ServiceNow emailed me saying that I need to release my instance

[Tyler33]

I received an email from devportalprod@service-now.com  telling me that I need to 'save my work and release my instance". If I do this will I be able to request a new instance and restore it with the old instance work? If so, how ? See email from devportalprod@service-now.com  below: 

Dear Service Now Developer,

Please save your work and release the current instance by the end of the first week of January. The instance has technical issues and must be retired.

Thanks for being an active member of the ServiceNow Developer Program.

Best Regards,
ServiceNow Developer Team

[Maik Skoddow]

Hi @Tyler33 

you will be able to claim another instance after maintenance activities but not the same. And also all your previous data will not be available anymore. On PDIs you are responsible for backuping your data.

Also read https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rfedoruk_your-servicenow-pdi-will-go-away-unless-activity-71436903356...

Maik

[Tyler33]

Thanks for the feedback Maik. Seems like ServiceNow would make some sort of effort to assist here considering the circumstances and issues on their end. I've had this instance for over 3 years and have loads of work on the instance. Do you know if it is common practice for them to wipe out PDI's due to 'technical issues'? 

[Mark Roethof]

Hi there,

I have seen multiple messages like these recently, also on LinkedIn and Slack. Personally didn't receive it.

Though sounds like you just have to act on this. It's also always a risk with a PDI, it can even suddenly crash/never wake up/etc.. (These free) PDI's just come without any support and do come with a warning: backup your work!

[Kenny Wimberly]

I have been receiving this email for 3 weeks now. I've backed everything up just to see what happens. The interesting thing to me is that it is coming from a service-now.com domain, which is generally reserved for customers. SN typically uses their servicenow.com domain to email from. So, I'm not sure if this email is legit. I've sent several emails to SN asking about it and haven't received a response. That said, it's always advisable to back your work up to git or export your work regularly. I've had my PDI for more than 10 years and just started getting this email. So, I'm a bit concerned that they will kill my instance and I'll have to start over.