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Commercial manager at AIOps
Real User
Popular solution used to manage different types of documentation but that comes at a high price
Pros and Cons
  • "The customization that Confluence offers is one of its most useful features. You can customise it based on the specific project you are working on. It also supports multiple languages."
  • "The one way in which this solution could be improved is by offering better design and UI."

What is our primary use case?

We use it to manage different documentation such as PDFs and PowerPoint. It's similar to Dropbox but is more organized. We have approximately 1,000 users that make use of this solution in our business. 

What is most valuable?

The customization that Confluence offers is one of its most useful features. You can customise it based on the specific project you are working on. It also supports multiple languages. 

I also like using the web browser version of this solution and the fact that it is easy to search. You are able to see more that ten rows of results. 

What needs improvement?

We currently only use this solution for retrieving information. In a previous company, I also used it for HR and onboarding. The one way in which this solution could be improved is by offering better design and UI.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for five years. 

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November 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten for stability. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. It is built on a crop base and so adding additional documents is simple. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

This is a very expensive solution. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We compared this solution with Lark and I think Lark is a better option. When using Confluence, you can only search using a search bar. When using Lark, you can search through a messaging bot and everything is translated. For example, Chinese words can be translated into English without requiring AI. 

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a six out of ten. It is one of the most well known solutions but comes at a high price and does not offer the best functionality. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Joseph Tharakan - PeerSpot reviewer
Application Architect at Allianz Insurance
Real User
Valuable integration with Jira and auditing capabilities that effectively manage documentation, but lacks support for Markdown and adding code
Pros and Cons
  • "We value the way we can tag documentation to Jira because we can cross-reference a Jira ticket to a Confluence page, and we can also add a Confluence page to a Jira ticket."
  • "I think the couple of improvement areas would be around Markdown support and support for adding code."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for documentation purposes. It's very tightly integrated with Jira, so we handle project management with Jira and document management with Confluence.

What is most valuable?

We value the way we can tag documentation to Jira because we can cross-reference a Jira ticket to a Confluence page, and we can also add a Confluence page to a Jira ticket. The way both work together helps us to reduce the duplication of the codes, and if we need to have documentation, we describe it in Confluence and tag the page in the Jira ticket for someone to work on, which reduces the duplication of work.

On each page, we can see the different version updates that have already been done by colleagues. It's auditable, which helps us to figure out what changes have been done at what point. Documentation with an auditing capability helps us to manage the overall documentation effectively.

What needs improvement?

Nowadays, the standard for documentation for developers is mostly in Markdown, so pretty much everything we can do is in the Markdown language. The support for Confluence to import something that's in Markdown is not that great. Sometimes it's also not that great when it comes to including code snippets or similar things, so I think the couple of improvement areas would be around Markdown support and support for adding code.

As for added features, I would like to see more flexibility in the way we can design a workflow in Confluence, and maybe some templates that we can use based on the purpose of the document. 

I would also like to see more integration with other common application services. Other than draw.io, there is not much integration to other services like Lucidchart or similar services, which are helpful for reporting your documentation with drawings and architecture diagrams. Those improvements would make it a bit more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for five years now. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability partly depends upon the resources that you allocate for the solution, but it's pretty much been stable for the last couple of years that I've been working with it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable and it's centrally controlled, and we have a couple of central responsibility roles for adding new users. It's helpful for us on the backend because if we want to provide access to different sets of people, some may need edit access, some may need read-only access, and we utilize those different permissions.

How are customer service and support?

Other than utilizing the public documentation that is available, I haven't reached out to the support team.

How was the initial setup?

I was not very involved in the setup of Confluence, but my understanding is that it was not that difficult.

What other advice do I have?

Confluence might be a burden to small and medium companies, like startups, so I probably would not recommend it to them, but I would definitely recommend it for companies at the enterprise level.

I would rate this solution as an eight out of ten because we found it helpful. It's good if you are in need of long-term documentation of projects, both on the functional side and the technical side, but at the same time, it needs some improvements, like more integration to other solutions. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Atlassian Confluence
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Atlassian Confluence. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Project Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5
Offers ability to build workflow diagrams, stable product and highly scalable for our use case
Pros and Cons
  • "It seems highly scalable. There are 500 end users using this solution."
  • "There is room for improvement in maybe the tree structure for articles. If you have a lot of articles, it becomes difficult to navigate."

What is our primary use case?

I use it for documentation, project reports, and creating a knowledge base. 

How has it helped my organization?

It's used for building a knowledge base and providing status updates on tasks.

What is most valuable?

I don't see many features in the version we use. We do find the ability to build workflow diagrams helpful, but that might be through external modules/plugins.

The diagram tool is a positive addition.

However, the only integration we use is with Jira.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in maybe the tree structure for articles. If you have a lot of articles, it becomes difficult to navigate. 

Having the ability to control which articles appear in the main tree structure and only linking or hyperlinking to others within specific articles could be an improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for ten years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It seems highly scalable. There are 500 end users using this solution. 

