FAQ - Release Management v2 End-of-Life

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Frequently Asked Questions - Release Management v2 EOL

I have heard that the Release Management v2 plugin will start its end of life process in Xanadu. Is that correct?

Yes. Starting with the Xanadu GA, Release Management v2 will start its end-of-life process.

I am using Release Management v2 today. How long will it be supported?

Release Management v2 will be supported until the end of your current contract. RMv2 will remain active in your instance, including when you upgrade to a new release family, but we will not be able to support it.

Is there an application that replaces Release Management v2?

Yes. Digital Product Release was introduced in Washington. It is a completely redesigned solution for the release management space that includes a tailored user experience to validate the release readiness of your software applications.

If we want to continue to use RMv2, is that an option?

Yes. You can maintain the unsupported plugin as custom code. We will not deactivate or remove the unsupported plugin from your instance and you’ll still be able to access it as an active plugin; however, it will be considered custom code and will not receive support.

Does Digital Product Release contain all the features of Release Management v2?

Yes, DPR has all the features of RMv2 OOTB and much more. DPR is built with release management best practices and provides the flexibility to define the level of governance your IT organization wants to have over release. Additionally, the most common customizations for RMv2 are provided OOTB with DPR (e.g., release templates, approval definitions, tool integrations) and customers will not need to manage these as customizations.

I am not currently using Release Management v2 but want to install and use it. Is that possible?

While not recommended, if you are entitled to RMv2 you can open a request on the Support portal to have it activated. Now that RMv2 has begun the end-of-life process, it can take longer for the support request to activate the plugin on your instance.

My release management process works today with RMv2. Why should I migrate to DPR?

For customers using RMv2: DPR is built with release management best practices and provides the flexibility to define the level of governance your IT organization wants to have over release. With DPR you can move away from your customizations to a highly configurable solution that will keep your instance closer to OOTB, benefit from continued investment, and make future ServiceNow upgrades easier. Additionally, implementing DPR is straight forward, with a guided setup experience that will help you get to value quickly and migration utilities from RMv2 that can accelerate your migration.

Are there any tools to help migrate from RMv2 to DPR?

Yes. As of the August 2024 release, there are two migration utilities available: 1) migration of product data from the rm_product table into cmdb_application_product_model table and 2) creation of release templates in DPR from existing rm_release records in RMv2. These migration utilities will help reduce the effort to move existing release RMv2 data into DPR.

Why is DPR part of ITSM Pro when RMv2 is part of ITSM Standard?

RMv2 was an application with limited functionality that often required a high degree of customization to realize value from. DPR comes all the functionality of RMv2 OOTB plus many other features, including access to our Policy-as-Code-Engine which leverages policy checks to automate release readiness validation and access to our DevOps data model to integrate with your CI/CD toolchain. Additionally, DPR is an area of investment for ITSM and will continue to benefit from product enhancements and new features with each release.

ServiceNow implementations can be long and complex. I am not sure I want to invest that much time/money in moving to DPR.

Most of the work in implementing DPR will be in the business process and functional documentation of your current and desired future-state release process. Implementing DPR itself is straight forward with a guided setup experience. Achieving first value typically will not require professional services, especially if you understand your release process.