1. Plan for upgrades at least once a year
Success Pillar: Get your ServiceNow foundations right

2. Success Pillars – Structure
State and measure your business goals
Actively lead the transformation
Get your ServiceNow foundations right
Create excitement, drive adoption 1
State your transformation vision and outcomes 1
Engage executive sponsor to drive change and remove roadblocks 1
Manage to
“Out-of-the Box” 1
Design an engaging self-service employee & customer experience 2
Build your business case 2
Find, manage, and coordinate capable, certified partners 2
Discover and map your service assets 2
Design an optimal agent and rep experience 3
Build a phased
program plan, identify quick win 3
Build dedicated, dynamic governance process, policies & team 3
Plan your architecture, instances, integrations and data flows 3
Create change management plan 4
Baseline and track performance, usage KPIs and metrics 4
Reimagine how you want work processes to flow 4
Plan for upgrades at least once a year 4
Build an internal team of ServiceNow experts & train users 5
Define and map out your business services 5
Build a community of champions 6
Manage platform demand

3. Plan for upgrades at least once a year
ServiceNow releases a new version of the Now Platform® twice per year. You want to stay on the latest release to make sure you can take advantage of new functionality. We recommend upgrading your ServiceNow instances at least once a year to stay no more than one version behind the latest release. 
By keeping your ServiceNow instances up to date, you can take advantage of new and innovative capabilities made available with each release, reduce the risk associated with issues that have already been resolved, and lessen challenges associated with running an unsupported release. 
Insight: Upgrade at least once a year
Effective upgrades require a comprehensive plan in place that accounts for:
Resource requirements for the upgrade process
Past experience (both yours and ServiceNow’s) to guard against missing any critical steps
Anticipated issues or conflicts during the upgrade, and corresponding remediation steps
In-depth test plans to validate expected functionality
To assist with smooth and quick upgrades, we recommend having a well-defined, targeted communication plan in place to inform stakeholders (end-users, admins, and developers) about the upgrade process and help them understand “how they will benefit from the upgrade”. A good communication plan also helps streamline future upgrades as stakeholders provide in-depth feedback and avoid taking actions that hinder upgrades.
Key Implementation Steps​​
Start​​
Improve​​
Optimize​​
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2.  Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

4. Step 1a: Define the ServiceNow upgrade process
ServiceNow has experienced and documented thousands of customer upgrades. Carefully review ServiceNow’s documented upgrade process and define and document an in-depth, repeatable upgrade process tailored to your organization.
Define the ServiceNow upgrade process steps
Review to the upgrade process on the product documentation page, product-specific upgrade instructions (like these for Performance Analytics), and the upgrade planning checklist 
Document your own version of the upgrade process, with instructions specific for your organization. Ensure to include:
New functionality or notable changes that need to be validated after the upgrade, as the first step
A kickoff meeting, including the entire upgrade team, to clarify responsibilities and goals
The right sequence for upgrading your instances, starting with the one farthest away from production. Follow this path: sand-box –> development –> test –> production
Clear instructions on how to inform and set expectations with stakeholders, before upgrading a instance
A reminder to backup work-in-progress (to ensure no work is lost) and clone production over to the sub- production instance (to test on the actual data) before upgrading it
A post-upgrade reflection exercise to reflect on lessons learned on the upgrade process—use Upgrade History module to track every upgrade
Practitioner Insight: Treat your ServiceNow upgrade like any other project, so that time, resources, and costs are visible to everyone. See our Success Playbook, Perform ServiceNow upgrades quicker and more effectively, for details on how to minimize upgrade issues.
Practitioner Insight: Maintain a personal developer instance, and always update it first to experiment with and explore the new functionality available in the new release. This will help identify new out-of-box functionality that you would like to activate for your instance.
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

5. Step 1b: Secure resources for the upgrade
Successful upgrade projects don’t just have the right number of resources assigned, but also account for the different roles that are required across the upgrade process. Understand these requirements and secure resources early to facilitate a smooth upgrade of ServiceNow instances.
Secure resource requirements for ServiceNow upgrade
Identify the roles required to upgrade your ServiceNow instances. Consider including:
Project manager(s) – To manage project and stakeholder expectations
ServiceNow system administrator(s) – To execute clone requests, perform the upgrade, and manage the update sets.
ServiceNow developer(s) – To remediate any issues and to use best practices to avoid future issues
Test plan managers or admin(s) – To create and maintain test plans
Tester(s) – To carry out functional, UAT, and other tests
Governance, risk, and compliance staff – To ensure controls are in place that satisfy regulatory and compliance requirements
Ensure upgrade is included in the project roadmap. To do so, prepare a project proposal for approval by the executive sponsor and governance team. This should include :
Communication of the importance of making timely upgrades to take advantage of new functionality
Emphasis on the upgrade project as an opportunity to resolve errors and conflict
Clear estimates for project completion timeline, resource time commitments for each project phase, and budget requirements
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

