As we move towards 2020 and beyond, we'll start seeing the prevalence of support agreements with ServiceNow with an N-1 model applied. So what is N-1 licencing and how can you prepare for it?

In the past, contracts were aligned to N-2, which means that support is provided on the current version of the ServiceNow Platform (abbreviated as N), and up to 2 major previous releases.

For example, if you are currently using ServiceNow on the Madrid Release:

  • An N-2 agreement would mean that Madrid, London, and Kingston would be supported.
  • An N-1 agreement would mean Madrid and London are supported. When we say 'supported', we mean that ServiceNow Support can be engaged via the HI Service Portal to assist in troubleshooting platform issues.
What Does This Mean for ServiceNow Customers?

Annual Upgrade Cycle

ServiceNow releases two major product versions each year. With this frequency, it means that customers on an N-1 agreement would need to upgrade once a year to maintain ServiceNow Support.

Whilst this may seem like a burden to many organisations, there is significant upside to leveraging an annual upgrade cycle given the capability being deployed across the platform in each release. To expand on this further, ServiceNow invests considerably in Research & Development which has led to the organisation being crowned the most innovative company by Forbes in 2017 and 2018.

A typical ServiceNow release includes everything from security patches, product enhancements, bug fixes, performance improvements, and new modules to unlock more of the enterprise. Some of the capabilities deployed in each release will be able to be accessed under your existing licensing agreement, while other components will come at a cost or require a higher tier of licensing.

Avoid Technical Debt pitfalls

One of the sticking points for organisations when it comes to an N-1 support model, especially for ServiceNow, is that previous decisions made in the context of the ServiceNow Platform by support and development teams, may come back to haunt them.

Technical debt is often the result of development teams taking actions to deliver a piece of functionality in an application/system which will later need to be refactored. For example, it may be developing some code in a certain way to expedite delivery to improve time to market. In the context of ServiceNow, it may be developing capability that is not native to the out of the box product yet.

The ServiceNow Upgrade process 'skips' objects that are deemed as customised within the Platform to ensure that business processes are not hindered through the upgrade process. The team conducting the upgrade has the opportunity to assess each customisation/skipped object and revert to the out of the box version, or maintain the customisation. Reverting to the out of the box version may mean that there is additional development required to ensure business processes are not impacted post upgrade.

As a result of the N-1 support model being discussed more frequently at ServiceNow Conferences and Meet-Ups, ServiceNow are encouraging their partners and customers to limit customisation as much as possible. This will drive the adoption of new features more seamlessly and means customer investments are leveraged to their full potential more frequently, increasing the value proposition of ServiceNow to the organisation. ** Gain efficiencies through the Automated Test Framework (ATF)**

With the requirement to maintain a current ServiceNow environment in an N-1 model, it is becoming more crucial for organisations to look for efficiencies in the upgrade process whilst not increasing the risk to operations. The key goal being to reduce any downtime required for changes being applied (i.e. minimise change freeze windows, improve speed to delivery).

ServiceNow Platform Upgrades for organisations can take anywhere between a week through to several months based on the complexity of the environment, number of users, number of departments on-boarded, integration footprint, and number of suppliers leveraging the platform. With this being said, there is a major contributor to improving the upgrade process that needs to be called out. That is, the Automated Test Framework (ATF).

ServiceNow has standard packs of pre-configured tests that can be applied to the platform and the ATF solution is evolving with each release. The aim is to improve the reliability and quality of testing, while reducing the time it takes to complete validation prior to engaging the business for UAT.

At AC3, for all enhancement work and project work we complete, we build out test cases in parallel. As the platform grows, so do our test plans.

The ATF suite has assisted AC3 in completing an upgrade end-to-end in 8 days!!

AC3 are here to help!

Our ServiceNow experts have broad implementation, automated testing and upgrade experience across various industries and government. We can:

  • Conduct a ServiceNow platform health check and process maturity assessments
  • Support you in upgrading your ServiceNow environment
  • Implement the Automated Test Framework (ATF)
  • Provide ServiceNow Managed Services for your organisation.

If you would like to learn more, please get in touch directly by filling out the form here.