If you create a new application you now have the advanced option to create an app using the global scope. You may hear these referred to as "global apps", "globally scoped apps", "un-scoped apps", "global app bundles" The terminology is awkward, but ultimately what it means is that application files you create while the application is selected will be created and run in the global scope.
These global apps have all the same functionality when it comes to our developer tooling. You can link a global app to source control, you can publish the application to the app repo, and you can use the CI/CD APIs to test and deploy the app between instances.
One handy feature you might like, is the ability to import files from an existing update set. Using the "Add existing files" menu item under "File". This is only available to global apps.
This feature allows you to migrate files you have previously created or modified, to now be managed and maintained by an application. You might consider creating a new global app called ITSM and importing all the customisations you have made to the ITSM product. Using Git you can now track changes and versions more openly. You have the choice to start using app repo for deployments, or sticking to update sets.
If your main concern is losing data on a clone, consider using Data Preservers. Alternatively there are other best practices around "trying out ideas" by having a dedicated sandbox instance, or utilising a PDI.
Being able to re-import an app from source control is, of course, a nice bonus of using Git. However you wont avoid data loss if developers haven't committed their changes.
Hope this helps,
~Robert