We have IT, service desk agents, and regular users across different functions. Everyone is using it. For example, if someone needs to look up documentation or assistance with workflows, they would use Confluence.

It's used alongside Jira. Each team would likely have a Jira code for that purpose.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've used ClickUp. It's a good tool, especially compared to Jira. Confluence still has room to improve in comparison. We also used a legacy tool called CBQ.

ClickUp is becoming a real competitor to Jira and Confluence because it's an all-in-one tool. You don't need separate licenses for project management and knowledge bases. ClickUp has a more seamless experience.  

I've heard of Asana, but I personally prefer ClickUp. If I were starting a company from scratch, I would consider ClickUp over Jira, Confluence, Trello, etc. It's really user-friendly.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend using this solution. It's not necessarily better than tools like Asana, but it gets the job done.

Jira and Confluence have strong market presence, and migrating existing systems can be a challenge. 

For new projects, I would certainly recommend considering other options. For established teams, switching tools might not be practical. But if you're starting fresh, explore alternatives and don't just default to Jira and Confluence.

Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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PeerSpot user
Luc Cools - PeerSpot reviewer
Digital TV Solution Architect at Pro 71CHA3
Real User
Simple initial implementation, flexible folder structures, and easy learning curve
Pros and Cons
  • "Atlassian Confluence's most valuable features are the ease in which you can use the tool, the flexibility in creating folder structures, receiving notifications in case others put remarks on the documents, and working together on documents."
  • "Atlassian Confluence could improve how information is shared outside our company. We had some negative experiences with the rights we have with our information when sharing it within Atlassian Confluence and with other teams outside the company. It's due to the limitations on the rights we have on the export capabilities. We don't have sufficient rights to do so."

What is our primary use case?

I use Atlassian Confluence for all kinds of documentation purposes, such as sharing information about specifications among the group and distributing those documents for review remarks from others. It's a nice way of distributing information between different teams.

What is most valuable?

Atlassian Confluence's most valuable features are the ease in which you can use the tool, the flexibility in creating folder structures, receiving notifications in case others put remarks on the documents, and working together on documents.

What needs improvement?

Atlassian Confluence could improve how information is shared outside our company. We had some negative experiences with the rights we have with our information when sharing it within Atlassian Confluence and with other teams outside the company. It's due to the limitations on the rights we have on the export capabilities. We don't have sufficient rights to do so.

In an upcoming release, there should be improvements in the graphical support for drawings. We have some plugins, but it's limited for making drawings within Atlassian Confluence, it's rather difficult. Most of the time we create I create drawings outside Atlassian Confluence and import them as a file. It makes it a bit difficult to update drawings within the solution itself, but it's mostly limited to the plugin support we have internally.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Atlassian Confluence for approximately five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Atlassian Confluence is a highly stable solution. We receive notifications from the vendor if there is maintenance work that is required. The overall stability is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of Atlassian Confluence is very good when I see how many people are using it. There could be up to 1,000 users using the solution. 

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed to use the support from Atlassian Confluence.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Atlassian Confluence is straightforward. It's set up within the company and we ask to create workspaces for ourselves.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have a site license for Atlassian Confluence and there are some limitations on external users.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend others to use these solutions. The ease of use and the very short learning curve, make it an ideal tool.

I rate Atlassian Confluence an eight out of ten.

The solution is very simple to collaborate among a large group of people. If you want to create a bit more compelling, nice-looking documents, then it's not ideal, but for the thing we are using it for, it's perfect.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Co-Founder - Managing Partner at Helvetia Fintech
Real User
Intuitive and user-friendly, offering flexibility when drafting directly online
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution offers a lot of freedom when drafting directly online."
  • "There are some issues with performance when creating tables."

What is our primary use case?

We are a banking institution and use this solution to provide the key technical and functional documentation of the project that we share with our users. I'm the managing partner and we are customers of Atlassian.

What is most valuable?

The product is quite intuitive and user-friendly. It offers a lot of freedom when drafting directly online, and there are some very nice features to connect with JIRA, for instance. It's helpful that the solution enables documentation of user histories that you are following or tracking in JIRA and links the two. 

What needs improvement?

The performance could be improved, we sometimes run into difficulties creating tables. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for six years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable, we've never had a problem. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is very easy to scale, especially because it's easy to interface with other applications. In my project at the bank we have over 100 users; my client has thousands of users. 

How are customer service and support?

I've never directly contacted Atlassian support because we have our internal IT department. If I have an issue, I raise an internal ticket via ServiceNow and the administrators of the bank take care of things. If necessary, they contact the vendor.

How was the initial setup?

I'm not an administrator but I believe the initial setup is relatively simple. From a user perspective, you can very easily create a dashboard, quick links, and things like that.

What other advice do I have?

This is a very easy cloud-based solution that permits collaborative drafting of documents. We can have several people editing documentation at the same time which simplifies things. It's a good solution for technical and functional documentation.

