Some of that does have to do with how you configure it. JIRA is a swiss army knife and what you build out of it as a process and ticket management system can look very different from what I build out of it, and they can perform differently depending on how much automation, checks, and guards you put in it.

I think the problem with JIRA is they don't really have a sane default install, it really feels like a bag of parts and then you assemble it. Maybe 2 or 3 opinionated templates that take a process end to end would help people, that just want to get started and that stare into the configurable abyss of JIRA and go "nope just want a ticket system".

It's often deployed on completely underpowered servers.

What are your recommendations for better UX?