6. Step 2a: Understand your current environment
ServiceNow allows its customers to customize and configure Now Platform® instances based on their business requirements and objectives. However, this flexibility can lead to multiple issues during upgrade, if organizations don’t understand what changes (configurations or customizations) they made in their instances and the business need for the changes made.
Understand your ServiceNow environment to identify special upgrade needs
Document your pre-upgrade performance levels so you can compare post-upgrade performance. Evaluate log data to identify existing errors and performance levels.
Inventory all changes (configurations or customizations) made on ServiceNow instances. Changes fall mainly into two categories:
New records you have created such as ACLs, business rules, fields, and so on
Changes to the out‑of‑the‑box (OOB) records ServiceNow provides, including deactivated OOB records
Evaluate all changes to determine their need/value for the business—scoring should be consistent with your organization’s existing model for requirements management, using standard business value criteria used to prioritize requirements and/or user stories. Example:
5–Mandatory: Required for regulatory and compliance purposes
4–Critical: It is a “must have” to realize a business and/or adoption objective
3–Medium: Supports realization of a business value and/or adoption objective, but workarounds are available
2–Low: Supports service experience for end-users, process users, and/or developers, but doesn’t necessarily promote a business objective or adoption
1–No value: Doesn’t support improved service experience, value realization, or adoption
For all changes, assess impact (whether they will delay or complicate your upgrade) based on your estimates of:
Experience with past upgrades and data on support issues
Level of testing required—any new added functionality or code change would require additional testing during the upgrade
Guidance from ServiceNow experts
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

7. Step 2b: Plan for a skipped changes review
ServiceNow upgrades will not overwrite changes you have made, but will mark them as skipped records in Upgrade Monitor. To make sure they are successfully ported to the upgraded instance, you have to manually process the skipped changes.
Plan for skipped changes review
Take inventory of all changes identified in step 2a and compare it with the skipped records identified in ServiceNow’s Upgrade Monitor. Ensure to:
Mark simple changes, such as field labels, as low-priority in the Skipped Changes to Review related list —they are not automatically overwritten but are of lower risk
Conduct in-depth review (code-level) of all other changes: Manually review every extensive change on out-of-box records and decide to revert, resolve, or merge those changes. Note: Consider reverting the low-value changes that require extensive testing and may delay the upgrade.
Evaluate deactivated records to decide if you want to re-activate them based on the new functionality—the deactivated records will upgrade to new functionality automatically but are not re-activated unless manually done. Be careful as you reactivate records – run an evaluation to ensure that reactivation does not interfere with in-place functionality. 
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

8. Step 3: Create and maintain test plans
Focus on testing what you have previously deployed. If your organization was using only ITSM, then there is no point testing ITOM applications, which you may have just deployed. A key caveat is with integrations: integrations that are used in multiple places should always be tested. Always create test plan(s) as you configure and customize your applications. If you didn’t, make sure to create and test your test plans before you upgrade.
Create and maintain your test plans
Create comprehensive test plans that cover core functionality and integrations across applications. Assume the testers know nothing about ServiceNow and include:
Clear, step‑by‑step, instructions to perform the test
Expected results
Input for actual results
Input for any error messages
Input for screen shot
Automate as many test cases as possible using ServiceNow’s Automated Test Framework— refer to Best practices for using ATF
Conduct manual testing of all remaining functionality using ServiceNow’s Test Management module
Ensure that you have a policy in place for system administrators and developers to update test plans every time an application is configured or customized
Practitioner Insight: Maintain additional test instances to allow development to continue while upgrades are underway.
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

9. Step 4: Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
Communication is key to any project, and upgrades are no exception! Build awareness around the upgrade process and timelines to help ServiceNow developers, admins, and end-users plan for the upgrade and get excited about the new functionality made available. 
Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
Create a targeted communication plan for all stakeholders—everyone who works on or is impacted by ServiceNow—for each ServiceNow instance (production and non-production). Ensure to include service owners, service providers, developers, application managers (like catalog manager), and end-users. The communication plan must:
Highlight the upgrade timeline, process, impact (what to expect during the upgrade), and benefits (what’s in it for them) at least 2 weeks in advance of initiating the upgrade
Build awareness with end-users using targeted campaigns such as video “commercials” on a TV monitor in the break room, upgrade parties themed after the upgrade name, like a Madrid party, and signs posted inside the elevator, bathroom stalls, or wherever you have a captive audience
Conduct group meetings with key service stakeholders—service fulfillers, developers, and administrators— to set the right expectations on the upgrade process and provide an opportunity to answer questions
Communicate progress on the upgrade via. notifications
Post upgrade, educate process users (e.g., service desk agents), developers, and admins, on the new functionality implemented and how they can use it for their needs. Consider:
Listen to release webinars (such as this) from ServiceNow—look for links advertised through Community and local SNUG meetings
Refresh critical staff with role-based training and certification courses—automatically updated to the current NowPlatform release
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