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Siarhei Leshchanka - PeerSpot reviewer
CIO at IBA Group
MSP
Stable solution and easy to setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The scalability is enough for our use cases. It covers all our needs."
  • "There is room for improvement in terms of pricing."

What is our primary use case?

There are some documents for users, some for developers, and some workspaces for projects, both in Jira and others for internal business processes within our company. It's not for customers, only for internal use.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature for me is the structure of documents. The page tree feature is more convenient for me.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in terms of pricing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for around four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. We never faced any problem with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is enough for our use cases. It covers all our needs. 

How was the initial setup?

There was no problem with the setup process. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

When we started using Confluence, it was more convenient for us, but later, it became more expensive. Unfortunately, the data center version is expensive for us. So, it could be a bit cheaper.

What other advice do I have?

In my opinion, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
DevOps Engineer at Bosch
Real User
Top 20
A solution with a good interface and a straightforward setup phase that offers scalability and stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The interface is good....I didn't face any issues with the scalability. It was very good."
  • "The solution is not very user-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

We use the database for documentation and requirement gathering. So, we document those and create plans or backlogs.

How has it helped my organization?

I have actually not used the solution much. I have only used the solution to create pages, and I also used it to document certain requirements.

What is most valuable?

The interface is good. Usability-wise, the solution is not great. However, I can adjust, and I can work on it.

What needs improvement?

The solution's user experience needs to be improved. The solution is not very user-friendly. From my perspective, it should be more user-friendly.

In the future, the solution should be able to integrate with other tools. I think it is integrated only with Jira. But there are other tools with which it could also be integrated. We should be able to integrate this tool to get a trace of what information we are gathering. Maybe it is only possible for Jira because it is a Jira product.


For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Atlassian Confluence for around a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution's stability is fine. It automatically saves the data. We don't lose any data even if we don't save it manually. So that way, if something happens to the system, it drops and shuts down, and the data is automatically saved. I rate its stability a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I didn't face any issues with the scalability. It was very good. I rate its scalability a nine out of ten.


How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted customer support yet as I have not experienced any issues with the solution. I rate the technical support a nine out of ten.


How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I don't have any experience with other products. I have used Azure DevOps, but I have not used too many products in this category other than Confluence.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward and not too complex. I rate the setup a seven out of ten. I think the solution was previously deployed on-prem, but now, I think it is on the cloud. I also do not have an idea of how long it took to deploy Atlassian Confluence, as it was done by the backend team and not us.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't have an idea about pricing. But I can say that I think it's a good tool for requirement gathering, where you can create backlogs and store or document the data.


What other advice do I have?

The solution may need a web build access code so that it can be used from anywhere. So, once you have access, you can access it from anywhere. And the scalability is also good. So, I can rate the overall product an eight out of ten.


Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Paul Guias - PeerSpot reviewer
Projekt manager at ReqPOOL
Real User
Good communication that is usable from anywhere, and allows you to access data immediately
Pros and Cons
  • "I think that it is one of the best products on the market from my experience."
  • "The price could be improved. I have heard that certain adjustments would be made in 2024 and that it will then be more expensive, but I don't know the specifics."

What is our primary use case?

We use Atlassian Confluence for the documentation of the application or applications that we are billing. 

Confluence has other functions. My team uses, Confluence every day, but I am just writing some information there that is used for the entire team and is vital for the entire team. 

We are also writing various kinds of material. It is useful for the team to interact and convey information, as well as to document only the information that we use.

What is most valuable?

I only use it occasionally to check up on documentation or to compose something. 

That is what I am doing. That is the only thing my team uses, however, we also use Confluence to communicate information to the customer. 

Our Confluence is available to the customer. 

We are working on the release notes, and he can get data or the most recent version via our app.

What needs improvement?

I work with Confluence, however, I'm not sure what's lacking.

The price could be improved. I have heard that certain adjustments would be made in 2024 and that it will then be more expensive, but I don't know the specifics.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Atlassian Confluence for one year.

We are using the premium version.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Atlassian Confluence is quite stable. I have not had any problems with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Atlassian Confluence is scalable, and usable from anywhere, as well as from my phone. There are various Confluence or Jira applications, I can access the data immediately anytime I want.

We have multiple projects and half of my colleagues are using it. We have approximately 25 users in our organization.

We have plans to increase our usage. 

We intend to extend it throughout the entire organization. We want to conduct certain HR initiatives on Jira as well. 

Our HR department may also collaborate with them and Jira. I believe it is a useful tool.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I use Jira to manage everything in development, and I also use it because we operate in Scrum.

I also use YouTrack.

We used Word to document everything, but that should be the last THRIVE threaded with SharePoint. But, in my opinion, the ideal way is to use all of Confluence for that.

How was the initial setup?

I was not involved with the initial setup. It was done by my colleague.

We now have two or three persons setting up our administrators, and they are setting up some data and looking after the maintenance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We have to pay licensing fees.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it.

I think that it is one of the best products on the market from my experience.

I would rate Atlassian Confluence a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Atlassian Confluence Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Atlassian Confluence Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.