Looking for Experience with zBoots (going back to Out of the Box)

[vinsonsm_s]

Hello! I attended the SNUG meeting at Shell in 2023, where Shell also presented, and I found the session really insightful. I’m particularly interested in learning more about the approach to planning the business case and the decision to return to out-of-the-box functionality with ServiceNow.

We’re currently exploring a similar direction at my company, and I’ve been asked to review this option would like to connect me with someone who could share more details about their experience.
Thanks in advance!

[lorenadealejand]

Commenting because I would love to be a part of this conversation as well.  

[PetersonDavid]

Lorena - I attended the Shell SNUG in 2023, and have had numerous meetings with Shell since, in an effort to help them with CMDB/CSDM and SAM/HAM...  My CEO has a patent in Asset Lifecycle Optimization, was ServiceNow employee #90 in the early days, coding with Fred Luddy, was a contributing founder of ITIL and ITSM, and now has his own company helping with these types of issues. We can help with Z-boot.  I am former Accenture, ServiceNow, IBM and BMC software.  We have VERY modest rates.  david@polaristg.com. 

[Ricardo Tizon]

Hello, 
The process of going back to OOTB will highly depend on your organization's current usage of the platform and observed challenges. Depending on the applicable use cases, you could be looking at somewhere between the options of simply rolling back customization, clearing data/integrations, moving from custom apps to SN apps, or a complete greenfield re-implementation.
Keep in mind, zBoots are a process normally executed for administration of sub-prod instances. Although possible on productions instances, it would imply significant downtime on your system. 
Happy to provide more details about my experience on ServiceNow replatforming projects if you have specific questions. 

[LPK_GU]

We performed a zBoot and it was quite an experience! One tip I can offer—something not well documented—is to check your node configuration (roles/status) in sys_cluster_state after the zBoot or any major restore. If all your nodes are set to “Maintenance,” none of your background jobs or plugins will run, even if everything looks healthy in the UI. If you want to learn more about it: https://www.servicenow.com/community/architect-forum/post-zboot-clone-restore-all-background-jobs-st...

I agree with the previous commenter, @Ricardo Tizon: the outcome really depends on your organization’s setup, the order of your recovery steps, and how you handle customizations and data integrations. Our process involved a zBoot, a clone (with a misstep of not installing plugins prior), and a restore, which created some hidden gotchas that weren’t obvious until we dug into node roles.  If you’re doing any of this, proceed with caution. 😅