Document control in Confluence after Connect: what to export first

For most apps, the end of Connect is an inconvenience: a tool gets replaced. For a document control app it is a records problem. The approvals and signatures it holds are the proof that a procedure was reviewed and released, and an auditor can ask for them long after the app that produced them is gone.

What Atlassian has announced

Atlassian has not said that Connect apps will be switched off on that date. For controlled documents that is not much comfort: a system you can no longer rely on to retrieve its records is a finding waiting to happen, whether or not it still opens.

Why this is a records question

If your documents fall under FDA 21 CFR Part 11, the regulation is explicit about what has to survive. Among the controls it requires for closed systems:

• "The ability to generate accurate and complete copies of records in both human readable and electronic form suitable for inspection, review, and copying by the agency." (§11.10(b))
• "Protection of records to enable their accurate and ready retrieval throughout the records retention period." (§11.10(c))

And a signed record has to show, in any human-readable form, the printed name of the signer, the date and time of the signature, and its meaning, such as review or approval (§11.50). ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 frame it differently but arrive at the same place: approval records are retained for a defined period and must remain retrievable.

The retention period is yours, not the app's. If the records live only inside an app that is about to stop being maintained, they need to be secured while it still works.

First, find out where your records live

The vendor's documentation or privacy policy usually says which applies. If it doesn't, ask.

What to export while the app still works

1. The approval record of every controlled page. Which version was approved, by whom, when, with what meaning, and the current status and next review date.
2. The audit trail. Requests, approvals, rejections, comments and re-approvals, with their timestamps: the history, not just the latest state.
3. A human-readable copy of each approved version with its signatures shown, typically a PDF per document. It is the form an auditor will actually look at.
4. How the records were produced. The app's name and version and the date of the export. If the app was a validated system, this belongs in its validation file.
5. A controlled place to keep all of it, with its own retention period and access control, outside the app you are leaving.

What to ask of a replacement

• Is an approval tied to a specific version of the page? When someone edits an approved page, it should stop showing as approved.
• Can approved pages be locked so controlled content doesn't drift between reviews?
• Is the workflow defined once, or copied into every space, where the copies diverge?
• Do documents fall due for periodic review on their own, and show as overdue when nobody signs them off?
• Is there one audit view of every controlled page with its state, approver, approval date and next review date?
• Where is the data stored? A "Runs on Atlassian" app keeps it inside your Atlassian instance.
• If you need Part 11 electronic signatures: does the vendor state and document Part 11 support, including the signature manifestation of §11.50 and audit trails, and give you material to validate it? If it isn't documented, assume it isn't there.

Replacing a validated system is a change, and changes go through change control. Plan the validation of the new system before the old one fails, not after.