Migration of data from one ServiceNow instance to another service now instance

[snehapatel]

Hi,

There is a single ServiceNow instance "A" which is used by 2 companies ( X & Y) who are partners. Now the requirement is to create a new ServiceNow instance "B" such that instance A is being used by company X and instance B is being used by company Y.

To enable this we would need to move/migrate the workflows, business rules, incidents, cases, problems, service requests, scripts, UI actions, policies, Service Catalog etc specific to company B to new instance i.e. B. What is the best way to achieve this.

How do we handle open records ? Example moving open incidents such that SLAs, workflows are continued. Need to make sure that contextual workflows is carried forward.

We are not looking for the tools like Precision Bridge because of the cost implications.

Thanks,

Sneha

[AshishKM]

Hi @snehapatel, 

I think the best option to talk with ServiceNow support about and get the idea "if they can help in such case".

The first step to determine the cut-off date and any open item should be stay/and manage in the current instance and once new instance is ready then all new items should be considered for client B. 

Solution strategy required to discuss with all stakeholders, there might be a lots of manual work ( documentation ) involved in this. 

Cloning can be easy once to copy instace A to instance B and then do the cleanup work on instance B, once instance B is not ready .. instance A will be continue to use by both he client. 

The new instance might loose some histoty data from system table likes logs, sys_audit ect after clone. 

Note: Document every single item which wasc reated for instance A from the begining , and then determine that "if we need the same for instance B or not", record every thing and discuss. 

Plan instance B go-live date based on estimated work after clone, take the buffer time. 

-Thanks,

AshishKM

[Vishal36]

Hi @snehapatel,

Standard exports won’t carry over record states, or workflow logic. This kind of migration usually breaks down when the source and destination aren’t properly aligned on field definitions and customizations.

Here’s what to consider:

• Open records should preserve their current state (e.g., assignment group, approvals, SLA timers).
• There should not be staff or operational down time while data is being migrated.
• Audit trails and related items must stay linked or risk breaking downstream workflows.

OpsHub Migration Manager, a ServiceNow Partner helps handle this level of complexity. It allows you to migrate contextual logic—like open incidents with live SLAs or custom workflows—without manual patchwork. The tool supports full history, comments, attachments, links migration between ServiceNow instances with zero downtime and zero data loss.

Let me know if you'd like a checklist to help prep before you begin.

Thanks