors frame mandatory migrations as \"upgrades,\" organizations face substantial challenges beyond simple financial costs:\n\n* **Lost integration capabilities:** Years of custom integrations with legacy systems, carefully crafted workflows, and enterprise-specific automations become obsolete. Organizations with deep integrations to legacy systems often find cloud migration technically infeasible.\n\n* **Regulatory constraints:** For organizations in regulated industries, cloud migration isn't just complex — it's often not permitted. Data residency requirements, air-gapped environments, and strict regulatory frameworks don't bend to vendor preferences. The absence of single-tenant solutions in many cloud-only approaches creates insurmountable compliance barriers.\n\n* **Productivity impacts:** Cloud-only architectures often require juggling multiple products: separate tools for planning, code management, CI/CD, and documentation. Each tool means another context switch, another integration to maintain, another potential point of failure. GitLab research shows [30% of developers spend at least 50% of their job maintaining and/or integrating their DevSecOps toolchain](https://about.gitlab.com/developer-survey/). Fragmented architectures exacerbate this challenge rather than solving it.\n\n## GitLab offers choice, commitment, and consolidation\n\nEnterprise customers deserve a trustworthy technology partner. That's why we've committed to supporting a range of deployment options — whether you need on-premises for compliance, hybrid for flexibility, or cloud for convenience, the choice remains yours. That commitment continues with [GitLab Duo](https://about.gitlab.com/gitlab-duo-agent-platform/), our AI solution that supports developers at every stage of their workflow.\n\nBut we offer more than just deployment flexibility. While other vendors might force you to cobble together their products into a fragmented toolchain, GitLab provides everything in a **comprehensive AI-native DevSecOps platform**. Source code management, CI/CD, security scanning, Agile planning, and documentation are all managed within a single application and a single vendor relationship.\n\nThis isn't theoretical. When Airbus and [Iron Mountain](https://about.gitlab.com/customers/iron-mountain/) evaluated their existing fragmented toolchains, they consistently identified challenges: poor user experience, missing functionalities like built-in security scanning and review apps, and management complexity from plugin troubleshooting. **These aren't minor challenges; they're major blockers for modern software delivery.**\n\n## Your migration path: Simpler than you think\n\nWe've helped thousands of organizations migrate from other vendors, and we've built the tools and expertise to make your transition smooth:\n\n* **Automated migration tools:** Our [Bitbucket Server importer](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/import/bitbucket_server/) brings over repositories, pull requests, comments, and even Large File Storage (LFS) objects. For Jira, our [built-in importer](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/project/import/jira/) handles issues, descriptions, and labels, with professional services available for complex migrations.\n\n* **Proven at scale:** A 500 GiB repository with 13,000 pull requests, 10,000 branches, and 7,000 tags is likely to [take just 8 hours to migrate](https://docs.gitlab.com/user/import/bitbucket_server/) from Bitbucket to GitLab using parallel processing.\n\n* **Immediate ROI:** A [Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ study commissioned by GitLab](https://about.gitlab.com/resources/study-forrester-tei-gitlab-ultimate/) found that investing in GitLab Ultimate confirms these benefits translate to real bottom-line impact, with a three-year 483% ROI, 5x time saved in security related activities, and 25% savings in software toolchain costs.\n\n## Start your journey to a unified DevSecOps platform\n\nForward-thinking organizations aren't waiting for vendor-mandated deadlines. They're evaluating alternatives now, while they have time to migrate thoughtfully to platforms that protect their investments and deliver on promises.\n\nOrganizations invest in self-managed deployments because they need control, compliance, and customization. When vendors deprecate these capabilities, they remove not just features but the fundamental ability to choose environments matching business requirements.\n\nModern DevSecOps platforms should offer complete functionality that respects deployment needs, consolidates toolchains, and accelerates software delivery, without forcing compromises on security or data sovereignty.\n\n[Talk to our sales team](https://about.gitlab.com/sales/) today about your migration options, or explore our [comprehensive migration resources](https://about.gitlab.com/move-to-gitlab-from-atlassian/) to see how thousands of organizations have already made the switch.\n\nYou also can [try GitLab Ultimate with GitLab Duo Enterprise](https://about.gitlab.com/free-trial/devsecops/) for free for 30 days to see what a unified DevSecOps platform can do for your organization.",[576,569,22,24],{"featured":29,"template":15,"slug":757},"atlassian-ending-data-center-as-gitlab-maintains-deployment-choice",{"promotions":759},[760,774,785,796],{"id":761,"categories":762,"header":764,"text":765,"button":766,"image":771},"ai-modernization",[763],"ai-ml","Is AI achieving its promise at scale?","Quiz will take 5 minutes or less",{"text":767,"config":768},"Get your AI maturity score",{"href":769,"dataGaName":770,"dataGaLocation":245},"/assessments/ai-modernization-assessment/","modernization assessment",{"config":772},{"src":773},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/qix0m7kwnd8x2fh1zq49.png",{"id":775,"categories":776,"header":777,"text":765,"button":778,"image":782},"devops-modernization",[22,11],"Are you just managing tools or shipping innovation?",{"text":779,"config":780},"Get your DevOps maturity score",{"href":781,"dataGaName":770,"dataGaLocation":245},"/assessments/devops-modernization-assessment/",{"config":783},{"src":784},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138785/eg818fmakweyuznttgid.png",{"id":786,"categories":787,"header":788,"text":765,"button":789,"image":793},"security-modernization",[743],"Are you trading speed for security?",{"text":790,"config":791},"Get your security maturity score",{"href":792,"dataGaName":770,"dataGaLocation":245},"/assessments/security-modernization-assessment/",{"config":794},{"src":795},"https://res.cloudinary.com/about-gitlab-com/image/upload/v1772138786/p4pbqd9nnjejg5ds6mdk.png",{"id":797,"paths":798,"header":801,"text":802,"button":803,"image":808},"github-azure-migration",[799,800],"migration-from-azure-devops-to-gitlab","integrating-azure-devops-scm-and-gitlab","Is your team ready for GitHub's Azure move?","GitHub is already rebuilding around Azure. Find out what it means for you.",{"text":804,"config":805},"See how GitLab compares to GitHub",{"href":806,"dataGaName":807,"dataGaLocation":245},"/compare/gitlab-vs-github/github-azure-migration/","github azure migration",{"config":809},{"src":784},{"header":811,"blurb":812,"button":813,"secondaryButton":818},"Start building faster today","See what your team can do with the intelligent orchestration platform for DevSecOps.\n",{"text":814,"config":815},"Get your free trial",{"href":816,"dataGaName":52,"dataGaLocation":817},"https://gitlab.com/-/trial_registrations/new?glm_content=default-saas-trial&glm_source=about.gitlab.com/","feature",{"text":508,"config":819},{"href":56,"dataGaName":57,"dataGaLocation":817},1777493611673]