Vancouver's Coming!
Time to RTFM!
It’s Vancouver Week!
To celebrate the new Vancouver release of ServiceNow, I have my three favorite tips for managing a ServiceNow upgrade. There are many more than this and for a really good conversation on it, check out the BreakPoint podcast where Chuck and Lauren invited Jace Benson and I on to talk all things upgrade. It’s a great show and well worth the listen and subscribe.
So let’s get started.
First things first - start with the ServiceNow Upgrade Planning Checklist. Why reinvent the wheel when ServiceNow has literally given you the blueprint.
If you haven’t built your process around this doc before, this is the perfect time to update it. You might still miss something, but it’s way less likely if you’re following this checklist.
Why is this first rather than reviewing the release notes? Because ‘Review the Release Notes’ is the FIRST item on the checklist.
Seriously - they got you covered.
Think of this next part as 1a, in the same place you find the Checklist, ServiceNow has a list of pre- and post- upgrade tasks for each release. Find yours and read through the items and save yourself a whole lot of heartburn later. Or you can spend a couple of hours wondering what happened to your buttons only to read: “all the buttons on the assessments or survey cards have been removed.” 😮😫 So yeah - RTFM.
What’s next? Oh, yeah - make sure you know if this version has a UI upgrade and if it forces it on everyone. The only thing that freaks users out more than broken functionality is a new UI. And just to be clear - Vancouver does make the Next Experience UI the default in this version.
ServiceNow upgrades can sometimes be transparent to most of the users of the platform, but that’s not possible when the UI is upgraded so plan for it, overcommunicate it, and still expect the support calls. I think that’s on the checklist too - if not it should be.
What’s the last thing? TEST EVERYTHING WITH EVERYONE.
All users of the system should be represented during testing to ensure you have all applicable use cases represented during regression testing. Most people take this to mean all non-business stakeholders. They would be mistaken. It’s more important to have your business stakeholders represented than your tech stakeholders.
Tech folks get that stuff breaks. The business hates unexpected downtime. Those are the folks that call and say things like “We’re losing thousands of dollars every minute that I can’t work.”
Next upgrade that guy got a personal phone call and email. He got a personal email for every window of downtime for that app from then until he left the firm. The affected app wasn’t actually ServiceNow but you get the point - business folks hate unexpected downtime so don’t give them any or you might find yourself sending personal emails and phone calls for years.
Bonus tip. There’s software for this. If you don’t have ATF configured for post-upgrade testing then you’re doing it wrong. Use the tools that make your life easier and put your saved time towards tasks that can’t be automated away - like building more automations. 😎
Till next time - May all your meetings be productive and your code be bug free.
CJ
There’s so much good ServiceNow content in the ecosystem, it’s really hard to shout it all out. But this week we’re talking about the launch of the ServiceNow Belonging Groups!
🔥 Embracing Diversity in the ServiceNow Ecosystem🔥 ServiceNow rockstar MGOPW has a great blog post on the launch of the new ServiceNow Belonging groups. This concept was soft launched at Knowledge this year with sessions that mapped directly to the Belonging Groups that went live yesterday(8/9).
I’m one of the co-leads of the ‘ServiceNow for the Culture’ group, a space to create community for Black folks in the ServiceNow ecosystem. In partnership with Phebe and Ebony, two amazing folks in the ServiceNow community, we’re building a place where we can feel empowered, be supported, and interact with authenticity.
It’s hard to explain for those who have never experienced being an outsider, but what’s understood doesn’t need to be explained. That’s why we’re here. So if you’re Black, in ServiceNow, and looking for the culture, this is where to find us. Welcome to the cookout.🔥 WomenNow! The WomenNow Belonging Group is a group exclusively for those who identify as women. It exists to create a space for support, collaboration, and networking in the ServiceNow community. I’m not a woman, but I know the folks who are leading this space - they’re amazing. I’m sure that the experience here will match and everyone who identifies as a woman should look for this space and join up!
🔥 Pride Belonging Group - The Pride Belonging Group is a group exclusively for anyone who identifies as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. It exists to create a space for support, collaboration, and networking in the ServiceNow community. As above, I’m not a member but I know the folks creating community here - equally amazing. I would encourage all who identify as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community to look for this space and join up!
I’m so happy to be a part of this amazing moment and I’m looking forward to watching all of these spaces grow and provide community, support, and a place to call home in the ServiceNow ecosystem.
I’ve pivoted from the last #BuildSomethingNow and I’m now working on a secret project built around GenAI. I think it’s going to be a hit and hopefully will revolutionize the world. Nah, I’m kidding - won’t change the world but I do think it has the potential to make a process or two much more efficient. I’ll post more on it when it comes out of stealth mode.
If you have a problem, want to talk shop, or need a ServiceNow Consultant - hit me up.
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