Two instances vs three instaces model?

[Deepak Ingale1]

Hello,

We are migrating to MSP solution in domain separation. For that we just purchased ServiceNow instances. We are given two instances. One   as a "DEV" and another one as "PROD" instance.

I find this very challenging to manage considering development , upgrade etc to be done in same DEV instance and then move changes to PROD without having a middle test instance (DEV--> TEST --> PROD ).

Normally there should be minimum three instances for the proper development and upgrade point of view.

1) keep DEV for development,.

2) clone your PROD to TEST to have a mirror copy.

3) move DEV updates to TEST and perform UAT kind of stuff and overall testing before finally moving those updates to PROD.

This three level setup will also come in handy when there is an upgrade release from SN for hotfix, patches etc.

I am finding this really challenging to manage all this with only two instances.

Can some one provide their expertise on how to manage with two instances. Or should I convince my management to purchase third instance as well which will be a TEST. If that is a case what strong points should I suggest them?

[Deepak Ingale1]

Thank you all for you suggestion.

If I get even three, I will be more than happy.

Can someone also throw light on issues we may face with only two instances.

[Anurag Tripathi]

There are many, these are just a few

1) Any ripple effect caused by the modifications will be caught directly in production

2) If you, by mistake, don't capture all the modifications then there is now way to identify it before production

3) Sometimes what customers ant and what you come up with might be somewhat different, so customers will see that only in production and not before that, that will lead to a lot of mess in redoing the changes and backing out changes etc...

4) upgrades will be a problem as at that time either you prod or your dev will be impacted, so wont get time to analyze the impact and fix without impacting business.

[Mike Allen]

Three is the minimum, in my mind.   You want development work to continue in parallel with user testing, so you need DEV and UAT to accomplish that goal.   And then, of course, you want PROD.

[jarodm]

We started with three (DEV/TEST/PROD) and I can't image going back to two. I'm actually doing a business case to justify the expense of adding a fourth for Sandbox/Education purposes.

I hope the rumors of personal developer instances are released at #know15 this year!

[Deepak Ingale1]

Hello Icequick,

Thank you for reply. Could you please elaborate in details on your last comment "I hope the rumors of personal developer instances are released at #know15 this year!"

I dint get that.