Atlassian, start-ups kick off giveaways

Local tech companies including Atlassian are giving away their products for free, in an effort to help businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar. Source: Atlassian

Atlassian has joined a growing number of tech companies in giving away their products for free, in an effort to help local businesses affected by the growing coronavirus pandemic.

Atlassian co-CEO and rich lister Scott Farquhar said on Thursday that Atlassian's cloud products would be free for teams of up to ten people, with Jira, Confluence, Jira Service Desk and Jira Core all up for download at no cost.

"Unprecedented events are rapidly changing the way teams are working together. We know our products help teams work better together and move work forward, regardless of where members of a team are located," Mr Farquhar said in a statement.

"While working remotely is the right thing to do during this time of social distancing, making the transition with little or no warning is unavoidably disruptive.

"Virtually every familiar feature of office life – from the bulletin board where your team tracks work in progress to the whiteboard you use for brainstorming – has to undergo its own version of digital transformation."

The company also launched a new remote hub, with advice for teams on staying productive and collaborative.

"Additionally, we are offering one-year subscriptions to Trello Business Class for free to educators at K-12 schools and higher education institutions. We believe this will help schools affected by closures stay organised and connected as they transition to remote learning," Mr Farquhar said.

"This is a moment to come together to make the remote journey an easy one for as many people and teams as we can, wherever they are and whatever they do."

Other Australian companies too have started offering their wares for free. Video start-up Shootsta is offering free one-on-one sessions with a creative advisor on a video strategy for all companies.

"People need to band together during these uncertain times. It’s very easy as a founder to fall into the trap of having a myopic view of your business during a crisis, forgetting the broader ecosystem in which it operates," CEO and founder Mike Pritchett told The Australian.

"We feel we have three key responsibilities as this crisis unfolds; to our staff, our clients and the broader business community. Shootsta going above and beyond to look after the first two groups. I’m currently calling around clients most affected and asking how we can help.

"Offering free training and consultation is our way of meeting that responsibility to the broader business community."

And Tessa van Duyn, CEO and practice leader at law firm Moores, is offering an epidemic/pandemic policy template for NFP organisations, which has already been downloaded more than 4000 times. She said that equals a pro bono value of millions.

"I am conscious that working flexibly and remotely can lead to disengagement, so our leaders need to be available and approachable, showing vulnerability and not just strength, and listening more than pontificating," she said.

"To keep people engaged and motivated, it’s important to encourage, praise and virtually high-five people across the organisation. The most important thing is to be upfront, on point and transparent about what the team are doing and why. Lead by example, over-communicate using your tools and systems, and start from a position of unwavering trust.

"The biggest complaint from newly remote teams is loneliness. Turn this negative into a positive by assigning a random weekly buddy and insisting on a daily video chat. The idea is for them to talk about their personal lives and build new relationships within the team. Try Donut.

"My current mantra to enable our collective success as a business and as a community in this uncertain environment is 'Clarity, Communication and Connection'."

Video creation platform Clipchamp is offering a free 30-day usage for any business signing up on its monthly paid plan, subject to extension if the COV-19 situation doesn't improve.

"Last week, we were approached by a college in New York requesting free access to our platform. Because of COVID-19, classes were instructed to work from home for the remainder of the semester, however, students couldn't afford a video subscription. We also had a professor from a university in San Francisco reach out to us to ask for help with editing/rendering his lectures," co-founder and CEO Alex Dreiling said.

"These sorts of requests prompted us to think about how we can do our bit to generate value for people worldwide, who are bound to their homes right now and have no choice but to change work patterns and get jobs done in a different way."