Replacing an outdated Workflow with a Newly Created Flow on a Service Catalog Item - Any Issues?

[WazzaJC]

Replacing an outdated Workflow with a Newly Created Flow on a Service Catalog Item - Any Issues?

Hi Community,

I'd greatly appreciate your input/help just clarifying this technicality of a process for me please, especially those of you who are familiar and use Workflows and Flows alot.

I have created a brand new 'Flow' (which has been fully tested successfully), to replace an outdated 'Workflow' and now I am about to add this to a number of Service Catalog items and remove the previous Workflow assigned (in Production).

My question is - how does this affect/impact any current already raised Service Requests, RITMs, SC Tasks that are open and in flight, that were triggered using the previous 'Workflow', that I am now replacing with a new 'Flow', for use on SC items going forward, in the client's PROD instance?

Does ServiceNow remember the old Workflow steps/process, and keeps those items aligned to the old/previous Workflow and only then uses any newly created SC Reqs, RITMs, SC tasks based on the new Flow ?

I assume is this is the case, as otherwise how does one move to a new Flow on several Catalog Items in Prod, without needing to affect existing in-flight SC Reqs, RITMs, SC Tasks etc.

Please let me know your advice/best practices/what approach you have used to help in this workflow/Flow migration process.

Many thanks, your advice and input is always greatly appreciated.

[Iraj Shaikh · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Certainly! When you replace an old Workflow with a new Flow in ServiceNow, existing Service Requests (SC Reqs), Request Items (RITMs), and Service Catalog Tasks (SC Tasks) that were triggered using the old Workflow will continue following the steps of the old Workflow.

ServiceNow maintains the association between existing records and the Workflow that initiated them. The new Flow will only be applied to new Service Requests, Request Items, and Service Catalog Tasks that are created after you make the switch.

This allows you to transition to the new Flow for future Catalog Items without affecting ongoing processes tied to the old Workflow. Your existing in-flight SC Reqs, RITMs, and SC Tasks will complete their lifecycle based on the original Workflow.

As a best practice, it's advisable to communicate these changes to your users and teams, so they are aware of the transition and understand the distinction between old and new processes. Additionally, it's good to document these changes and keep a record of the Workflow/Flow migration process for future reference.

[WazzaJC]

Hi @CJPeterson  I still am having these issues with the 'Stages', after removing the old Workflow and replacing with a Flow. I still cannot resolve this issue, no one has come back to me on community. It is a mystery to me.

[Joe Trimble]

I have seen 2 cases this week where we replaced a Workflow with a Flow.  An existing RITM with the Workflow already in progress triggered the new Flow as soon as a comment was entered in the RITM.  The results? In one case, a second Request for Approval was generated in a RITM that had already been approved and had active SCTASK record associated with it.  The other did not require an approval, so the new Flow created a second SCTASK record that is basically a duplicate of the first one created by the Workflow.

We are on Vancouver Patch 4 Hot Fix 1b. 

Is this a bug, perhaps introduced in the hot fix that was applied this past weekend?  I don't think it was behaving this way prior to the update.

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @WazzaJC 

I'd greatly appreciate your input/help just clarifying this technicality of a process for me please, especially those of you who are familiar and use Workflows and Flows alot.

My question is - how does this affect/impact any current already raised Service Requests, RITMs, SC Tasks that are open and in flight, that were triggered using the previous 'Workflow', that I am now replacing with a new 'Flow', for use on SC items going forward, in the client's PROD instance?

Atul: New Flow will be applicable for new RITM's only and better not to replace it with all items. Replace with 1 or max2 , see the results , observer 2-3 day's and then move to next slot. In short prefer incremental approach not big bang.

Does ServiceNow remember the old Workflow steps/process, and keeps those items aligned to the old/previous Workflow and only then uses any newly created SC Reqs, RITMs, SC tasks based on the new Flow ?

Atul: Yes, SN remember the old association.

I assume is this is the case, as otherwise how does one move to a new Flow on several Catalog Items in Prod, without needing to affect existing in-flight SC Reqs, RITMs, SC Tasks etc.

Please let me know your advice/best practices/what approach you have used to help in this workflow/Flow migration process.

Atul: Follow incremental approach.

Do a round of well testing in UAT.

Many thanks, your advice and input is always greatly appreciated.