Best way to go through release notes on enhancement and new features?

[ashwanikumar]

Hi Experts,

I’m looking for best practices or a structured process for reviewing ServiceNow release notes, especially around enhancements and new features—and how to effectively plan follow-up actions (e.g., evaluating impact, training, backlog grooming, or enabling new functionality).

For those of you involved in platform strategy or administration, how do you typically approach this?
Some specific things I’m interested in:

• How do you filter or prioritize the information in the release notes?
• Do you have a checklist or framework for assessing changes/new features?
• How do you coordinate with stakeholders or developers for follow-up and plan to implement those?
• Any tools or methods to track which features to adopt or defer?

Any examples, templates, or tips would be much appreciated!

[Hemanth M1]

Hi @ashwanikumar ,

On a High Level 

1)We would start with the version we are currently in

2)Check the relevant path

Ex: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bundle/yokohama-release-notes/page/release-notes/concept/rn-learn-la...

3)We would check all of these, but mainly these

4)Dive deep into the Product Release notes, select the product you use and review changes across different categories (e.g., What's added, removed, not supported).

5)Review Highlights section as well

6)Document these , hold a session with the product owner, stakeholders to explain them and plan for the upgrade

Hope this helps!.

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @ashwanikumar 

Every new ServiceNow version brings a lot of changes, making it tough to read and understand everything. To start, pick the module you’re using—like ITSM, ITOM, etc.—then go to the Change page and use the filters to find what you need. Read the notes for that process, and try updating your PDI instance first to see how it behaves. If it works well, create a list of features or consider putting them in a backlog for later.

Once you have a good list of new features, prepare a presentation and invite stakeholders to review what’s coming in the next release. You can also refer to LinkedIn posts, community blogs, and update feeds to see what common new features are coming across the platform.

https://www.servicenow.com/docs/docs/bundle/zurich-release-notes/page/release-notes/concept/rn-n-1-l...

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi0Ik1xCDEbKxFhjDMMINC8gJI3O_Tpxv