Renaming a ServiceNow instance: Considerations for a change in identity

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Your ServiceNow instance name represents the identity of your organisation and the purpose of the instance. However, over time organisations change, they grow, merge with others, or split apart. That ServiceNow instance name may no longer represent the identity of the organisation and the purpose of the instance.

Renaming a ServiceNow Instance

ServiceNow have made the process of renaming an instance easier over the years. There is a Service Catalog item in Now Support and clear guidance on the process.

The following Community posts provide detail on the policy and process to follow.

• Instance Rename Policy for Production and Sub-production
• Rename your ServiceNow non-production instance through the Service Catalog
• Now Support (HI) Service Catalog Item - Rename your Instance

ServiceNow Instance Rename Considerations

What is not covered in the policy and process is all the considerations to make outside of the technical process of renaming an instance. Your ServiceNow instance name exists and is used throughout your organisation, by your end users and customers. The following is not an exhaustive list of items to address, but my hope is that it guides you in addressing all the impacts a ServiceNow Instance name change can have.

• Within ServiceNow
• Review and update SSO configuration.
• Review and update your email setting.
• Have Knowledge Articles been linked to in catalogue items, tasks, or other Knowledge Articles using the full URL?
• Have catalogue items been linked to in Knowledge Articles?
• Do email templates have the URL for the instance hardcoded in?
• How will you manage replies sent to the old instance email address?
• External to ServiceNow
• Are there links to ServiceNow from other systems? e.g. the intranet or learning management system.
• What documentation will need to be updated? E.g. Process, Policies, Design documents
• Are there any links to ServiceNow in comms such as new user onboarding guides advising of how to access the portal?
• Systems that are integrated with ServiceNow will need to be updated to point to the new name.

Communicating the change of name

Organisational Change Management (OCM) is one of the most important things to consider when renaming your ServiceNow Instance. Renaming a ServiceNow Instance is usually due to a change in the identity of the organisation and the last thing you want to attach to that identity is bad communication of the name change of a core business system.

When planning your OCM, consider the following:

• Who will be impacted by the rename?
• How will they be impacted by the rename?
• What information do they need to know about the rename?
• How can they get more informed about the rename?
• How can they get support if they encounter issues?

As I mentioned above, this list of considerations is not exhaustive, and you may find that there are more things that you need to plan for and update. I hope that I have achieved my goal of getting you to think of the broader impact of renaming a ServiceNow Instance and all the things that you need to consider. If you are going through your own ServiceNow Instance rename, best of luck and please do share anything else you come across that should be considered.