End of Family EOL Upgrade Zurich Guidance Needed on Zurich to Australia and Brazil Family Upgrade

[avinashnk]

Hi Everyone,

Our Norstella Production instance is currently on Zurich Patch 10 Hot Fix 4b W40.

We have an active Change Request for “Family EOL Upgrade: Install Australia Patch 6 W39 on SNC Instance - norstella.” The planned Start Date and End Date are December 1, 2026.

Could someone please help us clarify the below?

1. Can we assume that our target Production version will be Australia Patch 6 W39 on December 1, 2026, based on the current Change Request dates?
2. If our instance is upgraded from Zurich to Australia in the first week of November, will ServiceNow continue to provide support for the Zurich version until the planned upgrade date?
3. During the upgrade from Zurich to Australia, should we expect any Production downtime? If yes, what is the typical downtime we should plan for?

4. We currently have several customizations and integrations in our instance, including:

   • Jira and ServiceNow integration
   • Microsoft Teams and ServiceNow integration
   • Now Assist
   • Other existing ServiceNow customizations

   After the upgrade, should these continue to work as they do today, or should we expect any changes or issues that need to be tested?

5. If we upgrade from Zurich to Australia in the first week of November, and the Brazil family is released around the third week of November, what would be the recommended approach? Would it be better to remain on Australia for some time before moving to Brazil, or should we plan for another upgrade shortly after?
6. If we subsequently upgrade from Australia to Brazil, would there be another Production downtime window? Are there any specific considerations we should keep in mind for customizations, Jira/Teams integrations, and Now Assist?

We are trying to plan our Production upgrade carefully and want to understand the expected downtime, support coverage, and testing requirements before confirming the upgrade schedule.

Any recommendations or best practices from ServiceNow experts or customers who have recently gone through a family upgrade would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your guidance.