10. Step 5a: Optimize based on lessons learned
Every upgrade is an opportunity to re-examine your ServiceNow environment for opportunities to further optimize your processes and realize incremental value from your investment in the Now Platform®.  Make sure after every upgrade cycle you capture lessons learned, specifically on the end-to-end upgrade process and changes to out-of-box functionality that hinder (in terms of delaying or complicating) future upgrades. 
Capture lessons learned and feedback
Conduct a post-upgrade retrospective exercise with the entire upgrade team to capture lessons learned. Use these reflection questions:
What should we start, stop, and continue in future upgrades?
What were the key issues faced during the upgrade, and how could we resolve them better?
What went well in the upgrade process?
Seek feedback from key stakeholders (process users, developers, and admins) on their ServiceNow upgrade experience.
Rate the impact of all changes (new records and changes to out of box records) that were ported to the new version. Use simple scoring to assess the volatility and risk they presented to the upgrade process:
Low: It didn’t delay or complicate the upgrade process
Medium: It somewhat complicated or delayed the upgrade process
High: It significantly delayed or complicated the upgrade process
Take action on lessons learned and feedback
Re-evaluate the business need for changes that had a high- impact on the upgrade process.
For high-value changes, look for alternatives to simplify the upgrade— refer to technical best practices for developers
For low-value changes, make the case to remove them and incorporate out-of-box functionality
Along with the upgrade team, update the future upgrade process based on feedback received and lessons learned.
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

11. Step 5b: Govern to minimize customizations
To take advantage of new out-of-box capabilities and deliver innovation faster, you must limit customizations to clear, demonstrated business needs and avoid the management pitfalls that lead to excessive, unsustainable customization.
Minimize customizations that hinder upgrades
Educate developers on the difference between customizations and configurations.
Configurations — Tailoring an instance using ServiceNow best practices and API to meet your requirements without making changes to code that is part of the baseline installation of an instance. For example, defining a UI policy to make a field mandatory for submitting incidents.
Customizations— Any change to code that is part of the baseline installation of a ServiceNow instance. For example, changing the UI macro (which is part of the baseline installation of the instance) for catalog checkout page to add additional fields to gather data during checkout.
Educate development teams and business lines about complexities associated with customization, so that incoming demands are limited to true business need.
Conduct regular audits, using ServiceNow HealthScans and Performance Analytics, to identify customizations that are not helping meet expected business outcomes.
Report on time-taken to upgrade and complications associated that hinder the upgrade process. Help business lines evaluate the true return on investment for customization(taking into account the business need vs. issues caused to upgrade the Now Platform®) from the  standpoint of total value realization from ServiceNow.
Practitioner Insight: To restrict customizations and configurations to validated business need, you need to have strong governance policies and processes in place. This includes having a clear criteria to assess technical complexity associated with the proposed change and effective demand management processes to validate the business value. Refer to Success Playbook on avoid customization pitfalls for additional guidance. 
Steps
1. Create a repeatable upgrade process
2. Prepare for conflicts during the upgrade
3. Create and maintain test plans
4. Prepare stakeholders for the upgrade
5. Streamline future upgrades

12. KPIs and Stakeholders Key Performance Indicators Essential KPIs
Time required for the upgrade end-to-end (should decline)
# of issues reported post upgrade that should have been resolved during upgrade (should decline)
# of conflicts (to remediate) during upgrade (should decline)
% of functionality tested through ServiceNow Automated Test Framework (should increase)
‘Nice to Have’
# of customizations / configurations removed or returned to ‘out of box’ due to redundancy or lack of business value
Stakeholder satisfaction score on the upgrade process and the new functionality added
Stakeholder Map
Responsible/Accountable
ServiceNow Platform Owner
ServiceNow system administrator
Platform support team
ServiceNow Testers
Executive Sponsor
Consulted/Informed
All IT organization
Business Leaders
ServiceNow Users
Service Owners
Service Providers
Application owners
ServiceDesk and Change management teams